DISEASES OF ANIMALS 



9? 



warm water and flaxseed poultices. Dur- 

 ing convalescence the animal should be 

 protected against drafts. 



Scalma i s a contagious disease accom- 

 panied with fever and irritation of the 

 breathing passages, as shown by the de- 

 velopment of a cough. The symptoms 

 develop within about a week after ex- 

 posure and the disease spreads slowly 

 through the stable. A gray albuminous 

 discharge takes place from the nostrils 

 and may persist for two or three weeks. 

 The breathing and pulse are not much 

 affected, but the temperature may rise 

 quite high. The course of the disease is 

 from five to eight days. Scalma may be 

 complicated with spasms and pleurisy 

 and may be diagnosed most easily from 

 the fact that the temperature is quite 

 high without a corresponding quicken- 

 ing of the pulse. Most cases recover. 

 Steaming with turpentine at the rate of 

 one-half ounce in half a bucket of hot 

 water and hot packs on the loins re- 

 lieve some of the pain. Quinine may 

 also be given during the fever period. 



Pneumonia, also called edematous, or 

 contagious pneumonia, is an infectious 

 disease of the horse which develops most 

 frequently in damp, unclean and badly 

 ventilated stables. The symptoms may 

 appear slowly or at once. If the case 

 develops slowly, there is a cough accom- 

 panied with dullness and loss of appetite 

 and a considerable acceleration of the 

 breathing and pulse. The mucous 

 membranes of the mouth and eyelids be- 

 come somewhat swollen. If the case is 

 more violent, the symptoms of pneu- 

 monia appear at once and the disturb- 

 ance of the temperature, pulse and 

 breathing are more pronounced. The 

 weakness of the animal is very striking 

 and is not accompanied with stupefac- 

 tion or nervous troubles. The mortality 

 from edematous pneumonia is usually 

 ibout two per cent, but may run as high 

 as twenty-five per cent. Bleeding should 

 not be resorted to in cases of this disease, 

 since the animal is already greatly 

 weakened. Stimulants are indicated as 

 a desirable treatment for this trouble. 

 Turpentine may be given in one ounce 

 doses, or alcohol, digitalis, strychnine 

 and quinine. (For doses see Veterinary 

 Medicines.) In Europe a serum treat- 

 ment has been devised for pneumonia of 

 horses and gives excellent results in 

 some cases, but appears not to be en- 

 tirely reliable. 



Horse pox i s a n infectious horse fever 

 accompanied with pustules, especially on 

 the pasterns and fetlocks, and also upon 

 the lips or about the nose. This disease 

 closely resembles sheep pox, cow pox 

 and also small pox in men and usually 

 runs a mild course of about four days, 

 followed by rapid convalescence. If the 

 disease is not complicated by swelling 

 and suppuration of the glands, little 

 treatment is necessary, The animal 

 should be protected from cold drafts and 

 if the fever is high may be given qui- 

 nine or iodide of potash in one dram 

 dcses. Where pneumonia complications 

 are threatened, mustard poultices may be 

 applied to the chest. 



Anthrax attacks nearly all of the 

 domestic animals and is due to a specific 

 micro-organism, which was discovered 

 in 1851. The disease largely spreads by 

 carelessness in the disposal of the car- 

 casses of animals dead of anthrax. It 

 has been shown that the virus of anthrax 

 may remain virulent in dead bodies for 

 a period of fifteen years or more. This 

 shows how necessary it is to burn or 

 otherwise completely disinfect the car- 

 cass of an animal dead with the disease. 

 The symptoms of anthrax usually de- 

 velop very rapidly. The animal shows 

 great weakness, chills and colicky pains. 

 The temperature is high and swellings 

 appear underneath the skin in the legs, 

 shoulder or side of the body. As a 

 rule death takes place within three or 

 four days. The blood is black and 

 does not coagulate. There is little use 

 in treating cases of this disease. Ex- 

 periments have been made to treat it 

 with creolin in 2 to 5 dram doses, but 

 without good results. A number of Ital- 

 ian investigators have claimed that the 

 use of corrosive sublimate in sub-cuta- 

 neous injections was of some value but 

 this claim has not been substantiated. In 

 a few cases carbolic acid in a one-half 

 per cent solution in water, given in fre- 

 quent doses so as to aggregate 40 or 50 

 quarts a day, have yielded satisfactory 

 results, but the method is not applicable 

 in all cases. In many outbreaks of an- 

 thrax in horses, infection has been due 

 to the use of oats which had in turn 

 been infected from previous cases of 

 the disease. Where oats or grain are 

 suspected, it may be well to subject 

 them to a high temperature in an oven 

 before feeding. The temperature should 

 be hio-h enough to brown the grain. 



