SPRAINS, LUXATIONS AND FRACTURES 295 



pretty well retained. When the cow attempts to plant a hind 

 leg, it makes an impression as if the extensor muscles of the 

 leg are paralyzed. At the moment the function of the support- 

 ing leg sets in,* the fetlock knuckles over so that its anterior 

 surface often touches the ground. 



When we place the foot against the anterior surface of the 

 joint, knuckling can be prevented and the cow is able to bear 

 weight on that leg. 



Course and Prognosis. — Observations indicate that a simple 

 sprain, often only unilateral, with limited rupture of the liga- 

 mentous apparatus, is usually followed by recovery. The 

 prognosis becomes more favorable the better the animal can 

 rise and stand. 



Absence of luxation between the sacrum and ilium allows 

 us to predict recovery in two or three weeks. 



Nevertheless, many animals, which stood quietly in the 

 stable and apparently recovered, showed a swayiug walk as 

 soon as they go to pasture, but improvement usually sets in 

 after a few weeks of rest. 



Treatment. — When professional advice is requested imme- 

 diately after parturition, the animal is to be placed on a 

 horizontal floor and not on a place lower behind than in 

 front, or where it may possibly slide into a gutter. The bed- 

 ding must be of a nature to prevent the legs from getting- 

 entangled. 



Further treatment is very simple. The animal is to be 

 fed less voluminously but more intensively, and any eventual 

 complications are to be prevented. Care must be taken that 

 such an animal does not lie on its side, but rests upon the 

 knees and sternum. The former, especially when lying on the 

 left side, causes tympanitis. It happens that tympanitis dis- 

 appears immediately, changing the general appearance of the 

 animal, when the cow is placed on the knees and sternum. 

 Many veterinarians order embrocations of ammonia or ol. 

 terebinth, spirits of camphor, etc., in the sacral and lumbar 

 regions. These applications are useless and have only then 



* See my " Clinical Diagnosis of Lameness."— W. E. A. W. 



