8 General Principles of Veterinary Medicine 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF 

 VETERINARY MEDICINE 



All the treatments that the veterinarians of the land can devise would 

 not be of as much benefit to the farmer as the prevention of disease by 

 the farmer himself. More credit should be given the farmer who can 

 keep his herd healthy by having a knowledge of the causes of diseases, 

 and thereby preventing them than to the farmer that is able to cure all. 

 By a knowledge of the causes and how diseases travel any farmer can 

 prevent many cases of diseases among his live stock without the use of 

 drugs, bacterins or other products. Such diseases as colic, lock-jaw, 

 navel ill, barb wire cuts, fistula, contagious abortion, forage poisoning, 

 white scours in calves, hog cholrea, worms and scab of sheep, white 

 diarrhoea and roup of chickens as well as a multitude of others can be 

 prevented in most cases if the farmer has a thorough knowledge of the 

 causes of diseases as given under various headings. 



However it is impossible to prevent all diseases and as long as the 

 live stock industry exists we'll have sick stock from various reasons other 

 than carelessness. 



When an animal gets sick the success of treatment will be in pro- 

 portion to the good common sense used in treating the disease. First 

 try to locate the effected organ. That is try to determine whether the 

 disease is one of the intestines, kidneys, nerves, blood, muscles or skin. 

 This can be done in most cases by a study of the symptoms. However 

 colic is often mistaken for kidney disorder and intestinal disorders are 

 mistaken for brain disorder. Brain troubles of stock are usually due 

 to forage poisons in the intestines. Horses poisoned in stalk fields go in 

 circles, etc. Cattle eating moldy corn fodder or moldy silage go in 

 circles, turn only one way, lose control of their muscles etc. 



Then the next point to a successful recovery is to aid in the removal 

 of the trouble. The less of treatments we m^q that have no basis the 



