170 CAUSES, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT OF 



however, occur as a primary affection. There are about one hundred or 

 one hundred and twenty of these leaves, and the food becomes impacted 

 between them until it seems almost as hard as a bone, or the ingesta 

 gets dry, and will crumble when a post mortem is made. 



Causes. — Giving dry food which does not contain nutriment in propor- 

 tion to its bulk. It is more common in the spring, when the animal is 

 turned on an old pasture, and in getting the young grass he gets a large 

 amount of old, indigestible grass, and it may occur from inferior food, 

 frozen roots, etc. 



Symptoms. — There is a manifest loss of fat, and, if in a milch cow, 

 there is a decrease in the flow of milk ; perhaps at first a slight diarrhoea, 

 which speedily gives way to costiveness ; the mouth hot ; the ears and 

 horns usually rather hot ; the pulse quickened ; the muzzle dry and hot ; 

 the breathing increased. And this is apt to lead you to suppose the 

 animal is suffering some slight affection of the respiratory organs. There 

 is a slight moaning, and cases are sometimes mistaken for pleuro- 

 pneumonia, especially in those stall fed. There is also a grating of the 

 teeth, and the head becomes sympathetically affected by the nervous 

 system becoming affected, and this produces tremours, convulsions, and, 

 perhaps, death. The rumen is generally not distended to any great 

 extent, and there may be a tucked up appearance. The first symptom 

 often noticed is the cessation of rumination. 



Treatment. — Give a good purgative, and follow it by stimulants, or 

 follow by quinine, one or one and a half drachms, and a few drops of 

 sulphuric acid, which dissolves the quinine. If the animal will drink 

 give plenty of water, and give chloride of sodium with the salts ; give 

 gruel, linseed tea, etc., but so long as the acute symptoms last there is no 

 great need of much food, for if the digestive organs are not in a condition 

 to receive it, it does more harm than good. You may give an ounce of 

 aloes with the Epsom salts, and, if the fever is great, give a few doses of 

 aconite. I do not recommend blood-letting. 



White Scours, a form of diarrhoea in calves. It is usually the result 

 of irritation of the stomach more than of the small intestines. It is a 

 common disorder. I think there is more or less inflammatory action in 

 connection with the true stomach. It is gastritis, so to speak. The 

 exciting cause is the character of the milk, although there may be excep- 

 tional cases, where there is a tubercular diathesis. It is often caused by 

 giving the young calf milk from some other cow, instead of the first milk 

 of the mother, and even the milk of the mother may not be of the right 

 character, and so cause it ; another cause is giving skimmed milk. 



Symptoms. — The feces are in a semi-fluid state, a yellowish white 

 colour ; sometimes mixed with hard portions ; the patient grates its 

 teeth, which is symptomatic of abdominal pain ; lies down ; raises the 

 head and looks towards the abdomen. 



Treatment. — Endeavour to find the cause ; regulate the bowels by 

 giving good milk ; and it may be necessary, although the animal is weak, 

 to endeavour to get rid of the irritant by giving one, two or three ounces 

 of linseed oil, with an equal amount of lime water; castor oil may be 

 given, but linseed oil does very well. The lime tends to counteract the 

 acidity of the stomach, and the oil allays the irritation. Bicarbonate of 

 potash one scruple to half drachm, or even a drachm, according to the 

 size of the animal. If there is pain, give from twenty to fifty drops of 

 laudanum ; and stringents are sometimes required, but must be used with 

 extreme caution. Give catcheu half drachm, and prepared chalk one to 



