134 DIETING OF SICK ANIMALS 



and with its several constituents in fitting proportion, to 

 furnish appropriate nutriment for every tissue. Water, 

 which constitutes four-fifths of the total weight of most 

 animals, is being constantly removed by the lungs, skin, 

 kidneys, and intestines, and, unless restored at short inter- 

 vals, thirst and impaired health ensue. Not only are water 

 and watery fluids requisite for the normal nutrition of the 

 tissues, and for dissolving and carrying away their waste 

 products, but in sick animals they also assist the removal 

 of the products of disease. Even more imperative is the 

 need of pure air to oxygenate the blood, maintain internal 

 respiration and normal tissue change, and remove waste 

 products. Animals require, either in the form of food, or 

 when the subjects of disease, as restorative medicines, vary- 

 ing supplies of many constituents phosphorus, specially for 

 blood, bone, brain, and nerves ; sulphur, for the skin and 

 bile acids ; fats, for cell-growth generally ; iron, for the 

 blood globules ; salines, for the healthy restoration of the 

 blood and most other parts. 



These requirements, essential in health, are even more im- 

 portant in animals affected by disease. Food then requires 

 to be given with especial care, and in an easily digested form, 

 for in all serious diseases the digestive functions are impaired. 

 In many febrile complaints, of horses and cattle, the ordinary 

 grains and dry fodder, being imperfectly digested and assimi- 

 lated, are apt to produce or aggravate gastric derangement. 

 Animals suffering from febrile and inflammatory disorders 

 should therefore be restricted to mashes, gruels, or cooked 

 food, to which extra nutritive value can be given as required 

 by addition of milk, eggs, or meat extracts. Food should 

 never be allowed to lie long before a sick animal. If not 

 promptly eaten, it should be removed, and in a couple of 

 hours, or less time, replaced by a fresh supply. During and 

 after attacks of debilitating diseases patients fed, as they 

 should be, on small quantities of rapidly digested fare, obvi- 

 ously require food more frequently than in health. With 

 returning appetite a convalescent occasionally greedily eats 

 more than can be easily digested, and against this contin- 

 gency well-intentioned attendants require to be warned. 

 Relapses of colic and lymphangitis sometimes occur by 



