CHOKING. 311 



It is a very common practice to bleed clioking horses, but 

 why they are bled, or what good can be effected to them by the 

 operation, is to me a mystery. Ignorant people, when placed 

 in a little power^ are always thinking it is necessary to do 

 something; and if they happen to be called in to cases of 

 this nature, in the absence of knowing what else to do, they 

 bleed the patient, and no doubt deem themselves very clever in 

 consequence. 



Should the Choking not subside in the course of three or 

 four hours (which it very rarely fails to do — frequently, in fact, 

 much earlier), recourse should be had to the use of the probang. 



Numbers of greedy feeding horses are frequently affected 

 with choking ; the best preventative of which is to divide the 

 top of the manger into a number of spaces, by means of iron 

 rods stretching across, as directed at page 8. 



The food should be given to such animals in small quantities 

 at a time, and thinly spread over the bottom of the manger ; 

 and it should also be freely moistened with water before allow- 

 ing them to eat it. 



LOSS OF APPETITE. 



Loss of Appetite, although it occurs at times as an indication 

 of derangement of at least some part of the digestive organs of 

 the horse, is more frequently presented as a mere symptom 

 of an acute, sub- acute, or chronic disease. In every acute 

 disease, during its more acute stages at least, Loss of Appetite 

 is to be regarded as all but an inevitable consequence. When 

 present, however, without its cause being palpable, or where 

 little or no general disturbance of the system is evident, it is 

 for those in attendance to investigate the case more closely. 



Inability of the animal to eat from some hidden cause of a 

 peculiar nature is sometimes mistaken for Loss of Appetite. 



