448 Colicky Affections in Horses. 



sitive to pain than other species of animals. It is also part of 

 the nature of the horse to react to disagreeable or j^ainful sensa- 

 tions in a very marked manner. Moderate pains often do not 

 become noticeable at all in other species of animals, although 

 they are felt. 



Another cause of the frequency of colicky atfections in the 

 horse are the anatomical conditions of the abdominal organs. 

 The stomach is comparatively small, the pylorus is situated be- 

 tween the blind pouch of the stomach and the stomachlike dila- 

 tation of the large colon ; this predisposes to overloading or 

 dilatation of the stomach. The unusual length of the mesentery 

 of the small intestine and the mostly free arrangement of the 

 voluminous large intestine of the horse, predispose to certain 

 displacements of the intestine under certain conditions (strangu- 

 lation, volvulus or torsion). 



The physiologic condition of nutrition in horses likewise 

 contributes materially to the occurrence of colicky affections. 

 As shown by the experiments of EUenberger, Tangl and Scheu- 

 nert, part of the gastric contents pass into the intestines very 

 early, even towards the end of a meal ; the food is chewed only 

 once and not particularly well prepared, it may consequently 

 easily exert a deleterious influence upon the intestines, either by 

 undergoing an abnormal fermentation and irritating the intes- 

 tinal mucosa or by easily becoming inspissated. Part of the 

 ingested water also enters the small intestine immediately. 



Very important are the methods of using horses and the 

 amount and character of attendance they receive. No other 

 domestic animal is so much exposed to errors in diet as the 

 horse, especially in big cities where horses often receive spoiled 

 food or improper food substitutes; often their meal time is not 

 observed regularly; livery stable and dray horses must often 

 work immediately after having been fed. The use of the horse 

 as a work animal also brings aliout its frequent exposure to 

 the inclemencies of the weather and to cold. 



An important role must finally be attributed to thrombosis 

 of the mesenteric arteries which occurs practically without ex- 

 ception only in the horse, but is very frequent in this animal. 

 This affection accounts for a considerable percentage of the 

 ** colicky" diseases. 



Symptoms of Colic. Horses frequently look around to- 

 wards the posterior abdomen ; they trip about restlessly, groan, 

 paw and stamp with their front legs, and kick against the ab- 

 domen with their hind legs; if they become quiet for a time, 

 they stand with the back arched, the neck and head stretched; 

 they place the feet under the a])domen, switch the tail and are 

 dull and apathetic. If the pains come on during motion, the 

 animals have a short stiff gait; they do not like to move, soon 

 stand still and can be made to move onward only by energetic 

 urging. 



