284 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES , 



Some of these foods cause a strong tendency to indigestion, and the 

 consequent irritation of the alimentary canal may be so great as to 

 warrant the belief that the laminae are affected through sympathy. 

 In other instances there is no apparent interference with digestion 

 nor evidence of any irritation of the mucous membranes, yet the 

 disease is in some manner dependent upon the food for its inception. 

 Barley, wheat, and sometimes corn are the grains most apt to cause 

 this disease. 



(6) Fortunately purgative medicines rarely cause inflammation 

 of the laminae. That it is, then, the result of sympathetic action is 

 no doubt more than hypothetical, for when there is no derangement 

 of the alimentary canal a dose of cathartic medicine will at times 

 bring on severe laminitis. 



(7) Most all the older authorities were agreed that metastatic 

 laminitis is a reality. However, it is believed that metastatic lamini- 

 tis is nothing more nor less than concurrent laminitis, and presents 

 little in any way 'peculiar outside the imperfectly understood exciting 

 cause. The practitioner who allows the acute symptoms of the lam- 

 initis to mislead him, simply because their severity has overshad- 

 owed those of the primary disease, may lose his case through un- 

 guarded subsequent treatment. This form of laminitis is by no 

 means commonly met with. It may be found in conjunction with 

 pneumonia, according to Youatt with inflammation of the bowels 

 and eyes, and according to Law and Williams sometimes with bron- 

 chitis. 



Symptoms. Laminitis is characterized by a congregation of 

 symptoms so well marked as scarcely to be misinterpreted by the 

 most casual observer. They are nearly constant in their manifesta- 

 tions, modified by the number of feet affected, the cause which has 

 induced the disease, the previous condition of the patient, and the 

 various other influences which operate in all diseases to some extent. 

 They may be divided into general symptoms, which are concom- 

 itants of all cases of the disease, subject to variations in degree only, 

 and special symptoms, or those which serve to determine the feet 

 affected and the complications which may arise. 



General Symptoms. Usually, the first symptom is the interfer- 

 ence with locomotion. Occasionally the other symptoms are pre- 

 sented first. As the lameness develops the pulse becomes accelerated, 

 full, hard, and strikes the finger strongly ; the temperature soon rises 

 several degrees above the normal, reaching sometimes 106 F. ; it 

 generally ranges between 102.5 and 105 F. The respirations are 

 rapid and panting in character, the nostrils widely dilated, and the 

 mucous membranes highly injected. The facial expression is anx- 

 ious and indicative of the most acute suffering, while the body is 

 more or less bedewed with sweat. At first there may be a tendency 

 to diarrhea, or it may appear later as the result of the medicines 

 used. The urine is high colored, scant in quantity, and of increased 

 specific gravity, owing to the water being eliminated by the skin in- 

 stead of the kidneys. The appetite is impaired, sometimes entirely 

 lost, but thirst is greatly increased. The affected feet are hot and 



