Colic in Sheep. 353 



COLIC— BLOWN— BLAST— WIND DROPSY. 



Definition. — By these names is known the swelling of the 

 third stomach in sheep, hj food and air, or gases. It is the 

 disease which in cattle is called Jioven (page 291). 



CauseSi — The most frequent cause is feeding on green 

 clover, or other strong grass, wet with rain or dew. Musty 

 and ergoted food, such as on stubble fields and blighted corn^ 

 are other provocatives of the disease ; and occasionally it 

 arises from a constitutional difficulty in digestion. 



Symptoms. — The disease, is readily recognized by a swell- 

 ing of the belly on the left side, which appears while the 

 animal is feeding, or shortly afterward. The breathing be- 

 comes oppressed, the bowels are constipated, the eye anxious 

 and wild ; there is every symptom of intense pain. 



Some say that in sheep, so long as the swelling is on the 

 left side only, there is no danger; but when the right side 

 partakes of the distention also, it is a sign that the walls of 

 the rumen are expanded to the utmost and are in imminent 

 danger of rupture. 



Treatment. — When the distention is great, no time must 

 be lost in removing the wool from the most prominent part 

 of the swelling, and plunging a trocar into the rumen, to 

 allow the air to escape. When a trocar is not at hand, a 

 sharp-pointed penknife should be used, the edges of the 

 opening being kept apart by inserting a goose quill with a 

 collar of leather, or some similar hollow tube. 



When the case is not so severe as this, stimulants and 

 aromatics are the medicines demanded, as : — 



Ko. 395. Ground mustard, 1 drachm. 



Whisky, 1 oz. 



Mix and give in a small quantity of water. Kepeat as needed. 



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