DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS 567 



DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS 



These are by no means so common as is generally believed by stablemen, 

 who arc too fond of dosing with nitre and diuretics generally. Because 

 a horse passes thick urine there is not necessarily anything the matter with 

 him, but many coachmen and grooms on seeing a little milky urine passed 

 are alarmed for the health of their charges. The salts and organic matter 

 ai-e but feebly held in solution, and any change of diet may cause them to be 

 precipitated. The first bundle of green meat after a winter of dry food will 

 almost invariably result in thick urine, but a few days suffice for it to 

 become normal again. If, as many old writers state, the kidneys of the 

 horse are very liable to disease, it is because they are so liable to abuse at 

 the hands of their masters and of the quacks who attribute every abdominal 

 pain to " something wrong with the water." 



Inflammation op the kidneys {nephritis) is generally produced by an 

 exposure of the loins to wet and cold, as in carriage-horses standing about 

 in the rain during the winter season. Sometimes it follows violent muscular 

 exertion, and is then said to be caused by a strain in the back ; under the 

 back it really is, for horses in jumping do occasionally strain the psose 

 muscles, and by invasion or extension, one or moi-e kidneys may be aifected. 

 Usually only one, but that is no argument against the theory of loin-sprain 

 producing it, since the kidneys are not parallel or very close together. 

 Exposure to cold in a state of exhaustion, abuse of diuretic medicines, 

 absorption of cantharidine blisters, the presence of calculi, and in rare 

 instances parasites. 



The Symptoms are a constant desire to void the urine, which is of a 

 very dark colour — often almost black. Great pain, as evidenced by the 

 expression of countenance and by groans, as well as by frequent wistful 

 looks at the loins. On pressing these parts there is some tenderness, 

 but not excessive, as in rheumatism. The pulse is quick, hard, and 

 full. The attitude of the hind- quarters is peculiar, the horse standing in 

 a straddling position with his back arched, and refusing to move with- 

 out absolute compulsion. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish nephritis 

 from inflammation of the neck of the bladder, but by attending to the 

 state of the urine, which is dark brown or black in the former case, and 

 neai-ly of a natural colour in the latter, the one may be diagnosed from the 

 other. To make matters still more clear, the oiled hand may be passed into 

 the rectum, when in nephritis the bladder will be found contracted and 

 empty (the urine being so pungent as to irritate that organ), Avhile in 

 inflammation or spasm of the neck it will be distended, often to a large 

 size. 



The Treatment to be adopted must be active, as the disease runs a 

 very rapid course, and speedily ends in death if neglected. The skin must 

 be acted on energetically, so as to draw the blood to its surface. The 

 application of hot water, as recommended at page 528, may be tried, and 

 in many cases it has acted like a charm. Failing the means for carrying 

 out either of these remedies, the loins should be rubbed with an embrocation 

 consisting of olive oil, liquor ammonite, and laudanum in equal parts, but 

 cantharides and turpentine must be carefully avoided, as likely to be 



