i6o 



CATTLE— D~T3EASES~AND REMEDIES. 



in obstinate cases of this kind; but that 

 should, if possible, be avoided, for the 

 quarter will be lost, and there will be a 

 serious diminution in the quantity of milk 

 as long as the cow lives. The teat may- 

 be cut deeply in order to let out the mat- 

 ter. This wound will readily heal again, 

 and the quarter will be as useful as ever. 



If the udder appears grangrenous, it 

 should be scarified with a lancet, and a 

 solution of chloride of lime applied, 

 whilst the strength of the animal should 

 be supported by tonic medicine. 



When the cow dies it is generally from 

 mortification, to prevent which it is often 

 necessary to remove not only the affected 

 teat, but the whole of the quarter. A 

 skillful man, more competent than a com- 

 mon cow-leach, should be employed for 

 this purpose. 



A frequent but unsuspected cause of 

 this disease is the hasty and careless mode 

 of milking, which is often adopted. A 

 considerable quantity of milk is left in the 

 bag, particularly when a cow gives her 

 milk slowly. This is not only a loss to 

 the farmer, from so much less milk find- 

 ing its way to the dairy room, and from 

 the quantity of milk regularly secreted in 

 the udder of the cow gradually diminish- 

 ing; but the milk curdles in the teats and 

 produces swellings, and lays the founda- 

 tion for garget. 



The Sore Teats, to which some cows 

 are subject, is a very different disease, and 

 often a very troublesome one. It usually 

 occurs a little while after they have calved. 

 If it happens in the summer the animals 

 are so badly tormented by the flies that it 

 is difficult to milk them ; and the discharge 

 from . the cracks and wounds passing 

 through the hand in the act of milking, 

 and mingling with the milk, renders it dis- 

 gusting, if not unwholesome. 



The ointment for Sore Teats will gen- 

 erally be found effectual. (See No. 27 

 Domestic Animals, Medicines for.) 



A little of this should be rubbed on the 

 teats morning and night after milking; 

 and if the flies tease the animal much, a 

 small quantity of aloes or assafcetida may 

 be mixed with the ointment. The latter 

 is the more effectual, but its smell is very 

 unpleasant. 



The teats are sometimes so sore that it 

 is necessary to hobble the cow, in order 

 to make her stand; but this is seldom 



effectual ; for the legs of the cow get sore, 

 and she kicks worse than ever. Kind- 

 ness and patience are the best remedies. 

 It is never of any use to beat or ill use a 

 cow for this fidgetiness at milking. She 

 will either at the time do mischief in re- 

 turn, or she will at some other opportu- 

 nity take her revenge. 



There is another variety of disease to 

 which the udder of cows is liable, some- 

 what different from that described, termed 

 Weeds. It is attended by considerable 

 fever and constitutional disturbance, com- 

 mencing with a shivering fit, which, after 

 some hours, is succeeded by a hot fit, in 

 which all the symptoms of fever are pre- 

 sent — the cow hangs her head and refuses 

 to feed, and the udder is painful, hot, and 

 swollen. If relief is not soon obtained, 

 an abscess forms, and one or more quar- 

 ters become cold, black, and insensible; 

 the udder becomes disorganized, and the 

 animal is lost. 



The first thing to be done is to admin- 

 ister a Warm Stimulant. (See No. 28 

 Domestic Animals, Medicines for.) 



Sometimes this draught alone will effect 

 a cure, but the body should be clothed 

 and the cow well nursed. On the follow- 

 ing day, if the bowels are constipated and 

 the cow appears dull, a purgative should 

 be given. The udder must be fomented 

 with warm water for an hour at a time, 

 several times a day, and if it is much 

 swollen, it should be suspended with 

 cloths passing over the loins. It may 

 also be rubbed with a liniment composed 

 of hartshorn and oil. It is of much im- 

 portance that the fomentations should be 

 as hot as can be borne, and applied in 

 good earnest to the part affected, and for 

 a long time together. 



COWS, Sore Teats.— See Cow, Garget. 



COWS, Weeds.— See Cow, Garget in. 



COW, Before and during Calving, 

 Treatment of the. — It is an old and true 

 saying, and the truth of it is nowhere 

 more evident than in the treatment of the 

 milch cow, that .the prevention of an evil 

 is better than the cure. The difficulty of 

 calving, and the mortality afterwards, are 

 in a great measure to be traced to the im- 

 proper management of the cow. So far 

 as the udder is concerned, there is a plan 

 usually adopted, and a very necessary 

 one — the cow is dried six or eight weeks 

 before calving. Two reasons are given 



