168 DISEASES OF SWINE 



matter with his hogs. This is especially likely to be the case 

 where there is no cholera known to be in the vicinity. 



About the first thing that the owner notices wrong with his hogs, 

 if he is a man that keeps a careful eye on them, is a dropping off 

 from feed. One or two shoats will be noted in the morning or at 

 evening that do not seem to care for food, and prefer apparantly 

 to remain buried in the litter or to lie over in a distant corner of 

 the feed lot. At the same time, the animals seem to lose a great 

 deal of their normal liveliness and activity. A healthy young 

 shoat is always full of life and ginger, and when one loses this 

 natural playfulness there is nearly always something wrong. 

 Healthy shoats will always be found ready and willing to eat at 

 feeding time, and they will always fight for their share of the feed. 

 When they begin to get sick from cholera they lose this fighting 

 spirit and are not at all interested in whether they get their share 

 of the food or not. 



Nearly everyone has noted the fact that a healthy hog has a 

 neat kink or curl in his tail. When a hog begins to get sick with 

 cholera or, in fact, from any other severe sickness, this kink in the 

 tail disappears and the tail becomes straight, drooping, and almost 

 lifeless. 



As the symptoms of the disease become a little more advanced 

 and well marked, the animal shows more distinct signs of being ill. 

 The sick hog seems to desire to be left alone and allowed to keep 

 quiet. He will burrow himself in the litter and remains lying 

 down most of the time. If noted carefully it will be found that 

 the sick shoat prefers to lie upon his belly rather than upon either 

 side. As the animals become more and more sick they refuse to 

 respond to the feed call of the owner and remain all the time in 

 their litter, showing only a desire to remain quiet and not be dis- 

 turbed. If water is brought to them they will usually drink eagerly, 

 but they do not touch food, such as corn, which may be left right 

 under their nose. 



If aroused, the animal shows plainly by painful grunts and 

 squeals that it does not want to be disturbed. When the body is 

 touched with the hand it is found to be very hot and often almost 

 burning. At the same time the hog appears very tender and the 

 skin is very sensitive. 



