Part 21

Symptoms.--The animal will be observed to sneeze; the Schneiderian membrane (membrane of the nose) is heightened in color; cough sometimes accompanies; there is also a muco-purulent discharge from the nose. Neglect to attend to these early symptoms frequently occasions disease of a more serious nature; in fact, coryza may be regarded as the forerunner of all epizooetic pulmonary disorders.

Treatment.--The animal should be kept on a low diet for a few days; the nostrils occasionally steamed, and one of the following powders given night and morning, which, in most cases, will be all the medicine required: nitrate of potassa, one ounce; digitalis leaves pulverized and tartrate of antimony, of each one drachm; sulphate of copper, two drachms; mix, and divide into eight powders. Should the disease prove obstinate, give for two or three days two ounces of Epsom-salts at a dose, dissolved in water, three times a day.

COW-POX.

Two varieties of sore teats occur in the cow, in the form of pustular eruptions. They first appear as small vesicles containing a purulent matter, and subsequently assume a scabby appearance, or small ulcers remain, which often prove troublesome to heal. This latter is the cow-pox, from which Jenner derived the vaccine matter.

Treatment.--Foment the teats well with warm water and Castile-soap; after which, wipe the bag dry, and dress with citrine ointment. The preparations of iodine have also been recommended, and they are very serviceable.

DIARRHOEA.

Cattle are frequently subject to this disease, particularly in the spring of the year when the grass is young and soft. Occasionally it assumes a very obstinate form in consequence of the imperfect secretion of gastric juice; the faeces are thin, watery, and fetid, followed by very great prostration of the animal.

The symptoms of diarrhoea are too well known to require any detailed description.

Treatment.--If in a mild form, the diet should be low; give two ounces of Epsom-salts, twice a day. In a more obstinate form, give two drachms of carbonate of soda in the food. Oak-bark tea will be found very useful in these cases; or one of the following powders, twice a day, will be found very advantageous: pulverized opium and catechu, each one and a half ounces; prepared chalk, one drachm; to be given in the feed.

Calves are particularly subject to this disease, and it often proves fatal to them. It sometimes assumes an epizooetic form, when it is generally of a mild character. So long as the calf is lively and feeds well, the farmer should entertain no fear for him; but if he mopes about, refuses his food, ceases to ruminate, wastes in flesh, passes mucus and blood with the faeces, and exhibits symptoms of pain, the case is a dangerous one.

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 practitioner 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 constitution.

"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 shivering 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 quantities. 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 anus, and protrusion of the rectum, 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 appetite 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 passes 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; appetite 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 illustration 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 quantity 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 circumstances. 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.

EPIZOOeTICS.

Diseases of this class have the same relation to the inferior animals that epidemic diseases have to man. Of course, they assume a very pestilential character. Scarcely a year passes 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 epizooetic, which first attacked the dog, then the feathered biped, then horses, and cattle, and, last of all, the human being.