Parturient Paresis in the Cow 933 



charged, under suitable precautions, the apparatus is always 

 ready, compact, light, easily applied, and free from danger of 

 causing infection. 



The milk tube or other tube inserted into the teat should be 

 very short, barely long enough to freely enter the milk cistern. 

 A longer tube may wound the parts during unexpected struggles. 



It is apparently immaterial whether any milk which may be 

 in the udder is withdrawn before the injection or not. 



Some practitioners advise treatment supplementary to the in- 

 flation of the udder, but they have not yet clearly shown by 

 clinical data that any good has come from such additions. Gen- 

 erally those who desire to add something to the udder inflation 

 prescribe powerful heart stimulants, like strychnine or caffein. 



As a remnant of by-gone days, some veterinarians still advise 

 and practice catheterization. The secretion of urine ceases with 

 the advent of the disease. Over-distension could not have existed 

 in the healthy cow, and cannot occur in the paresis patient. A 

 pint or a gallon of urine in the bladder can do no harm ; 

 catheterization may do much. 



The attitude of the patient is of very great importance. From 

 the first she should be carefully and zealously guarded against 

 assuming lateral recumbency, or this position promptly cor- 

 rected if already attained. The cow, like other ruminants, 

 promptly suffers from tympany of the rumen whenever lateral 

 recumbency is maintained for a prolonged period. The disten- 

 sion of the rumen, by its pressure upon the diaphragm, interferes 

 seriously with respiration and with the action of the heart and 

 other organs. The most serious danger from this position is 

 that, in the paretic state of the animal, there is imminent risk of 

 the involuntary passage of food from the rumen into the pharynx, 

 and its inhalation into the lungs, to cau.se fatal strangling, or 

 foreign-body pneumonia. It is consequently essential to keep 

 the animal in sternal recumbency. This may be facilitated by 

 packing bundles of straw about the animal. In cases of violence 

 it may be desirable to secure the two anterior feet in such a way 

 that the limbs cannot be extended. This is best accomplished 

 by attaching a short strap or cord to each anterior foot, carry- 

 ing these upward over the withers, and tying them together in 

 such a manner as to keep the anterior feet completely flexed upon 

 the carpus. 



