34 DISEASES OF CATTLE 



half a pint of whisky may be substituted for medicine, and should be 

 given mixed with a pint of warm water ; or a tablespoonful of pow- 

 dered ginger may be administered in the same way as the remedies 

 already mentioned. 



INDIGESTION IN CALVES (GASTRO-INTESTINAL CATARRH, DIARRHEA. OB SCOUR). 



Sucking calves are subject to a form of diarrhea to which the above 

 designations have been applied. 



Causes. — Calves which suck their dams are not frequently affected 

 with this disease, though it may be occasioned by their sucking at 

 long intervals, and thus overloading the stomach and bringing on 

 indigestion, or from improper feeding of the dam on soft, watery, or 

 damaged foods. Suckling the calf at irregular times may also cause 

 it. Exposure to damp and cold is a potent predisposing cause. 

 Calves which are separated from their dams and which receive con- 

 siderable quantities of cold milk at long intervals are liable to con- 

 tract this form of indigestion. Calves fed on artificial food, used as 

 a substitute for milk, frequently contract it. Damaged food, sour or 

 rotten milk, milk in dirty cans, skim milk from a dirty creamery 

 skim-milk vat, skim milk hauled warm, exposed to the sun, and fed 

 from unclean buckets, may all cause this disease. 



Symi>tom,s. — The calf is depressed ; appetite is poor ; sometimes 

 there is fever ; the extremities are cold. The dung becomes gradually 

 softer and lighter in color until it is cream colored and little thicker 

 than milk. It has a most offensive odor and may contain clumps 

 of curd. Later it contains mucus and gas bubbles. It sticks to the 

 hair of the tail and buttocks, causing the hair to drop off and the skin 

 to become irritated. There may be pain on passing dung and also 

 abdominal or colicky pain. The calf stands about with the back 

 arched and belly contracted. There may be tympanites. Great 

 weakness ensues in severe cases, and without prompt and successful 

 treatment death soon follows. 



Treatment. — Remove the cause. Give appropriate food of best 

 quality in small quantities. Make sure that the cow furnishing the 

 milk is healthy and is properly fed. Clean all milk vessels. Clean 

 and disinfect the stalls. For the diarrhea give two raw eggs, or a cup 

 of strong coffee, or 2 ounces of blackberry brandy. If the case is 

 severe, give 1 ounce of castor oil with a teaspoonful of creolin and 

 20 grains of subnitrate of bismuth. Repeat the bismuth and creolin 

 with blackberry brandy and flaxseed tea every 4 hours. Tannopin 

 may be used in dose of 15 to 30 grains. 



Calves artificially fed on whole or skim milk should receive only 

 such milk as is sweet and has been handled in a sanitary manner. 

 Milk should always be warmed to the body temperature before feed- 



