444 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



unfavorable conditions as to age, vitality, and restraint, the period 

 would better be extended up to sixty days if the general condition of 

 the animal is such as to permit of so long a continuance. After 

 the appliance has been removed the animal should be allowed to 

 stand quiet for a few days, then given very gentle exercise, gradually 

 increased over a period of a week or ten days, by which time the pa- 

 tient will be so far recovered as to be placed in pasture. It should, 

 however, be alone for a time, so as not to take any chance of injury 

 from fighting or other accidents that association with other animals 

 might involve. 



DISLOCATIONS. 



Luxation, or displacement of the bones forming a joint without 

 fracture, is comparatively rare among cattle. It most frequently 

 occurs in the stifle joint, where dislocation of the kneepan (patella) 

 takes place. Such an accident may occur from direct injury or ex- 

 ternal force, as a blow, or from slipping. When it does occur the 

 symptoms produced are somewhat alarming. The animal is unable 

 to draw the leg forward, and either stands with it thrown back with 

 the toe pointing downward or, if it should succeed in getting its 

 weight upon it, holds it firmly on the ground, fearing to move it. 

 Examination of the outside of the joint will disclose the situation of 

 the patella outside of its proper place. If the operator is not familiar 

 with the normal appearance of the joint, it is well to make a compar- 

 ison between the injured and the sound one. If compelled to move, 

 the animal does so with great difficulty, jerking the leg which it is 

 unable to bring forward, hopping with the other and partially drag- 

 ging the injured one. 



Treatment, The treatment is simple. A rope 20 feet long 

 should be applied around the fetlock of the affected leg, passed for- 

 ward between the front legs and up over the opposite side of the neck, 

 back over the withers, and wrapped once behind the elbow around 

 that portion of the rope which passes between the front legs. The leg 

 is then drawn away from the body and forcibly pushed forward by 

 an assistant, while another person tightens up the slack in the rope 

 until the affected leg is off the ground in front of the supporting leg. 

 The rope is then drawn taut and the assistant grasps the tail and 

 pulls the cow toward the affected side. The animal makes a lurch to 

 keep from falling, contracts the muscles, and the patella slips into 

 place with a sharp click, and the animal walks off as if nothing had 

 happened. If the animal resists this method of handling, it may suf- 

 fice to manipulate the dislocated kneepan by shoving it inward and 

 forward with the heel of the hand while the affected leg is drawn well 

 forward. Unless some precaution is taken the accident is liable to 

 recur, as the ligaments have been stretched by the dislocation till 

 they no longer hold the bone with that firmness necessary to retain it. 

 The animal should be tied and the foot fastened forward, so that the 

 patient can just stand on it comfortably, by means of a rope or strap 

 around the fetlock carried forward between the front legs around the 

 neck and tied on the breast. 



