The Veterinarian Part 17

[Ill.u.s.tration: Photograph of a bull.]

SHORT-HORN BULL c.u.mBERLAND'S TYPE 388132.

Winner of many Grand Champions.h.i.+ps.

Owned by C. A. Saunders, Manilla, Iowa.

LUMPY JAW

(Wooden Tongue, Big Head, Actinomycosis)

CAUSE: The Ray Fungus. This organism which occurs in the tissues in the form of russets is directly transmitted from one animal to another. It seems apparent that the fungus is conveyed into the tissues of the mouth by various food stuff through slight wounds of the mucous membranes of the mouth or an animal that has decayed teeth or during the shedding of milk teeth. The Ray Fungus is found naturally vegetated or clinging on the awns of barley, the spears of oats and on other grains. Quant.i.ties of fungi have been found between the vegetable fibers of barley which had penetrated the gums of cattle and on the awns of grain imbedded in their tongues.

Lumpy Jaw can also be transmitted by coming in contact with or eating food over which lumpy jawed cattle have s...o...b..red. A healthy animal eating such food with very slight bruises or abrasions of the mouth will contract the disease very readily. This disease is misleading as other organs are affected with the Ray Fungi or the Bacillus of Actinomycosis, as the lungs and even the digestive organs have been found to be affected with this disease.

SYMPTOMS: External symptoms or signs are the only means by which to ascertain the disease. Its exact location is on the lower jaw bone near its angle. It may also affect the upper jaw, but this is an exception and not a rule. Internally it may affect the tongue, mouth, throat or lungs, but rarely the intestines. This enlargement continues to grow until it reaches the size of that of a man's head, breaks and discharges pus. The animal becomes poor and emaciated, the hair takes on a dull, roughened appearance and in many cases it is very difficult for it to eat, especially where the disease separates the gums and bone from the teeth and causes them to become very loose or to drop out. The animal in the latter stages of this disease generally dies from starvation.

TREATMENT: Successful in its first stages. Soft, nitrogenous food should be fed, such as wheat bran mashes, steamed rolled oats or barley, hay dampened with clean water, so as to make it pliable. Hay containing woody matter as stems, etc., should not be fed to an animal affected with Lumpy Jaw as it tends to aggravate the disease. Internally in their drinking water give two drams of Pota.s.sium Iodide morning and night.

This treatment, however, should be omitted when the animal's skin becomes scaly or when an excessive watery discharge flows from the eyes.

On the outer surface over the enlargement apply the following ointment: Red Iodide of Mercury, four drams; Lard, two ounces. Mix well and rub in briskly for twenty minutes every five or six days for three weeks. The cure can generally be ascertained by the animal gaining in flesh, although the lump may remain. Where Lumpy Jaw is of long standing so as to impair the use of the animal's tongue or teeth, it is best to destroy the animal, as this lessens the possibilities of infecting healthy animals.

LUNG FEVER

(Pneumonia)

CAUSE: Generally follows congestion of the lungs. It may be due to parasitic organisms or exposure to cold, drafts when warm after being driven, etc. Drenching perhaps is the most common cause as it is very difficult for a cow to swallow when the head is elevated; inhaling smoke, gases, etc., also tend to produce pneumonia.

SYMPTOMS: Chilling or s.h.i.+vering, temperature elevated to 105 or 106 degrees F., nose hot and dry, horns and legs cold. Pulse rapid though strong, breathing fast and the appet.i.te very good in some cases. The animal urinates small quant.i.ties of urine but often, of a dark amber color. A discharge from the nose follows, also a cough. If the ear is placed back of the fore leg, a dry crackling sound can be heard something on the order of rubbing hair between the fingers.

TREATMENT: Place the animal in a dry, well lighted and ventilated stable, but avoid drafts. Give Pulv. Iodide of Ammonia, one ounce; Pulv.

Pota.s.sium Nitrate, four ounces; Pulv. Nux Vomica, four ounces; Pulv.

Capsic.u.m, one ounce; Quinine, one ounce. Mix well and make into thirty-two powders. Place one powder in gelatin capsule and administer every three or four hours with capsule gun. Supply the animal with fresh water at all times. Feed laxative food as hot wheat bran mashes or steamed rolled oats. Also feed vegetables, such as potatoes, apples, carrots and kale. It is also advisable to apply the following over the region of the lungs just back of the fore legs: Aqua Ammonia Fort., four ounces; Oil of Turpentine, four ounces; Raw Linseed Oil, six ounces. Mix and shake well and apply two or three times daily. It is also advisable to hand rub the legs and bandage them with woolen cloths. If the above treatment is properly carried out, the animal will make a complete recovery in a week or ten days.

LOSS OF CUD

CAUSE: This condition cannot always be traced to a definite cause, as it is a symptom of all diseases where the process of rumination is interfered with. The only method by which a cow will again chew her cud is to restore her back to health by the proper medical treatment.

Artificial cuds are of no value and frequently are a detriment to the animal. Other symptoms aside from those of the animal not chewing cud will always make their appearance, as constipation, diarrhoea, elevation of the temperature, etc. The animal should be thoroughly examined and the disease treated under its special heading.

MANGE

(Scabies)

CAUSE: There are four different parasites which produce Mange or Scabies in cattle. However, three of these parasites are rarely seen. The Symbotis Communis is the parasite commonly seen in American cattle.

These parasites multiply very rapidly and are conveyed from diseased animals to healthy ones by their bodies coming in contact with one another and by healthy animals rubbing against fences, walls, posts, etc., where mangy cattle have previously rubbed.

SYMPTOMS: Scabs, loss of hair, intense itching, the animals are constantly rubbing or licking themselves. The parts showing the first signs of Mange are those about the croup, or the root of the tail, the neck and withers, but as the disease progresses and no attempts are offered for its eradication, it finally spreads and covers the entire body. The scabs become ulcerated, the animal becomes weakened, emaciated and eventually dies.

TREATMENT: Dipping in wood or concrete vats is the most satisfactory method of treating Mange. The regular lime and sulphur dip as recommended by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry is inexpensive and effective.

MEASLY BEEF

Is produced by a larva of common tapeworm of man. These small tapeworm cysts (taenia saginata) are about the size of a pea and found in the flesh of cattle, which become infected by eating food or drinking water which has been contaminated by the feces of persons harboring adult tapeworms. Then again, the person becomes infected by eating raw or rare flesh of cattle infected with the larva stage of Measly Beef. Great care should be exercised to prevent cattle from becoming infected with this parasite. Persons' feces should not be placed where it will infect food or drinking water that is consumed by cattle.

MILK FEVER

(Parturient Apoplexy)

CAUSE: Certain conditions predispose cows to Milk Fever, as being heavy milk producers, cows having enormous digestive power and being heavily fed on nitrogenous food naturally are in a good condition, consequently at the time of calving, or shortly after, they are likely to develop a case of Milk Fever, It is more common during summer months, although this condition may develop at any time of the year in the type of cow described above.

SYMPTOMS: At or a few days after calving, the cow is noticed hanging back in the stall, dull, languid, with an unsteady movement of the hind legs. If the cow is made to walk, she steps unsteadily or staggers, pays no attention to her calf; she finally becomes so paralyzed that she falls and is unable to rise. The pupils of the eyes are dilated and the membranes reddened or congested with blood. The cow may lie on her breast or flat on her side, but most likely upon her breast and her head turned in the region of the flank. She apparently is sound asleep. If the eyeball is touched with the fingers she does not close the eye, nor will she evince any pain when being p.r.i.c.ked with a pin on any part of the body. The nose is dry, the temperature is below normal in most cases. Just how the name of this disease started by the name of "Milk Fever" I cannot understand.

TREATMENT: When the above signs are noticed, whether the cow is standing or lying down in a paralyzed condition, obtain an ordinary bulb injection syringe; insert a tube in the end from which the air escapes.

After was.h.i.+ng both syringe and teat tube in a five per cent solution of Carbolic Acid, milk or strip out all the milk possible from the bag, then insert the teat tube that is connected to the syringe in each teat, filling them well with air, and repeat this treatment every hour until the cow stops staggering, or if lying down, stands on her feet. It is necessary to strip the milk from the bag before giving an injection of air. If the cow is lying flat on her side, prop her up by placing bags of hay or straw against her side, also make her as comfortable as possible. If lying in the hot sun, provide shade by placing a canopy over her made from burlap; if the weather is chilly, blanket; if flies annoy her, use some fly repellant.

This disease is satisfactorily treated. Where ninety per cent of the cows died at one time, ninety per cent can be saved by the above treatment. It is a custom with some people to use an ordinary bicycle pump for treatment of Milk Fever. This should not be practiced, as there is great danger of infecting the bag and producing serious complications.

MEDICAL OR AFTER TREATMENT: Never drench a cow. Give a physic consisting of Aloin, two drams; Ginger, three drams. Place in a gelatin capsule and give with a capsule gun. Also, give tonics as Pulv. Gentian Root, two ounces; Pulv. Capsic.u.m, one ounce; Pulv. Nux Vomica, two ounces. Mix and place into eight gelatin capsules. Give one capsule every eight hours.

This tonic is quite necessary, as it stimulates their appet.i.te, braces up their nervous system and prevents any complications that might otherwise follow.

PARALYSIS

(Congestion of the Brain or Spinal Cord)

CAUSE: May be due to a morbid condition of the brain or spinal cord, concussion of the spinal cord, fractures of the bones of the spinal column, or violent shocks or jars of the brain, or pressure due to fractures of the skull, or dilated or ruptured blood vessels. Paralysis also occurs in poorly fed, weak cows when exposed to cold or wet weather during the latter stages of pregnancy. Sometimes the back portion of the bowels (the r.e.c.t.u.m) becomes paralyzed so as to interfere with the expulsion of the feces which becomes dry and more or less impacted. This condition may also occur in connection with Ergot, Forage or Lead Poisoning, Milk Fever or Parturient Apoplexy.

SYMPTOMS: Appear very suddenly. The animal is unable to stand, lies quietly and groans occasionally. Constipation generally accompanies this condition. Sometimes great pain is present, especially if due to fracture or pressure, as above mentioned.

TREATMENT: If just due to weakness; exposure to cold, wet weather; cows prior to calving; slight injuries or mild effect of poisons, it is successfully treated by placing the animal in a comfortable, well lighted stall, omitting drafts, feeding nouris.h.i.+ng food, as warm wheat bran mashes, steamed rolled oats or barley and linseed meal; tea to drink prepared as follows: Pour one quart of boiling water on one-half pint of Pure Flaxseed, allowing it to cool, and compel the animal to drink it. Repeat this once or twice daily, especially if the animal is pregnant. A physic consisting of Aloin, two drams; Ginger, two drams; prepared in capsule and given with a capsule gun is very effective, but this, however, should not be administered to heavily pregnant cows.

Endeavor to move their bowels by careful feeding of laxative food and rectal injections of soap and water. Nerve stimulants are necessary and I have derived good results from the following: Pulv. Nux Vomica, four ounces; Pulv. Ginger, four ounces; Pulv. Gentian Root, four ounces. Make into sixteen capsules and give one capsule every four or six hours. Also apply powdered mustard, moistened with a sufficient quant.i.ty of water to make a paste, and rub over the full length of the spine about eight inches in width. This should be covered with paper which will adhere readily to the mustard and water. This application can be repeated every twenty-four hours until satisfactory results have been obtained.

RED WATER

(Hematuria)