24 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



There should be as little furniture as possible, and that should be 

 capable of easy removal for cleansing and disinfection; after recovery or 

 death of the patient the whole of the stable should be whitewashed 

 before introducing another animal into it, while other and more effectual 

 measures of sanitation must be resorted to where an infectious disease 

 has been treated. (See Disinfection.) 



Special circumstances will have to determine the bedding to be 

 emjjloyed for invalid horses. For example, a case of laminitis, in which 

 poultices or wet swabs are not still in use, may be benefited by the 

 employment of peat-moss rather than straw, which, when not frequently 

 turned and changed, soon becomes offensive; or saw-dust obtained from 

 deal or pine. 



In pulmonary diseases, where dust is objectionable, peat-moss and 

 saw-dust are both unsuited to the sick-box. 



In cases of paralysis, long straw gets heaped up or scraped together 

 by the patient's ill-directed movements, and the skin covering the most 

 prominent points is liable to injury from the bare floor. Straw in trusses 

 may be cut through with a hay-knife in these cases, and when short is 

 less liable to be collected about the animal's legs. Whether straw, hay, 

 or ferns are used, the bedding should be constantly forked over, and if 

 the patient is unable to rise, he should be made comfortable by being- 

 turned over at least once in the twenty - four hours, and assisted to 

 maintain a reposeful attitude by suitable packing placed under the 

 withers and elsewhere. A convenient posture is of course conducive to 

 sleep, the necessity for which appears to be too often overlooked in 

 regard to equine patients, because it is well known that in health they 

 require comparatively little of " nature's sweet restorer". 



Clothing. — Where practicable it is desirable to keep up the tempera- 

 ture of the stable by artificial means rather than overload the patient 

 with clothing, which may become a burden and annoyance if he is not 

 accustomed to it. Exception may be taken to this in cases of pulmonary 

 congestion, where a pure cool air is desirable. Here the surface warmth 

 must be kept up by rugs, bandages, and hoods. The clothing chosen 

 should be light and warm, frequently changed, shaken, and, if necessary, 

 dried before replacing it. All clothing worn by an animal suffering from 

 a contagious disease should be well washed and disinfected, after which 

 it may be dried in the open and then baked. 



Water. — With a few exceptions elsewhere mentioned, the sick horse 

 should have an abundant supply of pure water, which should not be 

 warmed as is sometimes done by allowing it to stand in the stable, but, 

 if the season is such as to require it, by adding to it some that has 



