330 Acute Intestinal Catarrh. 



obstinate lack of appetite, and the impossibility of inflnencing 

 the disease favorably by treatment. 



Since intestinal catarrh may be dne to acute infectious dis- 

 eases and to intestinal parasites, these conditions must be con- 

 sidered in the diagnosis. 



Prognosis. Primarily uncomplicated intestinal catarrh is 

 dangerous only in very young or very old animals; in these it 

 may occasionally lead to death; as a rule the disease ends in re- 

 covery and rarely leads to chronic catarrh. Of unfavorable 

 prognostic significance are elevation of temperature, very severe 

 pains, marked prostration, obstinate diarrhea ; these symptoms 

 point to secondary inflammation of the intestines. 



Infectious gastro-intestinal catarrh of hogs usually disap- 

 pears, under purely dietetic measures witliin one to four days, 

 sometimes only towards the end of the first week. Fatalities 

 do not occur as a rule ; Aronsohn, however, reported a mortality 

 of 1 to 2%. 



Treatment. The main points in the treatment of acute in- 

 testinal catarrh are the establishment of favorable hygienic con- 

 ditions and the proper regulation of diet. The sick animals 

 should, above all, be kept quiet in a warm, dry place where they 

 can, if necessary, be protected against loss of heat by being cov- 

 ered with blankets. The selection of such a place is particularly 

 important in young and small animals, including rabbits and 

 fowls. The feeding ought to be done in the most cleanly man- 

 ner and the feeding vessels should be cleansed scrupulously be- 

 fore each meal. The parts of the body which may become soiled 

 in defecation must be cleansed, the feces must be removed 

 promptly and frequently from the neighborhood of the sick 

 animals, and an admixture of feces with feed must be strictly 

 prevented. The buccal cavity of the animals should be mped 

 out several times each day with pure or somewhat acidulated 

 water. 



The regulation of the diet should protect the inflamed mu- 

 cous membranes against further irritation and should attempt 

 to furnish as little culture-material as possible to the microor- 

 ganisms which rapidly increase in the abnormal intestinal con- 

 tents. Animals sliould, therefore, receive a starvation diet for 

 one or two days, if they come under treatment at the first stage 

 and if their state of nutrition permits of the withdrawal of food. 

 All irritating, acrid, undigestible food must be avoided and food 

 must in general be given only in small doses for each meal. 

 Herbivora may receive aromatic, but not fresh, hay (perhaps 

 scalded), grains softened in warm water, crushed oats or bar- 

 ley (best mixed with water and salts), flour or bran mash and, 

 in case the diarrhea is severe, mucilaginous soups of oats, bar- 

 ley, linseed cakes; for ruminants in addition boiled beets and 

 potatoes. Raw feed cannot, as a rule, be withheld entirely, since 



