356 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



» SUNSTROKE IN HORSES. 



Homestead. 

 When horses are working hard in the field or on the road in very hot 

 weather they are apt to suffer an attack of sunstroke or heat prostration. 

 In such cases the first symptoms which should warn the driver that trou- 

 ble impends are as follows: The horse that has been sweating profusely 

 gradually commences to dry off and becomes dry and hot. He has been 

 working with vim and vigor, but now acts sluggishly and pants or breathes 

 fast and with flapping nostrils. His ears drop, his nostrils are widely 

 distended and his eyes appear red. Unless he is stopped at once at this 

 stage he will go down and in excessively bad cases die in a few minutes. 

 In other cases the above symptoms are associated with those of the colic 

 and this form of colic is characterized by scouring and bloating. Having 

 learned to detect the symptoms of impending sunstroke from the above 

 description the next thing is to know what to do in such emergencies. 

 Unhitch at the very first sign of trouble and if possible get the animal into 

 a shady place under a tree where there is a breeze. Remove the harness 

 and at once sprinkle him from head to foot with cold water from a sprink- 

 ling can. Keep this up steadily, but do not drench him with water from 

 a hose. Place a compress of cold, wet cloths or sponge on his poll and 

 keep this wet with water or vinegar and water. If ammonia is at hand 

 let him inhale a little of it at once and depend upon stimulants for the 

 balance of the remedial treatment. As a stimulant give at one dose an 

 ounce of aromatic spirits of ammonia and four ounces of good whisky in 

 a quart of water and repeat in half doses once an hour until it is seen 

 that he has ceased to "blow" and flap his nostrils. If a thermometer can 

 he had it will show when introduced into the rectum that the temperature 

 has risen to 106 or even higher, whereas it should be 100 degrees in the 

 normal state. Py taking the temperature in this way once an hour it will 

 be readily seen how the case is progressing, and if it commences to fail 

 gradually all will go well, but if it increases bad results are in store for 

 the patient and a veterinarian should be called in if possible. Seeing that 

 the fever is so high some men are led to give tincture of aconite in these 

 cases and this we consider to be the most dangerous procedure possible. 

 In its place — and aconite should never be used by an amateur. — an ounce 

 dose of saltpeter may be given at the outset and repeated in two hours 

 with great benefit in lowering the temperature and eliminating matters 

 that might lead to future trouble after the urgent danger has passed. If 

 our readers will make it a practice to keep stimulants on hand for such 

 emergencies and use them at once and in large doses well diluted with 

 water they will lose few horses provided that cold water can be had to 

 spray with and apply to the head. The practice of applying a pack of 

 crushed ice to the poll should be followed only when plenty of cold water 

 cannot be had. It is more apt to produce brain trouble than is water and 

 many a horse dies where it is used that would recover by sprinkling and 

 applications of cold water to the head. In very bad cases we even inject 



