200 DISEASES OF THE FEET. 



when he " warms up," as he does when affected by navicular disease : 

 on the contrary", he works lamer and lamer. Seedy-toe (p. 201) 

 often accompanies chronic laminitis. Although unfit for hunting 

 and trotting on hard roads, the animal may be capable of useful 

 work on a farm. 



TREATMENT. — In chronic laminitis, or in cases having a ten- 

 dency to it, the sole and frog should be allowed to remain untouched 

 by the drawing knife, but the wall should be kept well rasped down ; 

 care being taken that the shoe does not press on any sensitive part 

 of the sole, which is usually in an abnormally thin condition. 

 Leather, placed between the wall and the shoe, by diminishing the 

 effect of concussion, is often of service, though its presence will 

 somewhat lessen the hold of the nails. Pressure on the frog, which 

 is the natural buffer of the foot, is essential to improvement. In 

 bad cases. Broad's shoes (p. 197) should be used; but if the animal 

 be but little affected, a heart-shaped bar shoe (Fig. 52) will be suffi- 

 cient. The heels, also, may be somewhat lowered; for although 

 this will throw an increased strain on the suspensory ligaments and 

 back tendons, it will materially lessen the jar on the sensitive 

 laminae — ^the lesser of the two evils. I have seen several cases of 

 cart-horses which, from chronic laminitis, were unable to walk in 

 ordinary shoes without great lameness, do their work with ap- 

 parent soundness of gait, in Broad's shoes. A little cantharides 

 ointment, say, 1 to 24 of lard, may be rubbed into the coronet every 

 second day or so, in order to stimulate it to secrete stronger horn. 

 After work, if there is any heat present, the horse should be made 

 to stand with his affected feet in cold water for some time. In 

 the stable he shoiild have plenty of straw placed under him, and 

 have the stall darkened, so as to induce him to lie down as much 

 as possible. Above all things, he should not be worked on hard 

 ground, or with a heavy weight on his back. 



M. G. Joly {" Vet. Record," 19th April, 1902) has had wonderfully 

 good success in the treatment of chronic laminitis, by ligaturing 

 one of the digital arteries (either the external or the internal). 

 The operation is performed above the fetlock, at the spot where 

 high plantar neurotomy (p. 669) is done. Two ligatures (pre- 

 ferably of silk) are made a little distance apart, and the artery is 

 divided between them. The effect of this operation is to greatly 

 reduce the congestion in the affected part. In any case, no bad 

 results need be feared. 



LEGAL ASPECT OF LAMINITIS.— Any existing inflammation 

 in the sensitive laminae or coronet, or any alteration in the shape 



