Dermatitis of the Udder 989 



When cows are exposed to cold and damp winds, the skin of 

 the teats and udder is liable to become inflamed and cracked. If 

 the teats of the cow are bathed or moistened, preparatory to 

 milking, and then left to dry in a cold draft, the skin is liable to 

 crack and become very sore, so that in milking it bleeds and 

 causes quite severe pain to the animal, which not infrequently 

 leads to uneasiness and kicking. 



Dry gangrene of the skin of the teats is said to result in some 

 cases from the feeding of cows upon potato refuse or ergotized 

 fodder. Wounds or other injuries to the teat or glands may 

 likewise cause dry gangrene. 



The symptoms of dermatitis of the udder are as variable as 

 the causes which may induce it. There may be redness accom- 

 panied by sensitiveness in the part, or there may be small fissures 

 or excoriations from which blood exudes. When gangrene occurs 

 there is swelling of the parts, a black or blue-black color, with 

 usually a well defined line of demarcation. The sequestration of 

 the mummified portion is usually very slow. 



In the Mississippi Valley and some other portions of the United 

 States, there appears from time to time, usually in the late sum- 

 mer or autumn, a disease affecting the feet, mouths and udders 

 of cattle, which was at first mistaken by some for the contagious 

 foot and mouth disease. It occurs almost, if not entirely, among 

 animals which are upon the pasture. The disease first expresses 

 itself by a stiffness in the gait, as a result of the sore feet : and 

 a dribbling of saliva from the mouth, as a consequence of the 

 necrosis of the buccal mucous membrane. Hemorrhagic areas 

 occur in the skin of the feet, especially between the claws ; upon 

 the teats and udder of milk cows ; and in the mucous membrane 

 of the mouth, especially upon the bars and pad of the upper jaw. 

 Later the areas become necrotic and slough away, leaving painful 

 ulcers, which heal in the course of a few days. Upon post- 

 mortem examination, in fatal ca.ses, hemorrhagic areas are found 

 throughout the length of the alimentary canal. 



The character of the disease is not well known, though it has 

 been described by Mohler as mycotic stomatitis. So far as we 

 know, the disease of the udder has not proven annoying in any 

 case, and simply constitutes an interesting symptom in the course 

 of the more widely diffused disease. It calls for no special treat- 

 ment, .so far as observed. 



