DISEASES OF ANIMALS 



151 



The stomach worm, as its name indi- 

 cates, is parasitic in the stomach and is 

 a small, threadlike worm about Y2 inch 

 to 1 inch in length and of a white or 

 reddish brown color. The life history 

 of the parasite, while not thoroughly 

 understood, appears to be such that in- 

 festation may take place directly from 

 one sheep to another after the parasite 

 has passed out with the feces and existed 

 some time in moist places or stagnant 

 water. The symptoms of stomach 

 worms are not very characteristic. There 

 are digestive disturbances accompanied 

 with diarrhea. The appetite is abnormal 

 and quite irregular. Frequently the 

 thirst appears to be increased. 



In preventing this disease it should 

 always be remembered that the young 

 worms are taken up by sheep in grazing 

 upon moist, badly infested grass. In- 

 festation may, therefore, be avoided to 

 a considerable extent by frequent change 

 of pastures. During wet seasons it is 

 well to arrange pasture lands so that 

 the use of such fields may be alternated 

 every third or fourth day. If pas- 

 ture fields are known to be badly in- 

 fested, the sheep may be taken up dur- 

 ing part of the time and fed on dry 

 forage. Many lines of treatment have 

 been recommended and some of them 

 give quite good success but they are 

 hard to administer and in general are 

 unsatisfactory in results. This is par- 

 ticularly true in large flocks where the 

 repeated administration of a drench to 

 each individual sheep requires an ex- 

 pense of time and labor which is almost 

 prohibitive. Vermifuges as a rule be- 

 come badly diluted before reaching the 

 fourth stomach, where the worms are 

 located. A vermifuge powder recom- 

 mended by Craig and Bitting contains y 2 

 pound each of areca nut and wormseed 

 and i/4 pound each of gentian, sulphur 

 and sulphate of iron. An ounce of this 

 mixture is given to each ten lambs or 

 six old sheep in the morning with meal 

 or crushed gram. Turpentine has also 

 been used in treating sheep for stomach 

 worms. This drug may be mixed with 

 milk at the rate of 1 part to 16 and the 

 mixture given in doses of 1 to 3 table- 

 spoonfuls, depending upon the size 

 of the lamb. Still better results are 

 obtained from the mixture containing 8 

 parts pine tar, 8 parts raw linseed oil, 

 and 1 part turpentine, in doses of 1 to 

 3 ounces. An emulsion may be made by 

 adding 1 ounce of turpentine to 2 



ounces of raw linseed oil and adminis- 

 tering this mixture in doses of V2 

 ounce to 1 ounce. This remedy should 

 be given in a perfectly fresh condition. 

 Considerable success has been reported 

 from the use of benzine and gasoline and 

 these remedies are recommended by 

 Stiles and others as the best for use 

 against the stomach worm. Each dose 

 of gasoline or benzine must be mixed 

 separately in linseed oil or milk and the 

 mixture may be given to lambs in tea- 

 spoonful doses and to old sheep in table- 

 spoonful doses. While excellent results 

 have been reported by some men who 

 have used this remedy, others have re- 

 ported unfavorably on its use. Accord- 

 ing to some investigations it appears 

 that 4 ounces of sweet milk containing 

 one tablespoonful of gasoline is a suit- 

 able dose for a sheep weighing from 60 

 to 100 pounds. This treatment should 

 be given only after a fasting period from 

 10 to 18 hours and no water should 

 be given until after a further pe- 

 riod of two hours. Moreover, the treat- 

 ment must be given on three consecutive 

 days and then repeated for another three 

 days a week or ten days later. The gaso- 

 line or benzine can best be administered 

 with a fountain syringe having a rubber 

 tube that can be passed well back into 

 the mouth and the sheep should be held 

 in a standing position, since if it is set 

 on its haunches some of the gasoline may 

 pass into the lungs and cause death. 



One of the most recent treatments 

 which has been highly recommended con- 

 sists in giving coal tar creosote in a 1 

 per cent solution in water, the dose be- 

 ing 2 ounces for young lambs. In a 

 single treatment Craig and Bitting ob- 

 tained better results from this than 

 from any other method. Wheeler, at 

 Biltmore, North Carolina, obtained best 

 results from lysol and other coal tar 

 products in doses of 6 ounces in 1 per 

 cent solution. The chief attention, 

 however, should always be given to 

 means of keeping lambs away from con- 

 taminated feed and water, since preven- 

 tion is far more successful and profitable 

 than remedial treatment. 



Intestinal worms_A number of 

 threadlike worms are frequently found 

 in the upper part of the small intestine 

 of sheep. These include Strongylus 

 venlricosus, S. filicollis and Dochmms 

 cernuus. All of these are minute para- 

 sites which may be found associated to- 

 gether in the intestines and usually 



