50 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



wall, and so pressure from without can not be brought to bear upon 

 it to reveal sensitiveness or pain. Nor does enlargement, or disten- 

 tion, of the stomach produce visible alteration in the form of the 

 abdomen of the horse. Moreover, it is a rule to which there are few 

 exceptions that an irritant or cause of disease of the stomach acts 

 likewise upon the intestines, so that it is customary to find them 

 similarly deranged. For these reasons it is logical to discuss together 

 the diseases of the stomach and intestines and to point out such 

 localizations in one organ or another as are of importance in recog- 

 nizing and treating the diseases of the digestive organs of the horse. 



It should be understood that gastritis signifies an inflammation of 

 the stomach and enteritis an inflammation of the intestines. The two 

 terms may be used together to signify a disease of the stomach and 

 intestines, as gastro-enteritis. 



Colic. — The disease of the horse that is most frequently met with is 

 what is termed " colic," and many are the remedies that are reputed to 

 be " sure cures " for this disease. Let us discover, then, what the word 

 " colic " means. This term is applied loosely to almost all diseases of 

 the organs of the abdomen that are accompanied by pain. If the 

 horse evinces abdominal pain, he is likely to be put down as suffering 

 Avith colic, no matter whether the difficulty be a cramp of the bowel, 

 an internal hernia, overloading of the stomach, or a painful disease 

 of the bladder or liver. Since these conditions differ so much in their 

 causation and their nature, it is manifestly absurd to treat them alike 

 and to expect the same drugs or procedures to relieve them all. 

 Therefore it is important that the various diseased states that are so 

 roughly classed together as colic shall, so far as possible, be separated 

 and individualized in order that appropriate treatments may be pre- 

 scribed. With this object in vieAv, colics will be considered under 

 the following headings : (1) Engorgement colic, (2) obstruction colic, 

 (3) tympanitic colic, (4) spasmodic colic, (5) worm colic. 



The general symptoms of abdominal pain, and therefore of colic, 

 are restlessness, cessation of whatever the horse is about, lying down, 

 looking around toward the flank, kicking with the hind feet upward 

 and forward toward the belly, jerky switching of the tail, stretching 

 as though to urinate, frequent change of position, and groaning. In 

 the more intense forms the horse plunges about, throws himself down, 

 rolls, assumes unnatural positions, as sitting on the haunches, and 

 grunts loudly. Usually the pain is not constant, and during the inter- 

 missions the horse may eat and appear normal. During the period 

 of pain sweat is poured out freely. Sometimes the horse moves con- 

 stantly in a circle. The respirations are accelerated, and usually 

 there is no fever. 



(1) Engorgemext colic. — This form of colic consists in an over- 

 loading of the stomach with food. The horse mav have been overfed 



