50 COLICS AND THEIR TREATMENT 



vals, then for a time will be quiet and apparently half 

 asleep. 



This may continue for as much as half a day before 

 anything is thought of it. The owner, when calling, will 

 give you to understand that while he would like to have 

 you come and see his horse, he does not consider that 

 there is much the matter with him, but thinks probably 

 a dose of nitre or something of this nature would fix him 

 all right. He has already diagnosed the case and stipu- 

 lated what to give. 



On the veterinarian's arrival these patients are usu- 

 ally quiet and it is quite a difficult thing to convince the 

 man that he might be mistaken, both in diagnosis and 

 treatment. He will be sure to have noticed that the horse 

 has been trying hard to pass urine. This in a measure 

 cannot be held against the man, for in nine out of every 

 ten of these cases, the animal will at times stretch out, 

 placing the front feet as far forward as he can. This, 

 to a degree, relieves the pain of the animal, but the owner 

 cannot be made to believe this (at least many of them 

 will not), and while you can repeatedly tell him differ- 

 ently he will continue to think he is right, and should he 

 induce the animal to urinate, no matter how long after- 

 wards it is, before the animal is over his trouble, the 

 owner will think his position proven to be the correct one. 



By the time you are called the patient will have been 

 sick from five to ten or twelve hours. At this time the 

 condition has changed; the slow gripping pains have 

 given place to pains more acute, and the patient is more 

 restless. If in a box stall he will be in one corner usually, 

 pawing; at intervals he will toss his head up and down, 



