OSSEOUS CACHEXIA. 9 



1. The initial phase is not well marked, and is announced by digestive 

 disturbance and by wasting. The former of these symptoms may be 

 referred to some other cause, but consists in irregularity, diminution 

 and sometimes perversion of the appetite. These earlier signs are soon 

 followed by loss of spirits, and some interference with movement, but 

 the symptoms only become of importance or attain their full develop-, 

 ment when the animals remain lying for a long period in the stable. 



2. The second phase is characterised by more precise signs, which' 

 become almost pathognomonic. Difficulty in rising is added to the 



Fig. 2. — Horse suffering from osseous cachexia. 



already existing tendency to remain lying, and to the interference with 

 movement. 



When lying down the patient no longer responds to the trifling 

 stimulus, wliich a healthy animal needs to cause it to rise. It remains 

 languid and aj^parently lazy, though in reality it experiences pain 

 and difficulty on attempting to get up. The least muscular effort when 

 lying down often causes it to moan, as do efforts to change its position 

 or to walk. Even when standing still, it may appear to be in pain, 

 and patients often assume a position similar to that of a horse suffering 

 from laminitis. 



At the end of this second phase, swellings appear, due to synovitis or 

 arthritis of the extremities, synovitis of the sesamoid or navicular 

 sheaths or to inter-phalangeal arthritis or arthritis of the fetlock joint. 

 Weakness becomes marked, and the appetite is very irregular. 



