ACUTE GASTRITIS 553 



mother's milk, irregular nursing, or, a little later on, to eating from 

 the troughs food which they are incapable of handling. Foods 

 which the other hogs may be able to eat without producing severe 

 harm will kill these httle pigs, as a result of the severe inflamma- 

 tion they cause in the stomach. 



Secondary Gastritis. — An acute gastritis is commonly seen as a 

 complication of a number of the other acute diseases of swine. 

 Particularly is this the case in hog-cholera. The stomach of the 

 hog in hog-cholera is often very red and inflamed, and not infre- 

 quently one or more small ulcers may be found quite similar in 

 appearance to those found in the bowels. 



Acute gastritis may also occur as a secondary disease after 

 inflammations of the mouth and throat, or as a result of diseases of 

 the teeth and gums. An animal with sore teeth and sore gums can- 

 not properly chew the food, and, as a result, it gets into the stomach 

 in hard masses which often scratch and irritate the stomach so as to 

 set up a severe gastritis. 



Postmortem Appearance. — If we open up the body of an animal 

 that has died as a result of acute inflammation of the stomach we 

 will find that the inner lining of the stomach is swollen, reddened, 

 and covered with a thick coat of sticky, mucus-like substance. 

 The food present in the organ usually has a decidedly sour, dis- 

 agreeable odor, and may often appear frothy and filled with gas. 



Symptoms. — The first noticeable symptom of gastritis is loss 

 of appetite. There may be an entire loss of desire for food in the 

 severe cases. In the milder cases there is noted a marked de- 

 crease in appetite. The animal eats slowly and without the usual 

 greediness which characterizes the appetite of the healthy pig. 



In the more severe cases there is sudden loss of all desire for 

 food and often an attack of vomiting. The animal shows a 

 tendency to remain in its nest, or to go off in some quiet corner and 

 lie down. When the animal stands, it arches the back and holds 

 the abdomen tense. The tail droops, and the general appearance 

 of the sick hog is that of unthriftiness. When roused up, or any 

 attempt is made to handle the hog, he shows by grunting that he is 

 in severe pain. 



With the onset of the disease the animal becomes quite feverish, 

 and the skin gets hot and dry. Thirst is usually increased, but all 



