THE NURSE 23 



24. NURSING 



THE NURSE 



The medical attendant anxious to enlist the good-will of the unpaid 

 nurse may often be heard to say that the welfare of the patient depends 

 largely upon her good offices. If this is so with the patient who can and 

 does freely express complaints in respect of these " ministering angels ", 

 how much more necessary is it that sick animals, unable to voice their 

 wrongs, should have in an attendant an individual at once faithful and 

 assiduous in his duties. There is nothing more disheartening to the 

 veterinary practitioner than to feel that he has heedless and incom- 

 petent persons to carry out his instructions; and such are the majority 

 of persons to whom sick animals are entrusted. In a work dealing with 

 the ailments of the horse it will therefore be well to consider a few of the 

 conditions that make for recovery, and the means used in the treatment of 

 the sick and lame. 



THE SICK-BOX 



With few exceptions a loose box is recommended for a horse that is ill, 

 and for several reasons. To begin with, it should be light and cheerful, 

 and a temperature of about 55° Fahr. will in most cases be sufficiently high. 

 It should be well ventilated, but free from draught. 



Where the menage will permit, the sick-box should be wholly detached 

 from all other stables, as a disease about which there may have been 

 doubt at first even to the expert, may at any time prove to be contagious. 

 It should, of course, be properly drained. Horses are of necessity kept 

 in some places where these conditions cannot be provided. In such 

 circumstances special attention should be given to ventilation, and the 

 sanitary state of the stable should in every particular be made as com- 

 plete as possible. 



In cases of lameness or injury, where no possible harm to others can 

 result, a horse may remain in sight and sound of his usual companions 

 with advantage, as his gregarious instincts are offended when condemned 

 to solitary confinement unless he is too ill to care about his surroundings. 

 In a state of nature a sick animal leaves the herd, an instinct which 

 may be accounted for in several ways, but the injured one tries to keep 

 up with his fellows. The door of the sick-box should always open out- 

 wards, or the attendant may be unable to enter when the patient is prone 

 and cannot rise. 



