CATTLE AND THEIR DISEASES TEXT

without obstruction in that which sustains the globule. As gangrene, then, is the first stage of decomposition of animal matter, so is congestion the first stage of decomposition of the globule; and as mortification is death in the organized body, so is congestion death in the organized globule. "It appears evident that this disease, in all its forms and degrees of intensity, seeks vent or release; in other words, Nature conflicting with it, throws it off its track, or balance, and offers means of escape, or shows it a door by which it may make its exit. In the first stage of the disease, the dermoid (skin) tissues make the effort. In the inflammatory, the serous, and the congestive, the mucous gangrene seeks vent; if obtained, mortification is prevented; if not, mortification directly supervenes, and death terminates the case. "In the case to which I refer, observation confirms my opinion that absolute mortification without vent determines the gangrene of the blood, and is hardly curable; but that gangrene's finding vent determines it to be curable, and the recovery highly probable." EPIZOOeTIC CATARRH. Catarrh frequently assumes an epizooetic form of a very virulent character, originating spontaneously and extending over a large section of country at or about the same time. A cold spring succeeding a mild winter, is peculiarly productive of malignant catarrh. This is one of the most distressing and fatal diseases to which cattle are subject. _Symptoms._--The animal appears dull, and unwilling to move about, staggering when forced to do so; obstinate costiveness is usually one of the earliest symptoms, succeeded by diarrhoea, which is equally difficult of management; sometimes, however, diarrhoea is present from the first; the animal loses flesh rapidly; the coat is staring; appetite is lost; tumors form about the head, neck, back, and joints, which appear to be filled with air, and upon pressure cause a crepitating sound; saliva flows from the mouth, becoming very fetid as the disease progresses. The animal always dies of putrefaction. _Treatment._--This disease should be treated early, or not at all. Good nursing is very essential. When costiveness is present, give Barbadoes aloes, one ounce; croton-oil, ten drops; mix together; or give one pint of linseed-oil, to which add from ten to twenty drops of castor-oil. If the bowels are not open in twenty-four hours, give four ounces of sulphate of magnesia every six hours until they are opened. Follow this with tincture of aconite, ten drops in water, every four hours, until the fever has abated. Bleeding has been recommended by some writers; but the author has failed to experience any benefit from resorting to it, but, on the contrary, has seen much injury result from the use--or, rather, the abuse--of the lancet. He is, indeed, inclined to attribute much of the fatality attending this disease to indiscriminate blood-letting. When much debility exists, the animal should be sustained by tonics and stimulants. One ounce of nitric ether and half an ounce of tincture of opium, given in a little water, will be found beneficial. It should be given twice a day. Pulverized gentian-root, one ounce; Jamaica ginger, half an ounce; pulverized cloves, half an ounce; mixed, and divided into four powders, one to be given at night and at morning; will be found useful, in place of the opium and ether. FARDEL. This disease is properly known by the name of clue-bound. The manyplus, or omasum (third stomach), frequently becomes so choked up with food that it is hard and dry, and the operation of the digestive organs is very seriously impaired. The animal eats voraciously, for a time, but stops suddenly and trembles; the countenance assumes a peculiarly haggard appearance; there is a wild expression of the eye; a foaming at the mouth; a tendency to pitch forward, and at times a falling head-foremost to the ground. Occasionally, the symptoms are very active, speedily terminating in death. There are few diseases of a constitutional character in which the stomach is not, more or less, sympathetically involved. "Toward the end of September, 1746, a great number of cows died at Osterwich, in the principality of Halberstadt. Lieberkuhn, a celebrated physician,--there were no veterinary surgeons at that time,--was sent to examine into the nature of the disease, which was supposed to be one of the species of murrain that was then committing such ravages among the cattle in various parts of the Continent. There were none of the tumors, or pestilential buboes, that, in an earlier or later period of the malady, usually accompanied and characterized murrain; but upon inspection of the dead bodies, considerable peritoneal inflammation was found; the first and second stomachs were filled with food, but the third stomach was the palpable seat of the disease; its leaves were black and gangrened. The mass contained between the leaves was black, dry, and so hard that it could scarcely be cut with a scalpel. It intercepted the passage of the food from the first two stomachs to the fourth; and this latter stomach was empty and much inflamed. Neither the heart, nor the lungs, nor the intestines exhibited any trace of disease. Twelve cows were opened, and the appearances were nearly the same in all of them." _Treatment._--Give one and a half pounds of Epsom-salts, dissolved in three pints of water; or one quart of potash, three times daily, dissolved in water, will be found useful in this disease. FOUL IN THE FOOT. This is caused by hard or irritating substances making their way in between the claws of the foot, causing inflammation, and sometimes ulceration, in the parts. The pasterns swell, and the animal becomes lame. The foot should be thoroughly washed, and all foreign substances removed. A pledget of tow, saturated with tar and sprinkled with powdered sulphate of copper, should be inserted between the claws. This usually requires but one or two applications. GARGET. This is a hard, knotty condition of the udder, which sometimes follows calving, in consequence of the sudden distention of the bag with milk; and the inflammation which supervenes causes a congealed or coagulated condition of the milk to take place, of which, if neglected, suppuration and abscesses are the result. _Treatment._--Let the calf suck the dam as speedily as possible, and, if the hardness is not then removed, foment the udder with warm water; after which, wipe it dry, and apply to the entire surface melted lard as hot as the animal will bear. This is, generally, all that is required, the most obstinate cases yielding to it. If abscesses form, they should be lanced. GASTRO-ENTERITIS. This disease--otherwise known as wood-evil, or moor-ill--arises from eating the buds of oak, young ash, and other trees, which are of a very highly stimulating or irritating character. As the intestinal canal is liable to inflammatory action from irritant substances admitted into it, animals are found to become diseased from eating too freely of these vegetable substances. _Symptoms._--Loss of appetite and suspended rumination; mouth hot; skin dry; pulse from sixty to seventy; swelling and pain of the belly; obstinate constipation; faeces hard and covered with blood; urine of a strong odor, highly colored, and voided with difficulty. _Treatment._--The animal should be bled, and a strong purgative administered, followed by aconite and belladonna, as in enteritis. Injections of Castile-soap and water should be freely used; the application of the mustard, hartshorn, and water to the belly will also be found very beneficial. HOOSE. This disease--known also as catarrh--is occasionally the sequence of coryza, but more frequently it arises from an impure atmosphere; consequently, in cow-houses where animals are crowded together in numbers, it is most frequently found. Scanty provender, and of an inferior quality, is among the exciting causes of hoose, producing, as it does, a debilitated state of the system, which, upon exposure of the animal to cold, or wet, hastens the disorder. Some breeds of cattle are peculiarly liable to this disease, which, if not arrested in its early stage, runs on, involving the lungs, and frequently terminating in consumption. Of all our domestic animals, neat cattle are most subject to pulmonary diseases. This is attributable to the neglect and exposure which are far too often their lot. Butchers will testify that a large portion of all cattle slaughtered have abscesses and other diseases of the lungs. _Symptoms._--Loss of appetite; muzzle dry; coat rough, or staring; respiration quickened; horns hot; ears, nose, and legs cold; husky cough; pulse from sixty to seventy, small and thready; bowels frequently constipated. _Treatment._--Give one ounce of the following powders every six hours, until the bowels are opened: Barbadoes aloes, one and half ounces; nitrate of potassa, half an ounce; ginger, six drachms; mix and divide into six powders. Setons in the dewlap are often of great benefit. HOOVE. Hoove, or blown, so common, and often so speedily fatal in cattle, is the result of fermentation in the _rumen_, or paunch, in consequence of the animal's having eaten large quantities of wet grass, luxuriant clover, turnips, etc. An accumulation of gas is the result of this fermentation, which greatly disturbs the haunch and left side of the belly, causing much pain to the animal, and frequently threatening suffocation. _Treatment._--Drench the animal with one ounce of spirits of hartshorn in one quart of water, the object being to neutralize the gas which is present in the rumen; or, two ounces of table salt dissolved in one quart of water will be found very effectual. If these do not speedily give relief, an active purge should be given. Injections of soap and water should be freely used. If the case still proves obstinate, and the life of the animal is threatened, the paunch should be punctured. For this purpose, the trochar--an instrument specially adapted--should be used; but, in the absence of an instrument, an ordinary pocket-knife may be employed, taking care not to make a large opening. The proper point to operate is midway between the last rib and the prominent point of the hip-bone, about twelve inches from the centre of the back or loins. Few cases have a fatal termination where this operation has been properly performed. HYDATIDS. Worms in the brain occasionally occur, causing great uneasiness to the animal and generally proving fatal. The symptoms are, loss of appetite; suspended rumination; a fevered condition of the system; horns and ears hot; respiration disturbed; coat staring, etc. No course of treatment will prove efficacious in this disease. Pressure on the brain may occur from an accumulation of water, tumors, bruises, etc., in the cranial case. In either case, the same effects are produced as are observed in apoplexy. INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. Inflammation of the bladder generally accompanies inflammation of the kidneys, though it is sometimes found disconnected and alone. It is occasionally caused by calculous concretions in the bladder,--which should be removed,--causing very acute abdominal pain to the animal. She makes frequent efforts to stale, passing but a few drops of urine at a time. The pulse is full and rapid; mouth clammy; nose dry; eyes bloodshot; appetite lost; moaning, and walking with a staggering gait. _Treatment._--Inject into the bladder one quart of tepid water, and from one to two ounces of tincture of opium mixed together. Give internally one of the following powders every hour until relieved; nitrate of potassa, one ounce; tartrate of antimony, and pulverized digitalis leaves, each one drachm; mix, and divide into six powders. Mucilaginous draughts should be freely given. Rupture of the bladder sometimes occurs, but there are no symptoms by which it may be known; and, if there were, no service could be rendered in the way of repairing the injury; the animal must die. INFLAMMATION OF THE HAW. The ox, like the horse, has a membrane of semilunar form in the inner corner of the eye, which is capable of being thrown over the entire eyeball, for the purpose of cleansing the eye from any foreign substance which may get into it. This membrane is commonly called the haw, and is susceptible of attacks of inflammation, which cause it to swell, frequently even closing up the eye. _Treatment._--Give a dose of physic, and, if the animal is plethoric, extract a little blood from the vein on the same side as the affected eye. Apply to the eye either of the following washes: tincture of opium, one ounce; rain-water, one pint; or, tincture of aconite, one drachm, to one pint of water. Bathe two or three times a day. INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS. This disease--sometimes called nephritis--occurs occasionally in cattle in consequence of their eating bad or unwholesome food, or of the abuse of diuretics, etc. The symptoms are very insidious in their approach. The loins are very tender upon pressure; the urine is voided in small quantities. As the disease advances, the symptoms become more marked and acute. The animal is dull, and feeds daintily; the evacuation of urine is attended with increased pain, and the urine is highly colored and bloody; the nose is dry; the horns, ears, and extremities are cold; respiration hurried; the pulse full, hard, and throbbing. _Treatment._--Give one pint of linseed-oil and ten drops of castor-oil, mixed together; follow this with small doses of salts once a day, for three or four days; give injections of water, one half a gallon to two ounces of tincture of arnica. Mustard applications to the loins are also very useful. INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. Diseases of the liver are of very common occurrence,--a fact with which all beef-butchers are familiar. Perhaps no organ in the animal economy is so liable to disease. The obscurity of the symptoms and the good condition of the animal prevent its discovery, as a general thing, during its lifetime. When, however, the disease assumes an active form,--known as the yellows, jaundice, or inflammation of the liver,--the symptoms are more readily detected. _Symptoms._--A yellowish color of the eye will be observed; skin, urine, etc., highly colored; soreness, on pressure, on the right side; loss of appetite; dullness; constipation of the bowels, etc. _Treatment._--Calomel is the most reliable medicine known to practitioners for diseases of the liver. Its abuse, however, has brought it into disrepute. Yet, as with ordinary care it may be advantageously used, we will prescribe it as that upon which the most dependence is to be placed, and in doing so, will endeavor to have it used safely. Bleeding has been recommended: but the author has never found any benefit resulting. Give Epsom-salts, in doses of four ounces each, every night, with one scruple of calomel, until the animal is relieved. Mustard and water should be frequently applied to the right side, and well rubbed in. LARYNGITIS. This disease is of rare occurrence in cattle. In it, the mucous membrane lining the larynx is in a very irritable condition; the least pressure upon the parts affected causes intensely excruciating pain; the respiration becomes quick, painful, and laborious; the animal often appears to be hungry, yet does not eat much, in consequence of the pain occasioned by the act of swallowing. _Treatment._--Apply to the throat externally strong mustard, mixed, with equal parts of aqua ammonia and water, to a thin paste, every hour, until it produces an effect upon the skin; sponging the parts each time with warm water before applying the mustard. The animal should not be bled. Give upon the tongue, or in drink, half-drachm doses of nitrate of potassa, every three or four hours, until relief is obtained. If suffocation threatens, the operation of tracheotomy is the only resort. [Illustration: AN ABERDEENSHIRE POLLED BULL.] Cloths saturated with cold water, wrapped around the neck so as to cover the larynx, frequently afford relief. A purgative will also be found useful. LICE. Cattle are very subject to lice, particularly when they are neglected, half-starved, and in poor condition. Good care and good feeding--in connection with the treatment recommended in mange, to which the reader is referred--will comprise all that is requisite. MANGE. Mange, or leprosy, is one of the most unpleasant and difficult diseases to manage of all the ailments to which cattle are subject requiring the nicest care and attention to render it easy of cure. An animal badly nursed will not, under the most skillful treatment, quickly recover. Its causes are in the main, due to poor food, which produces a debilitated condition of the system, and in connection with a want of cleanliness, causes a development of the _acari_, or minute insects, exciting very great irritation upon the skin and causing the cow to rub herself against every object with which she comes in contact. The hair falls off; a scurfy appearance of the skin is perceptible; and the animal is poor in condition and in milk. The great trouble in treating this disease springs from its contagious character; for, no sooner is the animal, oftentimes, once free from the _acari_ than it comes in contact with some object against which it has previously been rubbing, when the _acari_ which were left upon that object are again brought in contact with the animal, and the disease is reproduced. If, immediately after the proper applications are made, the animal is removed to other quarters, and not allowed to return to the former ones for six or eight weeks, there is, generally speaking, but little trouble in treating the disease. Take the animal upon a warm, sunny day, and with a scrubbing-brush cleanse the skin thoroughly with Castile-soap and water; when dry, apply in the same manner the following mixture; white hellebore, one ounce; sulphur flower, three ounces; gas-water, one quart; mix all well together. One or two applications are, generally, all that will be required. Give internally one of the following powders in the feed, night and morning: flowers of sulphur, two ounces; black antimony, one ounce; nitrate of potassa, one ounce; mix, and divide into eight powders. MURRAIN. This is one of the most malignant diseases to which cattle are liable. Fortunately, however, true murrain is comparatively rare in this great stock-raising country. The entire system seems to partake of the disease. The first indication of its approach is a feverish condition of the system, attended with a frequent and painful cough; the pulse is small, hard, and rapid. As the disease advances, the respiration becomes disturbed; the flanks heave; vesicular eruption is observed upon the teats, mouth, and feet; the horns are cold; the animal is sometimes lame; constipation and, sometimes, diarrhoea are accompanying symptoms; _faeces_ black and fetid; the eyes weep and become much swollen; great tenderness along the spine; a brown or bloody discharge from the nose and mouth; the animal moans incessantly, grinds his teeth, rarely lies down, but to get up again quickly; finally, the breath becomes very offensive; tumors make their appearance in various parts of the body, which, in favorable cases, suppurate, and discharge a fetid matter. _Treatment._--Give one fourth of a pound of Epsom-salts, with one drachm of Jamaica ginger, twice a day, for two or three days. A bottle of porter, twice a day, will be found serviceable. Very little medicine is required internally in this disease, but much depends upon good nursing. External applications are chiefly to be depended upon. A solution of chloride of lime should be applied to the eruptions, or a solution of the chloride of zinc, twenty grains to an ounce of water; or, of sulphate of zinc, two drachms to a pint of water; or pulverized