CHAPTER V

Wounds and Their Treatment

The stockman has all sorts of wounds with which to deal. He may guard his animals with the care and caution of a mother and still find constant bother and worry to face in the daily management of his stock. Today it may be a wound caused by a nail puncture in the foot; tomorrow a cut occasioned by a fence; and then almost immediately another, the result of a kick or a hook; with patience nearly exhausted, now follow bruises of many sorts and unexplainable lacerations.

These troubles occur on the best managed farms. There is but one thing to do: meet each case as it occurs and lend such assistance as you can that nature may repair the wrecked tissue at the earliest possible moment.

THE KINDS OF WOUNDS

Wounds fall into four classes: the clean-cut kind made by something sharp; the torn or lacerated, where ragged edges are left; the bruised, the result of continued pressure or kicks or a knock; and the punctured, like the entrance of a nail or splinter or gunshot.

The latter class is the most difficult in treating, for the reason of the greater penetration that may likely occur. In the case of gunshot, the wound may be on the surface, or it may extend entirely through the region attacked, or even penetrate some vital organ like the heart or the lungs or bowels, and either immediately or within a few days be the cause of death. Fortunately such wounds are rare. The stockman may never have to deal with them at all. There are punctured wounds that are common, however; some, indeed, frequently lead to death. A nail wound is the most serious, perhaps. It is likely that more cases of tetanus or lockjaw are due to nail punctures than to all others combined.

After this class comes the lacerated kind. These heal slowly; the tissue being torn and bruised is repaired only through the sloughing off of the injured and now superfluous parts. As a result, even with the most attentive surgical help, the injured part develops its exposed sore, ending finally completely healed, but permanently marked. Bruises may be equally bad, long delayed in healing and very painful. Do you remember the stone bruises of boyhood days? How long it required to develop! And the pain! I shall feel mine for ages to come.

The clean-cut wounds, if not too serious, are the least difficult in treating.

FIRST STEP IN TREATING

The flow of blood is usually associated with ordinary wounds; other than with some bruised and punctured wounds this is always true. Frequently a nail puncture gives off no blood or it is not noticed. However, the blood is present, for, from the very nature of the trouble, blood rushes to the seat, this being nature’s way of repair. Your first step, therefore, is to check the excessive blood flow.

If left to itself the blood might do it. Blood has the trick of coagulating or clotting; and this in time will check the flow. But you can assist in forming the clot very simply by applying some finely ground material that the blood may be held on the spot. Absorbent cotton is the best material to use. In case this is not available, use something of like nature--something that is clean, not stored up with germs. Tea is good, as is flour also. Cold water acts favorably, and for the slight, ordinary surface wounds water is usually sufficient. A few drops of some antiseptic in the water, if available, is always advisable, for the freshest water carries its full quota of germs, some of which may cause trouble. A tiny bit of alum powder will be found both effective and not painful.

=Cleansing the Wound.=--After the flow of blood has been stopped, cleansing the wound is next in order. All dirt should be carefully removed, the injured flesh cleansed, the torn tissues brought together and stitched, if need be, and antiseptics applied. The water used in bathing the wounded flesh should contain an antiseptic, that the germs present may be destroyed and no live ones admitted by water in cleansing the wound. Any good commercial antiseptic will do; or the old common ones, like corrosive sublimate, one part in a thousand parts of water, or carbolic acid, a teaspoonful in a quart of water. Some powdered antiseptic like iodoform is very desirable for dusting into the wound.

=Making the Bandage.=--Unless the wound is of little consequence it should be covered and bandaged that no foreign elements be admitted and that some pressure may be given to keep the broken parts together. To secure this effect absorbent cotton, slightly moistened with the antiseptic, should be laid on the wound, and firmly fastened by strips of clean cotton cloth.

By winding this bandage around and about the wound, dressed in this careful way, the wound will be protected, germs will be kept out and nature, thus reinforced, will be enabled to make a rapid recovery. Unless the bandage is disturbed in some way there is no need of changing it under twenty-four or thirty-six hours. If, for any reason, the bandage is displaced, dress as before, and bandage again.

=Special Treatment.=--When a cut wound is deep or large, stitching is sometimes required, that the broken parts may be brought together for more rapid healing. Nothing is better for this than a coarse needle and heavy thread. Before stitching, however, the wound should be bathed as previously described. The needle and thread should be soaked in the antiseptic, that no germs may be introduced by means of them.

Now you are ready to make the stitches. Place the needle about an eighth to a quarter of an inch from the edge of the wound across to the opposite side. Bring the two ends together and tie, leaving the lips of the wound as close together as possible. If more than a single stitch is necessary, proceed in the same way, placing the second stitch about three-quarters of an inch from the first one; continue as with the first stitch if more are necessary.

In case a needle and thread are not available, pins may be used in the emergency. Insert the pin through the two edges and bring the lips together, making them fast by a thread or cord carried from one end to the other several times, alternating to the right and left as presented by the figure eight. Sometimes the wound enlarges and becomes feverish. If such becomes very severe, remove the fastenings and bathe the wound very gently, using a mild antiseptic wash of tepid water in which carbolic acid has been placed.

Avoid any breaking of the healing tissue and do not have the washing solution too strong, else it may injure the delicate tissue growth. A teaspoonful of carbolic acid to a quart of water is strong enough. With lacerated wounds the treatment is very similar. If the wound goes bad and becomes spongy add a tablespoonful of acetate of lead and a tablespoonful of sulphate of zinc to the antiseptic solution and apply twice daily.

=Nail Punctures.=--These very frequently cause trouble. You have no way of observing the wound and your only way of judging is from the way the animal walks or acts, and if the hoof is unduly hot. Locating lameness in the stifle joint is a common but inexcusable error, as the action resulting from lameness in the two parts is entirely different. The so-called gravel which is said to enter the sole of the foot and then to work out at the heel is usually the working out of the pus or the matter resulting from a nail puncture or a bruise.

If an animal becomes suddenly and severely lame and there be no evidence of any injury to any other part of the leg, such as swelling, heat and pain upon pressure, it is always well to look for puncture in the foot. If the animal stands with the lame foot extended and when walking places the lame foot well forward and brings the well foot up to it, the evidence of puncture is still stronger.

To examine the foot properly the shoe should be removed. It is not sufficient to merely scrape the bottom of the foot clean, for if the nail has pulled out and the horn sprung back in position, all trace of its entrance may have been obliterated. To examine the foot properly, tap the hoof with a hammer or knife and the exact spot may be definitely located. If the injury is of a few days’ standing, additional heat in the hoof and, perhaps, slight swelling of the coronet may also be present.

In treating such wounds, pare away only such parts of the hoof as necessity requires and introduce a bit of cotton cloth rolled as a string by means of a probe of some kind. Both probe and cotton must be treated with the antiseptic solution. This solution should be a little stronger than for flesh wounds. Make the solution by using a teaspoonful of carbolic acid to only a pint of water. After the cotton has been inserted a few times and withdrawn, each time a fresh cord being used and fully saturated, leave the last one in for a few hours and then repeat the treatment. This should be done three or four times each day.

The main point in the treatment of nail puncture of the foot is to provide free exit to all matter that may collect and keep the parts as clean as possible. If this be done, the matter will not be compelled to work out at the heels, and no separation or loss of hoof will occur. Often a very severe wound is made and the treatment acts slowly.

In case proud flesh accumulates, it should be burned away by a hot iron. After this operation has been performed, the cavity should be filled with balsam of fir and cotton placed over it, a piece of heavy leather fitted to the foot and held fast by the replaced shoe. This will usually end the difficulty. A veterinarian should be called in case the wound is severe or goes bad as the treatment progresses.

=Treating Bruises.=--In treating bruises a different procedure is necessary. The broken tissue is concealed--beneath the skin and usually under the surface muscles. Bathing with water and acetate of lead--a quart of water and two tablespoonfuls of the acetate--will tend to lessen the inflammation. In time you may have to open the swelling for the pus to get out. After doing so, inject some wash for cleansing, using one quart of water and a tablespoonful of chloride of zinc.

If the swelling remains, apply twice each month a salve made by using one teaspoonful of biniodide of mercury and three tablespoonfuls of lard. Wash occasionally, using the chloride of zinc solution.

=Leg Wounds.=--Cleanse the wound with a wash composed of one tablespoonful of acetate of lead, one tablespoonful of sulphate of zinc, four tablespoonfuls of tincture of arnica and one quart of water. Use this wash frequently, every hour or so, during the first day. After that three or four applications will be sufficient. The sore should be kept lower than the skin during the healing process. If it tends to crowd up, apply a tiny bit--as much as you can place on a one-cent piece--of bichloride of mercury. This will assist in getting an even heal and the skin will grow over, leaving no blemish or swelling.

=Maggots in Wounds.=--If the wound has been treated as suggested above there is no possibility of any trouble from maggots. These come from a lack of cleanliness and neglect. Of course, an animal often gets a wound and the owner is not aware of the mishap. Wounds, more or less infrequently treated, those made as the result of castration, occasionally get infected with maggots.

When, for any cause, maggots are present, they must be got rid of at once. A good plan is to use chloroform, either by spraying or by throwing it in the wound in small drops from a sponge.

The danger from maggots can usually be avoided if a mixture composed of one tablespoonful of turpentine, three tablespoonfuls of tar and two tablespoonfuls of lard or fish oil be smeared all around the border of the wound.