331 



cotton wool and support with a bandage round the loins and over the 

 quarters. Or immediately the quarter is found to be hard and inflamed, 

 all the water}^ fluid must be drawn off through the teat, and the quarter 

 should be treated with an injection of iodide of potassium, every 

 twelve hours, as in milk fever (par. 579). To be successful in 

 preventing the formation of pus, energy, perseverance, and patience 

 are required ; if, however, matter should form, it must be liberated, 

 as already shown. Constitutional disturbances are to be treated with 

 the fever medicines, as recommended for the grazing cow (pay. 805). 



807. Induration.— When the udder becomes hard, applications of 

 20 per cent, oleate of mercury, or iodine mercurial ointment must be 

 rubbed well into the parts every third day, and two drachms of iodide 

 of potassium, dissolved in a pint of cold water, should be administered 

 internally daily for six or eight days. If gangrene or mortification 

 sets in, the case usually runs its course in a few days, the udder 

 becomes a dark purple colour, and the animal dies of blood-poisoning, 

 or the glands may slough and drop off (pay. 817). 



808. Blind Teats. — Numerous cases are met with where the 

 animal has milked all right, and been perfectly correct up to the time 

 of drying, prior to having its next calf; but after calving, one or more 

 of the teats are found " blind," and on examination, a small hard knot 

 is felt at the end, or in the middle of the passage of the teat. The 

 milk may be liberated with a syphon, but owing to the instrument 

 having to be introduced night and morning, local inflammation is 

 generally set up and the quarter lost. Such cases cause a great deal 

 of unpleasantness and litigation, when the animals have changed 

 owners between the time of drying and calving. The cause seems to 

 be, that a portion of milk has been secreted after the last milking, the 

 watery portions of which have become absorbed, leaving a small piece 

 of curded milk in the teat, which becomes organised into a small knot, 

 thus blocking up the passage. In these cases, when the teat syphon 

 is used, the instrument should be boiled for five or ten minutes, 

 thoroughly disinfected before introduction into the teat, and well 

 cleaned after use, or inflammation will be set up in the gland and the 

 quarter lost. 



