100 The Care of Animals 



PUNCTURED WOUNDS OF THE FOOT 



These are wounds made hy some sharp object punc- 

 turing the sole or the frog and injuring the soft tissues. 

 They are likely to be serious, as the coffin -joint is often 

 punctured, and tetanus (lockjaw) follows in other cases. 

 Generally the injury arises from "picking up a nail" or 

 from the prick of a nail in shoeing. In all cases of 

 sudden and decided lameness, the foot should be carefully 

 examined for nails and similar objects, or for holes 

 which they have made. 



The nail or foreign body should first be withdrawn. 

 If there is a collection of blood or pus, the hole must be 

 enlarged, so that there is free drainage, and the sore 

 washed out with a good antiseptic. One part of perox- 

 ide of hydrogen to three of water is excellent; so is 

 a five per cent solution of carbolic acid in water, pure 

 turpentine, or a 1- to -1000 solution of corrosive sub- 

 limate. If there is much soreness, the foot should be 

 poulticed for a day or two and then treated as a corn 

 is that has been opened. The horse should be kept in 

 a clean, dry stall, so that no dirt will get into the 

 wound. 



THRUSH 



Thrush is a deep fissure in the horny frog extend- 

 ing to the sensitive frog and is associated with some 

 inflammation of the latter and the discharge of a small 

 amount of bad -smelling pus from the cleft of the frog. 

 It occurs in either the front or the hind feet, most fre- 

 quently in the latter. It is caused in most cases by 



