684 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



the tendency is discovered early, the danger may be halted 

 by adequate muzzling. If the rubbish swallowed has been 

 extensive, it is beyond known remedy unless, if the diagnosis 

 is clear, one may attempt gastrotomy. 



If the breeder insists upon permitting the calf to nurse 

 the cow, he should be induced, if possible, to milk the cow 

 almost dry and to wash and disinfect the udder before the 

 calf is permitted to suck. Where the calf must run with the 

 cow, the feeding cannot be controlled and the handling of 

 this group of infections cannot be so satisfactory. In beef 

 cattle, especially purebreds, and in grade cattle which are 

 partially milked, the feeding problem may in many cases 

 be satisfactorily managed. If the cows are gentle, they may 

 be milked out to that point where approximately the ration 

 advised is left in the udder, and the calf then permitted to 

 suck. When the calf is ten days old, it will usually con- 

 sume with safety and profit all its dam will yield. In beef 

 cows the milk ration may be reduced at first by feeding the 

 cow very low or by placing her on very poor pasture. 



In some herds of beef cattle I have observed that the con- 

 genital infections do not tend so strongly to induce diarrhea 

 as in dairy calves. Instead, the calves appear languid, 

 breathe rapidly (fever), have little or no appetite, and die. 

 Upon autopsy, the lesions are the same in general as in 

 dysentery : that is, there are hemorrhages in various tissues 

 and the feces are soft and fetid. The calf running in the 

 open may also acquire a morbid appetite, and may swallow 

 dry grass or other rubbish, have convulsions and die. For 

 these reasons I have had occasion to advise, with gratifying 

 results, the use of calf scours serum, as in the dysentery 

 of dairy calves, making its administration a general rule in 

 herds where calves are dying. In purebred beef cattle ex- 

 cellent results are obtainable by separating the new-born 

 calf immediately after birth, muzzling it securely, and re- 

 moving the muzzle twice daily to let the calf suck, after the 

 dam has been well milked out. When dysentery, arthritis, 

 pneumonia, or other phenomena are established, or when, in 

 the hands of the alert breeder the temperature, blood in the 



