70 COLICS AND THEIR TREATMENT 



attempt may be made at intervals of an hour. As much 

 as forty or fifty pounds of solids may be removed from 

 the stomach in this way, thus placing an otherwise fatal 

 case well toward recovery. 



Such patients are, however, invalids for some time and 

 are subject to subsequent attacks of colic, probably due 

 to chronic dilatation. 



Acute Gastritis 



Acute gastritis is the most severe as well as the most 

 fatal of colics if not promptly recognized and relieved. 

 It is seen under two distinct circumstances. First after 

 a hard day's work or long, tiresome journey, and, sec- 

 ondly, after eating tainted food. Sometimes these causes 

 operate together. Ground foods containing poor quali- 

 ties of corn, oats, barley and mill feed are responsible in 

 many cases, particularly when there is a sudden change 

 to these feeds. 



Symptoms. — The animal is stricken on the road or 

 soon after having reached the stable and always before 

 having eaten the evening meal. The patient suffers hor- 

 rible agony and cannot be controlled, thrashing about in 

 a terrifying manner. There is usually a threatening ab- 

 dominal bloat that calls for immediate relief from the 

 trocar and canula. This operation gives only a momen- 

 tary comfort. Belching is not a constant symptom, al- 

 though there is generally a perceptible activity of fluids 

 in the esophagus. The respirations are accelerated, the 

 nostrils dilated, the body bathed in perspiration, the tem- 

 perature is elevated to 104° to 105° F. and the mucous 

 membranes are highly injected. In hot weather the body 



