DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF CATTLE. 255 



you cannot reach it pour half a pint of linseed oil down as a 

 drench, then move the obstruction by working- it with your hand 

 from the outside until the oil gets worked around it and it may 

 slip down when you get it started. If you have no raw linseed 

 oil any other kind of oil will do. If this fails pa.ss down a 

 probangs Which is an instrument for that purpose ; there is a 

 small wooden gag goes with the probang ; the wooden gag is 

 placed in the mouth crossways ; have a man to stand on each side 

 and hold a horn and one end of the gag, keeping the cow's head 

 in line with the body ; oil the probang and pass it through the 

 hole in the gag, on through the center of the mouth into the 

 gullet or throat, down into the tube leading to the stomach, pass 

 it gently down until you strike the obstruction, then press on it 

 until you force the obstruction down into the stomach. In cases 

 where the animal is badly bloated, and you cannot press the ob- 

 struction down into the stomach, tap her on the left side to let the 

 gas out with a trocar and cannula, or with a penknife, then you 

 can easily shove the obstruction down and the bloating will soon 

 disappear. Do not, under any circumstances, go to shove down 

 a broom-handle, or anything of that kind, to remove the obstruc- 

 tion, for you are apt to burst the tube which leads to the stomach, 

 and you will then lose the animal. Probangs cost from $1.00 to 

 $1.50, and can be got at a wholesale drug store or veterinary in- 

 strument store, and is something that every stock owner should 



have. 



BLOATING (TYMPANITES). 



This is gas forming in the paunch, or rumen, and is a 

 common occurrence among cattle. 



Causes. — From choking, sudden change in the food, wet 

 clover, or eating frozen roots of any kind. 



Symptoms. — The left side will be greatly swollen with gas, 

 and in severe cases the whole belly will be distended ; by tapping 

 with your fingers on the left side, over the paunch, it will make a 

 hollow, drum-like sound, and on account of the stomach 

 being so much swollen it presses on the lungs, causing the 

 animal to breath very heavy. In severe cases the eyes will be 

 bloodshot, and if it does not soon get relief will stagger, fall and 

 die, actually smothering to death. 



Treatment. — The treatment must be quick in severe cases. 

 Give the following drench : 



