CHRONIC INDIGESTION 555 



plete recovery some tonic condition powder may be given for several 

 days with advantage. 



CHRONIC INDIGESTION (CHRONIC GASTRITIS) 



Definition. — This is a condition in which there is a chronic in- 

 flammation of the Hning membrane of the stomach, and the animal 

 becomes unable to digest food in the proper manner. The condi- 

 tion is not as common in hogs as it is in the larger animals, such as 

 the horse and the cow. 



Causes. — The causes for chronic indigestion are practically the 

 same as those for acute inflammation of the stomach. The main 

 cause is long-continued irregularity in feeding and long-continued 

 feeding with an improper ration. At first the animal may show 

 a response to this improper treatment by attacks of acute inflam- 

 mation of the stomach, but later, as the stomach becomes more ac- 

 customed to abuse, these acute attacks are less frequent, and the 

 animal passes into a chronic condition of impaired digestion and the 

 stomach gradually becomes less and less able to perform its proper 

 function. 



Long-continued feeding on an exclusive corn diet is a very com- 

 mon cause of chronic indigestion. Continued feeding of kitchen 

 and hotel garbage is another common cause. The presence of 

 stomach and bowel worms may frequently produce a chronic gas- 

 tritis. When, for any reason, the animal becomes weak and debil- 

 itated, there is a weakening of the digestive powers and a chronic 

 dyspepsia is the result. Accordingly, we may expect to see this 

 condition in animals that are badly ruptured or that suffer from 

 long-drawn-out diseases, such as chronic hog-cholera. In the latter 

 disease chronic indigestion is always present as a prominent syinp- 

 tom. Animals that are kept housed in overheated quarters, as 

 around a manure pile or straw-stack, and who receive insufficient 

 exercise, usually become sufferers from the chronic form of indiges- 

 tion during the winter. 



Sjrmptoms. — The chronic form of indigestion is usually preceded 

 by one or more attacks of acute gastritis, in which the animal shows 

 the usual symptoms of loss of appetite, vomiting, fever, and 

 diarrhea. After one or more of these severe attacks, if proper 

 change is not made in the manner of feeding, the condition becomes 



