142 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



allowed at any time after the first acute stage of the disease has begun to 

 decline. 



One error which is commonly committed in feeding sick horses is that 

 of leaving the food which the animal has refused in the manger, with the 

 idea that he may take it later on. Certainly nothing could be more dis- 

 gusting to a sick person than to have the plate of food which he has 

 declined kept close to him for some hours; and sick horses may be credited 

 with a certain amount of taste in the same direction. When the food has 

 been refused, it should be entirely removed from the manger, after the 

 animal has been allowed a reasonable time to consume it, if he wished to 

 do so. And no more should be offered until the horse indicates by his 

 movements and looks, which an experienced stableman perfectly under- 

 stands, that he is anxious for another opportunity of taking nutriment. 

 Water should be kept always within the animal's reach, and should be 

 frequently changed, so as to be always cool and fresh. The plan that is 

 frequently — -and in former times much more frequently than it is now — 

 adopted of adding hot water to take the chill off, the compound so formed 

 being called oddly enough chilled water, instead of what it really was, 

 warmed water, is an act of unnecessary cruelty. Nothing can be more 

 grateful to a man or horse suffering from feverish thirst than a draught 

 of clear, cold water, and probably nothing more sickening than a draught 

 of warm water. 



Air, fresh and cool, is of equal importance with fresh and cool water, 

 and with animals suffering from congestion or inflammation of the lungs 

 it is often necessary to fix them in such a position that the cool air will 

 reach them, as it is sometimes the case that sick animals will seek the most 

 distant corner of the box, and get as far away from air and light as they 

 possibly can — frequently standing with their heads close to the ground, 

 a position in which they necessarily breathe the same air over and over 

 again. 



Light. — The question of the amount of light which a sick horse finds 

 grateful will easily be decided by an observant attendant who notices the 

 animal's movements. In diseases in which the eyes are affected, as they 

 commonly are even from sympathy, a strong light is extremely irritating, 

 and should be moderated at once, which can be easily done by fixing some 

 kind of temporary blind to the window. 



Temperature. — The temperature of the animal's body in all forms of 

 sickness is a matter which should be attended to with the greatest care, 

 and the regulations to this end will vary very considerably according to the 

 reason and the situation of the box in which the animal is kept. 



In all febrile diseases the tendency is towards coldness of the surface 



