DISEASES OF CATTLE 141 



Symptoms : At or a few days after calving, the cow is 

 noticed hanging back in the stall, dull, languid, with an 

 unsteady movement of the' hind legs. If the cow is made 

 to walk, she steps unsteadily or staggers, pays no atten- 

 tion to her calf; she finally becomes so paralyzed that 

 she falls and is unable to rise. The pupils of the eyes are 

 dilated and the membranes reddened or congested with 

 blood. The cow may lie on her breast or flat on her side, 

 but most likely upon her breast and her head turned in 

 the region of the flank. She apparently is sound asleep. 

 If the eyeball is touched with the fingers she does not 

 close the eye, nor will she evince any pain when being 

 pricked with a pin on any part of the body. The nose 

 is dry, the temperature is below normal in most cases. 

 Just how the name of this disease started by the name 

 of **Milk Fever'' I cannot understand. 



Treatment: When the above signs are noticed, 

 whether the cow is standing or lying down in a paralyzed 

 condition, obtain an ordinary bulb injection syringe ; in- 

 sert a tube in the end from which the air escapes. After 

 washing both syringe and teat tube in a five per cent sot 

 lution of Carbolic Acid, milk or strip out all the milk 

 possible from the bag, then insert the teat tu])e that is 

 connected to the syringe in each teat, filling them well 

 with air, and repeat this treatment every hour until the 

 cow stops staggering, or if lying down, stands on her 

 feet. It is necessary to strip the milk from the bag be- 

 fore giving an injection of air. If the cow is lying flat 

 on her side, prop her up by placing bags of hay or straw 

 against her side, also make her as comfortable as pos- 

 sible. If lying in the hot sun, provide shade by placing 

 a canopy over her made from burlap ; if the weather is 

 chilly, blanket ; if flies annoy her, use some fly repellant. 



This disease is satisfactorily treated. Where ninety 

 per cent of the cows died at one time, ninety per cent 

 can be saved by the above treatment. It is a custom with 

 some people to use an ordinary bicycle pump for treat- 



