DISEASES OF CATTLE 187 



RETAINED AFTERBIRTH. 



The cow, of all our domestic animals, is especially subject to this 

 accident. This may be partly accounted for by the firm connections 

 established through the fifty to one hundred cotyledons in which the 

 fetal membranes dovetail with the follicles of the womb. It is also 

 most liable to occur after abortion, in which preparation has not been 

 made by fatty degeneration for the severance of these close connec- 

 tions. In the occurrence of inflammation, causing the formation of 

 new tissue between the membranes and the womb, we find the occa- 

 sion of unnaturally firm adhesions which prevent the spontaneous de- 

 tachment of the membranes. Again, in low conditions of health and 

 an imperfect power of contraction we find a potent cause of retention, 

 the general debility showing particularly in the indisposition of the 

 womb to contract, after calving, with sufficient energy to expel the 

 afterbirth. Hence we find the condition common with insufficient or 

 innutritious food, and in years or localities in which the fodder has 

 Buffered from weather. Ergoted, smutty, or musty fodder, by causing 

 abortion, is a frequent cause of retention. Old cows are more subject 

 than young ones, probably because of diminishing vigor. A tempo- 

 rary retention is sometimes due to a too rapid closure of the neck of 

 the womb after calving, causing strangulation and imprisonment of 

 the membranes. Conditions favoring this are the drinking of cold 

 (iced) water, the eating of cold food (frosted roots), and (through 

 sympathy between udder and womb) a too prompt sucking by the 

 calf or milking by the attendant. 



Symptoms. The symptoms of retention of the afterbirth are 

 usually only too evident, as the membranes hang from the vulva and 

 rot away gradually, causing the most offensive odor throughout the 

 building. When retained within the womb by the closure of its 

 mouth and similarly in cases in which the protruded part has rotted 

 off, the decomposition continues and the fetid products escaping by 

 the vulva appear in offensively smelling pools on the floor, and mat 

 together the hairs near the root of the tail. The septic materials re- 

 tained in the womb cause inflammation of its lining membrane, and 

 this, together with the absorption into the blood of the products of 

 putrefaction, leads to ill health, emaciation, and drying up of the 

 milk. 



Treatment. Treatment will vary according to the conditions. 

 When the cow is in low condition or when retention is connected with 

 drinking iced water or eating frozen food, hot drinks and hot mashes 

 of wheat bran or other aliment may be all sufficient. If, along with 

 the above conditions, the bowels are somewhat confined, an ounce of 

 ground ginger, or half an ounce of black pepper, given with a quart 

 of sweet oil, or l 1 /^ pounds of Glauber's salts, the latter in at least 4 

 quarts of warm water, will often prove effectual. A bottle or two of 

 flaxseed tea, made by prolonged boiling, should also be given at fre- 

 quent intervals. Other stimulants, like rue, savin, laurel, and car- 

 minitives like anise, cumin, and coriander are preferred by some, but 

 with very questionable reason, the more so that the first three are not 

 without danger. Ergot of rye, 1 ounce, or extract of the same, 1 



