POST-PARTUM PARALYSIS — MILK FEVER— MAMMARY TOXEMIA, ETC. 463 



into the normal position, it at once returns to the unnatural position in 

 which it was found. The animal is in a state of partial or complete 

 unconsciousness, does not respond to blows or calls, and takes no note 

 of its surroundings. The eye is dull and not sensitive to the finger 

 touch, sunken, pupil dilated, and the upper lid is drooping ; the tongue 

 is paralysed, saliva runs from the mouth, the pharynx and oesophagus 

 have lost the power of motion, so that the animal is unable to swallow ; 

 the peristalsis of the stomachs and intestines is in abeyance, and as a 

 result digestion is arrested, fermentation sets in, and the animal becomes 

 tympanitic ; the contents of the rectum and colon are hard and dry, and 

 may be covered with mucus or blood, urination is suspended; the os 

 uteri is almost invariably dilated if the disease occurs within a day of 

 parturition ; pulse small, often imperceptible, 60 to 120 per minute ; 

 temperature, usually normal or below normal, may be as low as 95° 

 Fahr., in some cases may be as high as 105° Fahr. Such a high 

 temperature probably does not occur in a case of pure parturient para- 

 lysis, but only when there is a complication of parturient septicaemia. 

 The extremities are cold. The after-birth is sometimes retained. There 

 may be accompanying prolapse of the uterus. 



Course. Without treatment, and, indeed, with most kinds of treat- 

 ment which have been applied in the past, the disease usually runs 

 rapidly to a fatal issue. It lasts two to three days, and in some cases 

 longer, the condition gradually becoming more and more aggravated. 

 Death results from sudden failure of the heart or brain, and is often 

 preceded by profuse diarrhoea. In milder cases the cow may linger as 

 long as two to four weeks and then die of pneumonia, which results from 

 the inhalation, or introduction through attempts at medication, of foreign 

 substances into the lungs during the period of paralysis of the pharynx 

 and oesophagus. If recovery occurs, the animal is entirely well in two 

 to five days. In rare cases paralysis of the hind parts may persist for a 

 long while. 



Diagnosis. This is made by a study of the history and symptoms. 

 It is comparatively easy. 



Differential diagnosis. It must be distinguished from ante-partum 

 paralysis, broken-back, parturient sej^ticaemia ; but one familiar with 

 the character of these diseases will find no difficulty in making this 

 . differentiation. 



Treatment. This may be considered under two distinct subdivisions, 

 viz., preventive treatment and curative treatment. 



(a) Preventive treatment. — By considering what has been said under 

 the head of '* generation of the disease," one can easily infer what 

 measures should be adopted to prevent the disease. Cows in the later 

 stage of gestation should be fed moderately, grain especially being 



