CONSTIPATION 285 



Treatment. — Since a variety of causes contribute to induce consti- 

 pation, they should be fully considered before deciding upon treatment, 

 as the aloetic ball, which may answer well for adults with a sluggish 

 liver, may be quite unsuitable for other subjects. For the young foal, 

 where the rectum is plugged with a hard yellow substance, an oiled finger 

 may be introduced and the obstruction removed, with a careful avoidance 

 of injury to the lining membrane of the bowel by the operator's nails. A 

 simple enema of soap and warm water, or glycerine, or the introduction 

 of lard or vaseline, is usually all that is required, as with each day the 

 intestine is developing greater powers, and the expulsive efforts are soon 

 found to be sufficient to relieve the loaded bowel of its contents. If 

 constipation continues, a small dose of castor-oil may be given, preferably 

 in warm milk; and if the dam is not at grass she should be supplied with 

 a laxative diet, which, acting upon her, will soon be found to influence 

 the colt favourably. Some breeders, more careful than the average farmer, 

 give in -foal mares bran and middlings and pulped roots for a few clays 

 before foaling, a practice in favour of which something can be said, 

 both as a milk-producer and for the special purpose to which we have 

 alluded. 



Constipation in the stabled horse should be guarded against by the 

 bran mash or linseed prescribed by good housekeepers, and an animal 

 predisposed to hardness of the faeces should be allowed an extra laxative 

 diet, rather than given drugs. Green meat made into chaff with hay 

 or straw, during the summer months, will serve the purpose of keeping- 

 open the bowels in costive subjects, who would perhaps eat only the 

 green food if offered separately. 



An aloetic ball, proportioned to the size and breed of the animal, may 

 be given where an early evacuation of the bowel is imperative, but as 

 a rule the repetition of small laxative doses of linseed -oil, or sulphate 

 of magnesia, is preferable to the administration of one drastic purgative, 

 which is apt to be followed by inaction of the over-stimulated intestines. 



When debility has been a contributory cause of constipation it may be 

 necessary to give tonic agents and a more liberal diet, but if iron be one of 

 the agents selected there is a risk of further constipation, unless corrected 

 by more laxative foods. Nux vomica, in small doses, continued over 

 a considerable period, may prove one of the most valuable remedies in 

 restoring functional power to the muscular walls of the bowels. 



As feeding errors are the chief cause, so will the remedy be found 

 in a more suitable dietary, and each animal should be fed according to 

 his requirements. The practical horseman need hardly be reminded 

 that horses differ so much in the effect of food upon the alimentary 



