Part 9

WOLF IN THE TAIL.--This term also seems to be vaguely applied to various disturbances of the digestive function, or to some disease which is in reality in the stomach or bowels.

VOMITING.

Vomiting is not to be confounded with rumination, though some writers have advanced the opinion that it is merely a disordered and irregular rumination. It is not of common occurrence in cattle.

Symptoms.--Animals which vomit are frequently in poor condition. After having eaten tranquilly for some time the animal suddenly becomes uneasy, arches the back, stretches the neck and head, and then suddenly ejects 10 to 12 pounds of the contents of the rumen. After having done this the uneasiness subsides and in a short time the animal resumes eating as if nothing had happened.

Cause.--The cause of this disordered state of the digestive system in cattle is usually obscure, but has in some cases been traced to a partial closure of the opening into the second stomach or to a distention of the esophagus. It has been found to occur when there was cancerous disease of the fourth stomach, and experimentally it has been shown that a suspension of digestion or great derangement of this stomach produces considerable nervous disorder of the rumen and sometimes vomiting or attempts to vomit.

TREATMENT.--Easily digested feed and plenty of water should be given. Fear and excitement, chasing, or hurrying animals after they have eaten heartily are liable to bring on this result. In order to overcome irritation which may produce vomiting the following draft should be given: Hydrate of chloral, half an ounce; water, 1 pint. The dose must be repeated when the condition of the animal seems to require it. As a rule, treatment is not successful.

DEPRAVED APPETITE (PICA).

Cattle suffering from this disease have a capricious and variable appetite as regards their ordinary feed but evince a strong desire to lick and eat substances for which healthy cattle show no inclination. Alkaline and saline-tasting substances are especially attractive to cattle having a depraved appetite and they frequently lick lime, earth, coal, gravel, and even the dung of other cattle. Cows in calf and young cattle are especially liable to develop these symptoms. Animals affected in this way lose condition, their coat is staring, gait slow, and small vesicles containing yellow liquid form under the tongue; the milk given by such cows is thin and watery. Such animals become restless and uneasy, as is indicated by frequent bellowing. The disease may last for months, the animal ultimately dying emaciated and exhausted. Depraved appetite frequently precedes the condition in which the bones of cattle become brittle and fracture easily, which is known as osteomalacia.

Cause.--From the fact that this disease is largely one of regions, it is generally believed that some condition of the soil and water and of the local vegetation is responsible for it. It is more prevalent some years than others, and is most common in old countries, where the soil is more or less depleted. Cattle pastured on low, swampy land become predisposed to it. It occasionally happens, however, that one individual in a herd suffers though all are fed alike; in such cases the disease must arise from the affected animal's imperfect assimilation of the nutritive elements of the feed which is supplied to it.

Treatment.--The aim in such cases must be to improve the process of digestion and to supply the animal with a sufficiency of sound and wholesome feed. The following should be given to the cow three times a day, a heaping tablespoonful constituting a dose: Carbonate of iron, 4 ounces; finely ground bone or "bone flour," 1 pound; powdered gentian, 4 ounces; common salt, 8 ounces; powdered fenugreek, 4 ounces; mix. In addition to this, 3 tablespoonfuls of powdered charcoal may be mixed with the feed three times a day, and a piece of rock salt should be placed where the animal can lick it at will. German veterinarians have had brilliant results from the treatment of this disease with subcutaneous injections of apomorphin in doses of 1-1/2 to 5 grains for three or four days.

HAIR CONCRETIONS.

Hair concretions, or hair balls, result from the habit which some cattle have of licking themselves or other animals. As a result the hairs which are swallowed are carried around by the contractions of the stomach and gradually assume the form of a small pellet or ball. This increases in size as fresh quantities of hair are introduced into the stomach and adhere to the surface of the ball. These balls are found most frequently in the reticulum or second stomach (Pl. II, B), though sometimes in the rumen. In calves hair balls are generally found in the fourth stomach. There are no certain symptoms by which we can determine the presence of hair balls in the stomach, and therefore no treatment can be recommended for such cases. In making post-mortem examinations of cattle we have sometimes found the walls of the reticulum transfixed with nails or pieces of wire, and yet the animal had not shown any symptoms of indigestion, but had died from maladies not involving the second stomach.

INDIGESTION (DYSPEPSIA, OR GASTROINTESTINAL CATARRH).

Tympanites, already described, is a form of indigestion in which the chief symptom and most threatening condition is the collection of gas in the paunch. This symptom does not always accompany indigestion, so it is well here to consider other forms under a separate head. If indigestion is long continued, the irritant abnormal products developed cause catarrh of the stomach and intestines--gastrointestinal catarrh. On the other hand, however, irritant substances ingested may cause gastrointestinal catarrh, which, in turn, will cause indigestion; hence, it results that these several conditions are usually found existing together.

Causes.--Irritant feed, damaged feed, overloading of the stomach, or sudden changes of diet may cause this disease. Want of exercise predisposes to it, or feed which is coarse and indigestible may after a time produce it. Feed which possesses astringent properties and tends to check secretion may also act as an exciting cause. Feed in excessive quantity may lead to disorder of digestion and to this disease. It is very likely to appear toward the end of protracted seasons of drought; therefore a deficiency of water must be regarded as one of the conditions which favor its development.

Symptoms.--Diminished appetite, rumination irregular, tongue coated, mouth slimy, dung passed apparently not well digested and smelling bad, dullness, and fullness of the flanks. The disease may in some cases assume a chronic character, and in addition to the foregoing symptoms slight bloating or tympanites of the left flank may be observed; the animal breathes with effort and each respiration may be accompanied with a grunt, the ears and horns are alternately hot and cold, rumination ceases, the usual rumbling sound in the stomach is not audible, the passage of dung is almost entirely suspended, and the animal passes only a little mucus occasionally. Sometimes there is alternating constipation and diarrhea. There is low fever in many cases.

The disease continues a few days or a week in the mild cases, while the severe cases may last several weeks. In the latter form the emaciation and loss of strength may be very great. There is no appetite, no rumination, nor peristalsis. The mouth is hot and sticky, the eyes have receded in their sockets, and milk secretion has ceased. In such cases the outlook for recovery is unfavorable. The patient falls away in flesh and becomes weaker, as is shown by the fact that one frequently finds it lying down.

On examining animals which have died of this disease it is found that the lining membrane of the fourth stomach and the intestines, particularly the small intestine, is red, swollen, streaked with deeper red or bluish lines, or spotted. The lining of the first three stomachs is more or less softened, and may easily be peeled off. The third stomach (psalter) contains dry feed in hard masses closely adherent to its walls.

In some cases the brain appears to become disordered, probably from the pain and weakness and from the absorption of toxins generated in the digestive canal. In such cases there is weakness and an unsteady gait, the animal does not appear to take notice of and will consequently run against obstacles; after a time it falls and gives up to violent and disordered movements. This delirious condition is succeeded by coma or stupor, and death ensues.

Treatment.--Small quantities of roots, sweet silage, or selected grass or hay should be offered several times daily. Very little feed should be allowed. Aromatic and demulcent drafts may be given to produce a soothing effect on the mucous lining of the stomachs and to promote digestion. Two ounces of camomile flowers should be boiled for 20 minutes in a quart of water and the infusion on cooling should be given to the affected animal. This may be repeated three or four times a day. When constipation is present the following purgative may be administered: One pound of Glauber's salt dissolved in a quart of linseed tea and a pint of molasses. After this purgative has acted, if there is a lack of appetite and the animal does not ruminate regularly, the powder mentioned in remarks on the treatment of chronic tympanites may be given according to directions. The diet must be rather laxative and of an easily digestible character after an attack of this form of indigestion. Feed should be given in moderate quantities, as excess by overtaxing the digestive functions may bring on a relapse. Ice-cold water should be avoided.

INDIGESTION FROM DRINKING COLD WATER (COLIC).

This disorder is produced by drinking copiously of cold water, which arrests digestion and produces cramp of the fourth stomach, probably of the other stomachs, and also of the bowels.

Causes.---It is not customary for the ox to drink much water at once. In fact, he usually drinks slowly and as if he were merely tasting the water, letting some fall out at the corners of his mouth at every mouthful. It would therefore seem to be contrary to the habits of the ox to drink copiously; but we find that during hot weather, when he has been working and is consequently very thirsty, if he drinks a large quantity of cold water he may be immediately taken with a very severe colic. Cows which are fed largely on dry hay drink copiously, like the working ox, and become affected in precisely the same manner. In such cases they are seized with a chill or fit of trembling before the cramps come on.

Symptoms.--There is some distension of the abdomen, but no accumulation of gas. As the distension and pain occur immediately after the animal has drunk the water, there can be no doubt as to the exciting cause.

Treatment.--Walk the animal about for 10 minutes before administering medicine, and this allows time for a portion of the contents of the stomach to pass into the bowel, and renders it safer to give medicine. In many cases the walking exercise and the diarrhea bring about a spontaneous cure of this disorder, but as in some instances the cramps and pains of the stomachs persist, one may give 1 ounce of sulphuric ether and 1 ounce of tincture of opium, shaken up with a pint of warm water, and repeat the dose in half an hour if the animal is not relieved. In an emergency when the medicine is not to be had, a tablespoonful of powdered ginger may be administered in a pint of warm water.

INDIGESTION IN CALVES (GASTROINTESTINAL CATARRH, DIARRHEA, OR SCOUR).

Calves are subject to a form of diarrhea to which the foregoing designations have been applied.

Causes.--Calves that suck their dams are not frequently affected with this disease, though it may be occasioned by their sucking at long intervals and thus overloading the stomach and bringing on indigestion, or from improper feeding of the dam on soft, watery, or damaged feeds. Suckling the calf at irregular times may also cause it. Exposure to damp and cold is a potent predisposing cause. Calves separated from their dams and fed considerable quantities of cold milk at long intervals are liable to contract this form of indigestion. Calves fed on artificial feed, used as a substitute for milk, frequently contract it. Damaged feed, sour or rotten milk, milk from dirty cans, skim milk from a dirty creamery skim-milk vat, skim milk hauled warm, exposed to the sun and fed from unclean buckets may all cause this disease.