Cattle and Their Diseases Part 13

In such an emergency, lose no time, but give two or three ounces of Castor-oil with flour-gruel, or two ounces of salts at a dose, followed with small draughts of oak-bark tea; or give, twice a day, one of the following powders: pulverized catechu, opium, and Jamaca ginger, of each half an ounce; prepared chalk, one ounce; mix, and divide into twelve powders. Bran washes, green food, and flour-gruel should be given, with plenty of salt.

DYSENTERY

This disease is very frequently confounded with the foregoing. A distinction, however, exists,--since inflammation appears in this disease, while it is absent in the former. In this affection, inflammation of the large intestines takes place, which is attended with diarrhoea. The _faeces_ are covered with blood; the animal rapidly becomes prostrated, and death frequently comes to his relief.

Youatt says: "It is, however, with dysentery that the pract.i.tioner is most loth to cope,--a disease that betrays thousands of cattle. This, also, may be either acute or chronic. Its causes are too often buried in obscurity, and its premonitory symptoms are disregarded or unknown.

There appears to be a strong predisposition in cattle to take on this disease. It seems to be the winding-up of many serious complaints, and the foundation of it is sometimes laid by those that appear to be of the most trifling nature. It is that in cattle which glanders and farcy are in the horse,--the breaking up of the const.i.tution.

"Dysentery may be a symptom and concomitant of other diseases. It is one of the most fearful characteristics of murrain; it is the destructive accompaniment, or consequence, of phthisis. It is produced by the sudden disappearance of a cutaneous eruption; it follows the cessation of chronic hoose; it is the consequence of the natural or artificial suspension of every secretion. Were any secretion to be particularly selected, the repression of which would produce dysentery, it would be that of the milk. How often does the farmer observe that no sooner does a milch cow cease her usual supply of milk than she begins to purge!

There may not appear to be any thing else the matter with her; but she purges, and, in the majority of cases, that purging is fatal.

"It may, sometimes, however, be traced to sufficient causes, exclusive of previous disease. Unwholesome food--exposure to cold--neglect at the time of calving--low and marshy situations--the feeding in meadows that have been flooded, where it is peculiarly fatal--the grazing (according to Mr. Leigh, and our experience confirms his statement) upon the clays lying over the blue lias rock--the neighborhood of woods and of half-stagnant rivers--the continuation of unusually sultry weather--overwork, and all the causes of acute dysentery, may produce that of a chronic nature; an acute dysentery--neglected, or badly, or even most skillfully treated--may degenerate into an incurable chronic affection. Half starve a cow, or over-feed her, milk her to exhaustion, or dry her milk too rapidly--and dysentery may follow.

"The following will, probably, be the order of the symptoms, if they are carefully observed: There will be a little dullness or anxiety of countenance, the muzzle becoming short or contracted; a slight shrinking when the loins are pressed upon; the skin a little harsh and dry; the hair a little rough; there will be a slight degree of uneasiness and s.h.i.+vering that scarcely attracts attention; then--except it be the degeneracy of acute into chronic dysentery--constipation may be perceived. It will be to a certain extent, obstinate; the excrement will voided with pain; it will be dry, hard, and expelled in small quant.i.ties. In other cases, perhaps, purging will be present from the beginning; the animal will be tormented with _tenesmus_, or frequent desire to void its excrement, and that act attended by straining and pain, by soreness about the _a.n.u.s_, and protrusion of the _r.e.c.t.u.m_, and sometimes by severe colicky spasms. In many cases, however, and in those of a chronic form, few of these distressing symptoms are observed, even at the commencement of the disease; but the animal voids her _faeces_ oftener than it is natural that she should, and they are more fluid than in a state of health; while at the same time she loses her appet.i.te and spirits and condition, and is evidently wasting away."

_Treatment._--Give one drachm of the extract of belladonna, three times a day, dissolved in water; or calomel and powdered opium, of each one drachm three times daily. As soon as the inflammatory stage pa.s.ses by, give one of the following three times daily, in their gruel: nitrate of potash pulverized, gentian-root pulverized, of each one ounce; pulverized Jamaica ginger, one half an ounce; pulverized caraway, or anise-seed, six drachms. A bottle of porter given once or twice a day, will be found of very great advantage.

ENTERITIS.

This is an inflammation of the external or internal coat of the intestines, sometimes attended with violent purging, especially when it is confined to the internal coats. Oxen in good condition are more subject to this disease than are cows. It most frequently occurs in dry, hot weather. It is sudden in its attacks, and often fatal in its termination.

_Symptoms._--The animal is dull, and not disposed to move about; the muzzle is dry, and the coat staring; the animal yields, on pressure of the _loins_; a weak, staggering gait, when forced to move; respiration hurried; pulse accelerated but small; eyes red, full and fiery; head protruding; mouth, ears, and horns hot; appet.i.te bad; rumination ceases; the bowels become constipated; the animal moans continually, and froths at the mouth. These symptoms violently increase as the disease advances.

The animal becomes more depressed and feeble, grinds his teeth, and appears half unconscious, and dies in convulsions.

Of the causes of this disease, Youatt, who is almost the only authority we have upon this subject, says: "It seems occasionally to be epidemic; for several instances of it occur, of the same character, and in the same district. M. Cruzel gives an ill.u.s.tration of this in his description of the disease that destroyed so many cattle, in the years 1826 to 1827, in the Department _de la Nievre_. Out of two hundred and eighteen cattle belonging to three farmers, one hundred and thirteen were attacked by this disease, and eighty-three of them died. One farmer in a neighboring district had nineteen head of cattle, all of which sickened, but only three were lost. These were unusually hot summers.

The upland pasture was burnt up, or what remained of it was rendered unusually stimulating; and the acrid plants of the marshes and low grounds acquired additional deleterious agency.

"When isolated cases occur, they may generally be attributed to mismanagement. Exposure to cold, or the drinking of cold water when overheated with work; too hard work in sultry weather; the use of water stagnant, impure, or containing any considerable quant.i.ty of metallic salts; the sudden revulsion of some cutaneous eruption; the crowding of animals into a confined place; too luxuriant and stimulating food generally; and the mildewed and unwholesome food on which cattle are too often kept, are fruitful sources of this complaint."

_Treatment._--In the early stage of the disease, give an active purge, and follow it with ten drops of Fleming's tincture of aconite, four times daily, for two days; then give drachm doses of the extract of belladonna; give no food for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, according to circ.u.mstances. Bleeding, if done early, is often beneficial.

Counter-irritants to the belly are also recommended; the best are mustard, hartshorn, and water, mixed together--or tincture of cantharides, with one drachm of croton-oil added to every ounce.

EPIZOoTICS.

Diseases of this cla.s.s have the same relation to the inferior animals that epidemic diseases have to man. Of course, they a.s.sume a very pestilential character. Scarcely a year pa.s.ses away without diseases of this nature making their appearance in some parts of the world. They occur at all seasons of the year, but more generally prevail in the spring and fall. The period of their duration varies from months to years. They are, at times, mild in their attacks, and yield readily to proper treatment; at other times, they become painful pestilences, destroying every thing in their course.

The causes are generally sought for in some peculiar condition of the atmosphere. The use of the milk and flesh of diseased cattle has frequently been productive of malignant diseases in the human family.

Silius Italicus describes a fearful epizootic, which first attacked the dog, then the feathered biped, then horses, and cattle, and, last of all, the human being.

"On mules and dogs the infection first began, And, last, the vengeful arrows fixed in man."

Epizootics, occurring in rats, cats, dogs, horses, and cattle, which were followed in the succeeding years by more fearful ones which attacked the human family, are numerously recorded. These scourges have appeared in all ages of the world; but, as time and s.p.a.ce will not allow our entering upon an extended consideration of them,--however interesting they might be to the general reader,--we shall content ourselves by quoting, somewhat in brief, from the lectures of the late William Youatt on these fatal maladies:--

"In the year 801, and at the commencement of the reign of Charlemagne, an epidemic disease devastated a great portion of his dominions. This was attributed to the villainy of the Duke of Benevento, who was said to have employed a great many persons in scattering an enchanted powder over the fields, which destroyed both the cattle and the food of the cattle. M. Paulet seems inclined to give full credence to this, and says that history offers many proofs of this destructive and diabolical practice. He affirms that many persons were punished in Germany, France, and, particularly, at Toulouse, for the commission of this crime. Several of the suspected agents of these atrocities were put to the torture and made full confession of their crime.

"Of the occurrence of these diseases from the year 800 to 1316,--an interval of mental darkness, and of horrors and calamities of every kind,--history records twenty cases, more or less destructive, and extending, with greater or less devastation, over France and Germany, Italy and England. Of these twenty, four date their origin from an excessive moisture in the air, accompanied by almost continual rains, and flooding the country to a considerable extent. One was supposed to be the consequence of long-continued drought and excessive heat; one was traced to the influence of an eclipse of the sun; another, to a comet; and a fourth, to a most unusually stormy winter. The reader will have the kindness to remember that we are here expressing the opinions of the writers of the day, and by no means, our own belief of the matter.

"Of the four which trace their origin to extreme wet and its consequences, the first occurred in France, in 820, after a long continuance of rain; and it was equally fatal to men and cattle. The second, which was equally fatal to both, appeared in Lorraine, in 889.

The third broke out among the cavalry of the army of Arnoul, in its pa.s.sage over the Alps, on its return to Italy. The fourth pervaded the whole of England in 1125, and was equally fatal to the biped and the quadruped.

"That which followed excessive heat and drought, was generally prevalent throughout Europe, but especially so in Germany. It attacked oxen, sheep, and pigs. It appeared in 994, and lasted six months.

"The one which was attributed to the comet, and which princ.i.p.ally attacked cattle, appeared in France in 943 Almost every animal perished.

"Another, that was supposed to be connected with an eclipse of the sun, was prevalent throughout the greater part of Germany, among men and animals, in 989.

"The disease, which was the consequence of a cold and boisterous winter, was princ.i.p.ally prevalent in France, in 887, and committed sad ravages among the herds of cattle and sheep.

"Of the twelve others, of which, authors do not indicate the cause, the first was in France, in 810, and princ.i.p.ally among cattle. The second was also in France, in 850, and almost depopulated the country of cattle. The third, in 868, was common to all animals in France. The fourth, in 870, was in the same country, and caused severe loss among cattle. The fifth prevailed on the Rhine and in Germany, and destroyed an almost incalculable number of cattle. The sixth attacked the horses of the army of Arnoul in Lorraine, in 888. The seventh, in 940, destroyed a vast number of cattle in France, Italy, and Germany. The eighth and ninth were in France, in 941 and 942, and almost all the cattle in the country perished. The tenth pestilence broke out in England, in the year 1041, and frightful was its devastation among all animals, and, particularly, horned cattle. The eleventh also devastated our country, in 1103, and the ravages were dreadful. The twelfth was chiefly fatal in Germany, and particularly in Gueldres, in 1149.

"These twenty pestilences occurred in the s.p.a.ce of 506 years. Five or six of them were most prevalent among cattle; two were almost confined to horses; twelve included, to a greater or less degree, almost every species of quadrupeds; and four extended to the human being. Among these the ravages of eight were most destructive in France; as many in Germany; and four in Italy and England.

"As far as we have hitherto proceeded, it will also appear that cattle are more subject to these diseases than any other species of domesticated animals, and that the pestilence is always most fearful among them. It is also evident that the maladies which proceed from cold or humidity are more frequent in the temperate and southern parts of Europe than those which depend upon drought, or almost any other cause.

"The malady lingers in different countries, in proportion to its want of power to accomplish at once all its devastation.

"After this time, there are few satisfactory accounts of these diseases for more than five centuries. We only know that, occasionally suspending their ravages,--or, rather, visiting new districts when they had ceased to desolate others--they have continued to be objects of terror and instruments of devastation, even unto the present day; and it is only within a few years that they have been really understood, and have become, to a certain degree, manageable."

In the United States, epizootic diseases have been of frequent occurrence; but, owing to the want of properly qualified veterinary surgeons, they have not, until within a very recent period, been properly described or understood. The day however, is fast approaching when this void will be filled, and when epizootic and other diseases will be correctly noted and recorded. The necessity for this must have been forcibly impressed upon the minds of the inhabitants of our country from the experience of the last ten or twelve years.

Respecting the late epizootic among cattle in Portage County, Ohio, William Pierce, V.S., of Ravenna, thus describes the symptoms as they appeared, in a letter to the author: "A highly-colored appearance of the sclerotic coat of the eye, also of the _conjunctiva_ (a lining membrane of the eyelid) and the Schneiderian membrane of the nose; a high animal heat about the head and horns; a highly inflammatory condition of the blood; contraction of all the abdominal viscera; hurried respiration; great prostration and nervous debility; lameness; followed by gangrene of the extremity of the tail, and the hind-feet; terminating in mortification and death."

Mr. Pierce is convinced that these symptoms are produced by the continued use of the ergot, or spur of the June gra.s.s,--the effects being similar to those produced upon the human family by long-continued use of ergot of rye. This disease a.s.sumes both an acute and chronic form.

The same gentleman also says: "Ordinary observers, as well as those who claim to be scientific, have entertained very conflicting opinions as to its general character; some regarding it as epizootic, others as contagious; some attributing it to atmospheric influence, others to foulings in the stable or yard. Others, again, attribute it to freezing of the feet in winter. Cattle-doctors in a majority of cases, fail to cure it. I have, however, by a simple course of treatment, effected many signal cures. Some parties are so confident of the contagious character of the disease that they refuse to drive cattle along a road where it is known to exist. They even, oftentimes, wash their boots previous to entering their barnyards, after walking over the ground where such diseased cattle have been running.

"Caution is both proper and commendable. I do not, however, regard it as a contagious disease, nor can it be transmitted by inoculation. The calf is carried during the progress of the disease, and delivered in apparently good health. The milk of the cow appears to be unaffected and harmless. I call this disease _sphacial fever_, or _gangrenous fever_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MAD BULL.]

"The ergot, or spur of the hay, is confined to the June gra.s.s, as far as my observation extends; owing, probably, to its early maturity. Most other kinds of gra.s.s are cut before the seeds have matured sufficiently to produce the spur. I was suspicious of the foulness of the feed before I examined any hay, and have found the spur in the hay wherever the disease is found.

"Mr. Sanford, of Edinburgh, Ohio, purchased one half of a mow of hay from Mr. Ba.s.sett, of Randolph, which was removed to his farm in Randolph, eight miles distant. Of this hay, Mr. Sanford fed eleven cows some six or eight weeks. Mr. Ba.s.sett had been feeding the same to four cows. At about the same time, both heads began to show lameness. I visited Mr. S. after he had lost six cows, and examined the remaining five, four of which were lame and the other showed symptoms of the disease. He had two other cows, one of which was loaned to a neighbor, and the other was fed upon different hay, for convenience. The loaned cow was returned about the first of March,--the two then running with the ailing ones until the 24th of April, when I saw them sound and in good health.

"I then visited Mr. Ba.s.sett's stock, which I found infected with the same disease,--he having lost one, and the remaining three being lame, and much debilitated. The hoofs were sloughing off. Some of the same hay remained in the snow, which, upon examination, exhibited an abundance of the spur. Upon inquiry, I found that no such disease existed between the two farms, or in the neighborhood of either Mr. S. or Mr. B. The peculiarity of this circ.u.mstance at once swept away the last vestige of doubt from my mind. Mr. E. Chapman, of Rootstown, accompanied me, and can vouch for the correctness of these statements.

"He hooted at my opinions, a.s.serting that he understood the disease, and that it was caused by the freezing of the feet. He has since, however, abandoned that idea, and honestly 'acknowledged the corn.' This ergot is regarded by some as a parasitic fungus, formed in other grains, an abundant vegeto-animal substance, and much disposed to putrefaction. We appear to be in the dark regarding its real composition. The little which has been written upon the subject, appears to be founded upon hypothesis, and that the most obscure. The articles to which I refer may differ in quality or property to a considerable extent, and we may forever remain in the dark, unless chemical investigation be inst.i.tuted.

"In this particular disease, there appears to be singularity in the symptoms through all its various stages, which is likely to originate in the peculiarity of the cause which produces them. The effects and symptoms arising from the continued use of the ergot of rye, as manifested in the human system, have been but briefly hinted at by authors, and, probably, some of them are only reasonable conjectures.

All they say is, that it produces violent headache, s.p.a.culation in the extremities, and death. Hitherto, its effects upon the inferior animal have been subjected to no investigation, and its peculiarity in the symptoms, differing from like phenomena by other causes, may yet be demonstrated. I am not alone in my opinion of this disease. I have taken counsel of those whose judgment cannot be questioned. Whatever difference of opinion exists is attributable to a want of investigation, and it will continue to exist until this singular phenomenon is clearly accounted for. Every opinion should be thoroughly criticized till facts are obtained. Every man's opinion is sacred to himself, but we should yield to conviction.

"Two cla.s.ses of this disease are exhibited: one, of irritation, and the other, of debility; one, an acute, the other, a chronic form. The point at which it a.s.sumes the chronic form is between congestion and gangrene. By close observation we can discover these to be different and higher degrees of the same disease. All subsequent degrees are dependent upon the first.

"The first symptom, or degree, is, probably, an attack upon the systematic circulation, produced by a certain medicinal and deleterious property existing in the ergot, and communicated to the blood through the absorption of the tongue. This is more evident from the fact that the digestive organs retain their normal condition till the last stages of the chronic form. The blood in the first two stages is healthy, and the peculiar influence is only apparent in the subsequent stages; as evidenced by the fact that the muscles and general good appearance, as well as life itself, last longer than could be possible, if this deleterious influence were exhausted upon the digestive organs and the blood, in its first stages. And, as we suppose that fever and congestion const.i.tute an attack upon the red blood, which is exhibited by hurried pulsation, we might rationally infer that the next degree would be gangrene of the globule, causing sloughing, the same as if it were carried to the muscles, or surface. This sloughing of the globule would be the same as if exhibited on any other part of the organization, for the fibrin is identical with muscle, as alb.u.men is identical with the white of an egg; and since congestion is the forerunner of gangrene at the extremities, or on the surface, so fever and quick pulsation are the forerunners of congestion of the blood. Gangrene cannot ensue without obstruction in the blood-vessels; and congestion cannot take place 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.