Chapter 4

_Symptoms._--Diminished appetite, rumination irregular, tongue coated, mouth slimy, dung passed apparently not well digested and smelling bad, dullness, and fullness of the flanks. The disease may in some cases assume a chronic character, and in addition to the foregoing symptoms slight bloating or tympanites of the left flank may be observed; the animal breathes with effort and each respiration may be accompanied with a grunt, the ears and horns are alternately hot and cold, rumination ceases, the usual rumbling sound in the stomach is not audible, the passage of dung is almost entirely suspended, and the animal passes only a little mucus occasionally. Sometimes there is alternating constipation and diarrhea. There is low fever in many cases.

The disease continues a few days or a week in the mild cases, while the severe cases may last several weeks. In the latter form the emaciation and loss of strength may be very great. There is no appetite, no rumination, nor peristalsis. The mouth is hot and sticky, the eyes have receded in their sockets, and milk secretion has ceased. In such cases the outlook for recovery is unfavorable. The patient falls away in flesh and becomes weaker, as is shown by the fact that one frequently finds it lying down.

On examining animals which have died of this disease it is found that the lining membrane of the fourth stomach and the intestines, particularly the small intestine, is red, swollen, streaked with deeper red or bluish lines, or spotted. The lining of the first three stomachs is more or less softened, and may easily be peeled off. The third stomach (psalter) contains dry feed in hard masses closely adherent to its walls.

In some cases the brain appears to become disordered, probably from the pain and weakness and from the absorption of toxins generated in the digestive canal. In such cases there is weakness and an unsteady gait, the animal does not appear to take notice of and will consequently run against obstacles; after a time it falls and gives up to violent and disordered movements. This delirious condition is succeeded by coma or stupor, and death ensues.

_Treatment._--Small quantities of roots, sweet silage, or selected grass or hay should be offered several times daily. Very little feed should be allowed. Aromatic and demulcent drafts may be given to produce a soothing effect on the mucous lining of the stomachs and to promote digestion. Two ounces of camomile flowers should be boiled for 20 minutes in a quart of water and the infusion on cooling should be given to the affected animal. This may be repeated three or four times a day. When constipation is present the following purgative may be administered: One pound of Glauber's salt dissolved in a quart of linseed tea and a pint of molasses. After this purgative has acted, if there is a lack of appetite and the animal does not ruminate regularly, the powder mentioned in remarks on the treatment of chronic tympanites may be given according to directions. The diet must be rather laxative and of an easily digestible character after an attack of this form of indigestion. Feed should be given in moderate quantities, as excess by overtaxing the digestive functions may bring on a relapse. Ice-cold water should be avoided.

INDIGESTION FROM DRINKING COLD WATER (COLIC).

This disorder is produced by drinking copiously of cold water, which arrests digestion and produces cramp of the fourth stomach, probably of the other stomachs, and also of the bowels.

_Causes._---It is not customary for the ox to drink much water at once. In fact, he usually drinks slowly and as if he were merely tasting the water, letting some fall out at the corners of his mouth at every mouthful. It would therefore seem to be contrary to the habits of the ox to drink copiously; but we find that during hot weather, when he has been working and is consequently very thirsty, if he drinks a large quantity of cold water he may be immediately taken with a very severe colic. Cows which are fed largely on dry hay drink copiously, like the working ox, and become affected in precisely the same manner. In such cases they are seized with a chill or fit of trembling before the cramps come on.

_Symptoms._--There is some distension of the abdomen, but no accumulation of gas. As the distension and pain occur immediately after the animal has drunk the water, there can be no doubt as to the exciting cause.

_Treatment._--Walk the animal about for 10 minutes before administering medicine, and this allows time for a portion of the contents of the stomach to pass into the bowel, and renders it safer to give medicine. In many cases the walking exercise and the diarrhea bring about a spontaneous cure of this disorder, but as in some instances the cramps and pains of the stomachs persist, one may give 1 ounce of sulphuric ether and 1 ounce of tincture of opium, shaken up with a pint of warm water, and repeat the dose in half an hour if the animal is not relieved. In an emergency when the medicine is not to be had, a tablespoonful of powdered ginger may be administered in a pint of warm water.

INDIGESTION IN CALVES (GASTROINTESTINAL CATARRH, DIARRHEA, OR SCOUR).

Calves are subject to a form of diarrhea to which the foregoing designations have been applied.

_Causes._--Calves that suck their dams are not frequently affected with this disease, though it may be occasioned by their sucking at long intervals and thus overloading the stomach and bringing on indigestion, or from improper feeding of the dam on soft, watery, or damaged feeds. Suckling the calf at irregular times may also cause it. Exposure to damp and cold is a potent predisposing cause. Calves separated from their dams and fed considerable quantities of cold milk at long intervals are liable to contract this form of indigestion. Calves fed on artificial feed, used as a substitute for milk, frequently contract it. Damaged feed, sour or rotten milk, milk from dirty cans, skim milk from a dirty creamery skim-milk vat, skim milk hauled warm, exposed to the sun and fed from unclean buckets may all cause this disease.

_Symptoms._--The calf is depressed; appetite is poor; sometimes there is fever; the extremities are cold. The dung becomes gradually softer and lighter in color until it is cream colored and little thicker than milk. It has a most offensive odor and may contain clumps of curd. Later it contains mucus and gas bubbles. It sticks to the hair of the tail and buttocks, causing the hair to drop off and the skin to become irritated. There may be pain on passing dung and also abdominal or colicky pain. The calf stands about with the back arched and belly contracted. There may be tympanites. Great weakness ensues in severe cases, and without prompt and successful treatment death soon follows.

_Treatment._--Remove the cause. Give appropriate feed of best quality in small quantities. Make sure that the cow furnishing the milk is healthy and is properly fed. Clean all milk vessels. Clean and disinfect the stalls. For the diarrhea give two raw eggs or a cup of strong coffee. If the case is severe, give 1 ounce of castor oil with a teaspoonful of creolin and 20 grains of subnitrate of bismuth. Repeat the bismuth and creolin with flaxseed tea every four hours. Tannopin may be used in doses of 15 to 30 grains.

Calves artificially fed on whole or skim milk should receive only such milk as is sweet and has been handled in a sanitary manner. Milk should always be warmed to the temperature of the body before feeding. When calves artificially milk-fed develop diarrhea, the use of the following treatment has given excellent results in many cases: Immediately after milking, or the separation of the skim milk from the cream, formalin in the proportion of 1 to 4,000 should be added to the milk which is used for feeding; this may be closely approximated by adding four drops of formalin to each quart of milk. This medicated milk should be fed to the calf in the usual quantity. When the diarrhea is not controlled in three or four days by this treatment, the additional use of some of the agents recommended above may assist in a recovery.

INFECTIOUS DIARRHEA; WHITE SCOUR.

[See chapter on Diseases of young calves, p. 247.]

GASTROENTERITIS.

This consists of an inflammation of the walls of the stomachs and of the bowel.

Gastroenteritis, or inflammation of the walls of the stomachs and intestines, follows upon irritations more severe or longer continued than those that produce gastrointestinal catarrh.

_Causes._--Severe indigestion may be followed by gastroenteritis, or it may be caused by swallowing irritant poisons, such as arsenic or corrosive sublimate or irritant plants. Exposure to cold or inclement weather may produce the disease, especially in debilitated animals or animals fed improperly. It is asserted that if cattle feed on vegetation infested with some kinds of caterpillars this disease may result.

_Symptoms._--Dullness; drooping of the ears; dryness of the muzzle; dry skin; staring coat; loins morbidly sensitive to pressure; fullness of the left flank, which is caused by the distention of the fourth stomach by gas. The pulse is small, the gait is feeble and staggering; each step taken is accompanied with a grunt, and this symptom is especially marked if the animal walks in a downward direction. There is loss of appetite, and rumination is suspended. The passages at first are few in number, hard, and are sometimes coated with mucus or with blood. Later a severe diarrhea sets in, when the passages contain mucus and blood and have an offensive odor. There is evidence of colicky pain, and the abdomen is sensitive to pressure. Pain may be continuous. There is fever and acceleration of pulse rate and respirations. Mental depression and even insensibility occur before death. The disease is always severe and often fatal.

_Post-mortem appearances._--The mucous membrane of the fourth stomach has a well-marked red color and sometimes presents ulcerations. The wall is thickened and softened, and similar conditions are found in the walls of the intestines. The red discoloration extends in spots or large areas quite through the wall, showing on the outside.

_Treatment._--Very small quantities of carefully selected feed must be given and the appetite must not be forced. Protect the animal well from cold and dampness. Internally, give linseed tea, boiled milk, boiled oatmeal gruel, or rice water. These protectives may carry the medicine. Tannopin in doses of 30 to 60 grains is good. Subnitrate of bismuth in doses of 1 to 2 drams may be given. Pulverized opium may be used, if the diarrhea is severe, in 1 to 2 dram doses. If the bowel movements are not free, one may give from a pint to a quart of castor or raw linseed oil.

TRAUMATIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.

This disease results from the presence of a foreign body. This condition is not rare in cattle, because these animals have the habit of swallowing their feed without careful chewing, and so nails, screws, hairpins, ends of wire, and other metal objects may be swallowed unconsciously. Such objects gravitate to the second stomach, where they may be caught in the folds of the lining mucous membrane, and in some instances the wall of this organ is perforated. From this accident, chronic indigestion results. The symptoms, more or less characteristic, are pain when getting up or lying down; grunting and pain upon sudden motion, especially downhill; coughing; pain on pressure over the second stomach, which lies immediately above the cartilaginous prolongation of the sternum. If the presence of such a foreign body is recognized, it may be removed by a difficult surgical operation, or, as is usually most economical, the animal may be killed for beef, if there is no fever.

DISEASES OF THE BOWELS.

DIARRHEA AND DYSENTERY.

[See also Gastrointestinal catarrh, p. 32.]

The word "dysentery," as it is commonly used in relation to the diseases of animals, signifies a severe form of diarrhea.

_Causes._--Diarrhea is a symptom of irritation of the intestines, resulting in increased secretion or increased muscular contractions, or both. The irritation is sometimes the result of chilling from exposure, improper feeding, irritant feeds, indigestion, organic diseases of the intestines, or parasites.

_Symptoms._--Passages from the bowels are frequent, at first consisting of thin dung, but as the disease continues they become watery and offensive smelling, and may be even streaked with blood. At first the animal shows no constitutional disturbance, but later it becomes weak and may exhibit evidence of abdominal pain by looking around to the side, drawing the feet together, lying down, or moving restlessly. Sometimes this malady is accompanied with fever, great depression, loss of strength, rapid loss of flesh, and it may terminate in death.

_Treatment._--When the disease depends on irritating properties of the feed which has been supplied to the animal, it is advisable to give a mild purgative, such as a pint of castor or linseed oil. When the secretions of the bowels are irritating, an ounce of carbonate of magnesia and half an ounce of tincture of opium should be shaken up in a quart of linseed tea and given to the animal three times a day until the passages present a natural appearance. When there is debility, want of appetite, no fever, but a continuance of the watery discharges from the bowels, then an astringent may be given. For such cases the following is serviceable: Tannic acid, 1 ounce; powdered gentian, 2 ounces; mix and divide into 12 powders, one powder to be given three times a day until the passages present a natural appearance. Each powder may be mixed with a pint and a half of water. Tannopin is a new remedy that is most useful in such cases. The dose is from 30 grains to 2 drams. Useful household remedies are raw eggs, strong coffee, parched rye flour, or decoction of oak bark. In all cases the food must be given sparingly, and it should be carefully selected to insure good quality. Complete rest in a box stall is desirable. When diarrhea is a symptom of a malady characterized by the presence of a blood poison, the treatment appropriate to such disease must be applied.

SIMPLE ENTERITIS.

[See Gastroenteritis, p. 33.]

CROUPOUS ENTERITIS.

Under certain conditions, severe irritation of the digestive canal may, in cattle, cause a form of inflammation of the intestines (enteritis) that is characterized by the formation of a false membrane upon the surface of the lining membrane of the intestines, particularly the large ones.

_Symptoms._--There is fever, depression, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and in the fecal masses shreds of leathery false membrane may be found. These shreds are sometimes mistaken for parasites or for portions of the wall of the intestine.

_Treatment._--Give a pound of Glauber's salt, followed by bicarbonate of soda in doses of 2 ounces four times daily.

ENTERITIS (OBSTRUCTION RESULTING FROM INVAGINATION, OR INTUSSUSCEPTION, TWISTING, AND KNOTTING OF THE BOWELS).

Inflammation may arise from a knot forming on some part of the small intestine from the portion of the bowel becoming twisted on itself, or from one part of the bowel slipping into another, which is termed invagination. This form of enteritis occurs occasionally in animals of the bovine species.

_Causes._--The small intestine, which in the ox rests on the right side of the rumen, is, from the position which it occupies, predisposed to this accident. It has been ascertained that animals which have shown symptoms of this malady have trotted, galloped, or made other violent exertions in coming from drinking, or that they have been chased by dogs or by animals of their own species while at pasture. The accident is most likely to occur among cattle on very hilly pastures. The danger of jumping or running is greatest when the rumen is distended with food.

_Symptoms._--This form of enteritis or obstruction is manifested by severe colicky pains; the ox scrapes and strikes the ground with his front and hind feet alternately; keeps lying down and getting up again; he keeps his tail constantly raised and turns his nose frequently to his right flank; he is frequently bloated, or tympanitic, on that side. He refuses feed and does not ruminate, and for some hours suffers severe pains. At first he frequently passes thin dung, and also urinates frequently, but passes only a little urine at a time. On the second day the pains have become less acute; the animal remains lying down; moans occasionally; his pulse is small and quick; he still refuses feed and does not ruminate. At this stage he does not pass any dung, though sometimes a small quantity of bloody mucus may be passed. The animal passes very little urine. This condition may continue for a considerable time, as cattle so affected may live for 15 or even 20 days.

_Post-mortem appearance._--At death the bowels are found to be misplaced or obstructed, as mentioned above, and inflamed, the inflammation always originating at the point where the intestine has been invaginated, twisted, or knotted. Sometimes the part is gangrenous, the compression of the blood vessels preventing circulation, and thus causing the death of the tissues.

_Treatment._--Purgatives, anodynes, and other remedies are of no service in such cases, and bleeding also fails to produce any benefit. Indeed, it is usually true that in such cases treatment is useless. Some cases are recorded in which an incision has been made in the flank, so as to enable the operator to restore the intestine to its normal position or to remove the kink.

CONSTIPATION.

Constipation is to be regarded rather as a symptom of disease or of faults in feeding than as a disease in itself. It occurs in almost all general fevers unless the bowels are involved in local disease, in obstructions of all kinds, from feeding on dry, bulky feed, etc. In order to remove the constipation the treatment must be applied to remove the causes which give rise to it. Calves sometimes suffer from constipation immediately after birth when the meconium that accumulates in the bowels before birth is not passed. In such cases, give a rectal injection of warm water and an ounce of castor oil shaken up with an ounce of new milk. The mother's milk is the best food to prevent constipation in the new-born calf, as it contains a large amount of fatty matter which renders it laxative in its effects.

It is usually better to treat habitual constipation by a change of diet than by medicine. Flaxseed is a good feed laxative. If the constipation has lasted long, repeated small doses of purgatives are better than a single large dose.

INTESTINAL WORMS.

[See chapter on "The animal parasites of cattle," p. 502.]

RUPTURES (VENTRAL HERNIA).

Ventral hernia, or rupture, is an escape of some one of the abdominal organs through a rupture in the abdominal muscles, the skin remaining intact. The rumen, the small intestine, or part of the large intestine, and the fourth stomach are the parts which usually form a ventral hernia in bovine animals.

_Causes._--Hernia is frequently produced by blows of the horns, kicks, and falls. In old cows hernia may sometimes occur without any direct injury.

HERNIA OF THE RUMEN.--Hernia of the rumen is generally situated on the left side of the abdomen, on account of the situation of the rumen. In exceptional cases it may take place on the right side, and in such cases it also generally happens that some folds of the intestine pass into the hernial sac. Hernias have been classified into simple or complicated, recent or old, traumatic (from mechanical injury) or spontaneous.

In recent traumatic hernia there is swelling on the left side of the lower part of the abdomen. The swelling is greatest in the cases of hernia which are situated on the lower part of the abdomen. Unless an examination is made immediately after the injury has been inflicted it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to ascertain the exact extent of the rupture, owing to the swelling which subsequently takes place. Frequently there is no loss of appetite, fever, or other general symptoms attending the injury. From the twelfth to the fifteenth day the swelling has generally subsided to such an extent that it is possible by an examination to determine the extent of the rupture.

In old cows what is termed spontaneous hernia may sometimes take place without any direct injury. The occurrence of this form of hernia is explained by the increase in the size of the abdomen, which takes place in an advanced stage of pregnancy, causing a thinning and stretching of the muscular fibers, which at last may rupture, or give way. Such hernias frequently occur about the end of the period of gestation, and in some instances have contained the right sac of the rumen, the omentum, the small and large intestines, a portion of the liver, and the pregnant uterus.

In old hernias the swelling is soft and elastic, and if they have not contracted adhesions to the sides of the laceration, they can be made to disappear by pressure carefully applied. Sometimes this accident is complicated by a rupture of the rumen, constituting a complicated hernia. If a portion of the contents of the rumen escape into the abdomen, the case will be aggravated by the occurrence of peritonitis.

HERNIA OF THE BOWEL.--When the intestines (Pl. III, fig. 6) form the contents of the hernia, it will be situated at the right side of the abdomen. In an intestinal hernia the swelling is usually not painful, of a doughy consistence or elastic, according as the intestine does or does not contain alimentary matter. This swelling can generally be made to disappear by pressure, and when it has been reduced one can easily recognize the direction and extent of the hernial opening. Hernias of the bowel which are situated at the upper and right side of the abdomen are usually formed by the small intestine. They are less easily reduced than a hernia in a lower situation, but when reduction has been effected they are less readily reproduced than those occurring lower. In hernias of the small intestine, adhesion of the protruding parts to the walls of the opening, or strangulation, are complications which sometimes take place. If adhesion has taken place the hernia can not be reduced by pressure, and when strangulation has occurred the animal shows symptoms of pain--is restless, turns its nose to the painful part, and shows those symptoms which are usually collectively designated under the term colic. If relief is not afforded, the animal will die.

HERNIA OF THE RENNET, OR FOURTH STOMACH.--This disease occasionally occurs in calves and is usually caused by a blow from a cow's horn on the right flank of the calf. After such an accident a swelling forms on the right flank near the last rib. This swelling may be neither hot nor painful, even at first, and is soft to the touch. It can be made to disappear by careful pressure, when the sides of the aperture through which it has passed can be felt. The application of pressure so as to cause the disappearance of the hernia is best made immediately after the occurrence of the accident, or when the edema which accompanies the swelling has disappeared.

_Treatment._--When a hernia is reducible--that is, can be pushed back into the abdomen--then, if it is of recent occurrence, it is advisable to maintain the natural position of the parts by bandaging and to allow the walls of the laceration to grow together. The bowels should be kept reasonably empty by avoiding the use of bulky feed, and the animal must be kept quiet.

The following method of bandaging is recommended by Bouley: