206 CHAPTER 22. 



brane at the back part of the palate, over which the food must pass. 

 The horse also uses much mastication in order to produce an amount of 

 saliva, which may shield the irritated membrane during the passage of 

 the food. Hence we find much slobbering from the mouth, and frequently 

 in bad cases, when the animal drinks, a portion of the water comes back 

 through the nostrils, and occasionally part of the food is returned in the 

 same way. The cough peculiar to this disease is distinguished by its 

 evidently proceeding from the top of the windpipe, and further by its 

 being sharp and troublesome, not suppressed as in pneumonia. 



The pulse is quick and the respiration somewhat hurried. If the dis- 

 ease is not checked, the cough will become very hard and harassing, and 

 we may expect increased fever to supervene. Fever, however, is only a 

 concomitant symptom, and our attention must not be diverted to it from 

 the real disease. The fever will subside as soon as the irritation which 

 causes it is removed. 



The further progress of the disease is marked by the mouth becoming 

 dry, the nostrils dilated, the parotid and submaxillary glands more 

 swollen, and the breathing loud and laboured. In severe cases, and 

 especially when the disease is complicated with strangles, the breathing 

 is often accompanied by a roaring noise arising from a thickened state of 

 the membrane, or from some pressure on the larynx caused by the forma- 

 tion of tumours or abscesses in its neighbourhood, and partly also from 

 nervous irritability producing partial spasmodic closure of the glottis. 



Laryngitis and Sore throat, when the attack is very severe or long 

 continued, occasionally have an after result in roaring or in chronic 

 cough. The disease is sometimes, though but very rarely fatal, and when 

 such a result occurs, it is often due to neglect or maltreatment. Occa- 

 sionally, however, a horse may be suffocated in spite of all our efforts to 

 afford relief. 



419. Treatment. 



In the earliest stages the treatment consists in removing the patient to 

 a loose box, with an abundant supply of fresh air. The diet must be 

 restricted to soft food. The horse should be fed from a temporary 

 manger, placed so as to suit the height at which in this disease he gene- 

 rally carries his head. Grass is by far the best food ; but when it cannot 

 be procured, carrots or bran mash or linseed gruel may be substituted. 

 Hay is wholly inadmissible, as it cannot be properly masticated, and its 

 long dry fibres will be certain to cause irritation in the throat. 



When the disease is complicated with strangles, the persistent use of 

 warm fomentations and hot flannels to the throat, and the opening of 

 any tumours or abscesses as soon as they begin to point, will afford 

 immediate relief. 



The strength must be supported as much as possible by careful atten- 

 tion to the appetite and good nursing. Grass, carrots, or warm mashes 

 may be offered in very small quantities at a time. Demulcent drinks, 

 such as linseed tea, hay tea, or gruel, are useful and often acceptable. 



