S3 



flexible and should possess a smooth surface. A piece of new rope, 

 with the end closely wrapped and waxed and then oiled, or a piece 

 of thin garden hose, or a well-wrapped twisted wire may be used 

 in emergencies. 



DISEASES OF THE STOMACH AND BOWELS OF CATTLE. 



Hoven, or Bloating (Acute Tympanites). This disease is char- 

 acterized by swelling of the left flank, and is caused by the forma- 

 tion of gas in the rumen, or paunch. 



Causes. Tympanites may be caused by any kind of food which 

 produces indigestion. When cattle are first turned into young clo- 

 ver they eat so greedily of it that tympanites frequently results; 

 turnips, potatoes, and cabbage may also cause it; middlings and 

 corn meal also frequently give rise to it. In this connection it may 

 be stated than an excessive quantity of any of the before-mentioned 

 foods may bring on this disorder, or it may not be due to excess, but 

 to eating too hastily. Sometimes the quality of the food is at fault. 

 Grass or clover when wet by dew or rain frequently disorders diges- 

 tion and brings on tympanites ; frozen roots or pastures covered with 

 hoar frost should also be regarded as dangerous. When food has 

 been eaten too hastily, or when it is cold and wet, the digestive 

 process is imperfectly performed, and the food contained in the 

 paunch ferments, during which process large quantities of gas are 

 formed. The same result may follow when a cow is choked, as the 

 obstruction in the gullet prevents the eructation, or passing up, of 

 gas from the stomach, so that the gas continues to accumulate 

 until tympanites results. 



Symptoms. The swelling of the left flank is very character- 

 istic, as in well-marked cases the flank at its upper part rises above 

 the level of the backbone and when struck with the tips of the fin- 

 gers emits a drumlike sound. The animal has an anxious expres- 

 sion, moves uneasily, and is evidently distressed. If relief is not 

 obtained in time, it breathes with difficulty, reels in walking or in 

 standing, and in a short time falls down and dies from suffocation. 

 The distention of the stomach may become so great as to prevent 

 the animal from breathing, and in some instances the case may be 

 complicated by rupture of the stomach. 



Treatment. If the case is not extreme, it may be sufficient to 

 drive the animal at a walk for a quarter or half an hour; or cold 

 water by the bucketful may be thrown against the cow's sides. In 

 some cases the following simple treatment is successful : A rope or 

 a twisted straw band is coated with pine tar, wagon grease, or other 

 unsavory substance, and is placed in the cow's mouth as a bit, being 

 secured by tying behind the horns. The efforts of the animal to 

 dislodge this object result in movements of the tongue, jaws, and 

 throat that stimulate the secretion of saliva and swallowing, thus 

 opening the esophagus, which permits the exit of gas, and at the 

 same time peristalsis is stimulated reflexly. 



In urgent cases the gas must be allowed to escape without delay, 

 and this is best accomplished by the use of the trocar. The trocar 

 is a sharp-pointed instrument incased in a sheath, which leaves the 



