264 MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



COWS have calved and done well foi* a week there need be no 

 further fear of parturient apoplexy. The most fatal cases occur 

 almost immediately after parturition, and usually when the 

 calf has been delivered with very little effort on the part of the 

 cow. In the cow. that, on account of her great milking qualities 

 is liable to have parturient apoplexy, certain other conditions have 

 been noticed that seem to favor its development and prevent a 

 favorable termination. Among these may be mentioned a high 

 condition of flesh, constipation, a previous attack of the disease, 

 and an excitable disposition. At the time of parturition, a sudden 

 change of food, particularly an increase in quantity or an improve- 

 ment in quality, exposure to cold or wet, the early removal of the 

 calf and infrequent milking are liable to bring on the trouble. 

 The symptoms of parturient apoplexy are by no means constant., 

 but certain conditions that are always present render it an easy 

 matter to diagnose the disease even if one has no experience 

 with it. 



The affected cow has calved within a week without any 

 exhausting effort. IShe has had at least one calf previously and is 

 in a fleshy condition. Without any warning she is taken sick. 

 The appetite is entirely gone ; the eyes stand out prominently ; 

 the horns and forehead are hot and the rest of the body cold. There 

 is a general anxious, distressed appearance. After stepping 

 about uneasily with the hind legs for a time she falls over, and if 

 able to rise, soon falls again without the ability to get up. There 

 is a gradual looS of consciousness and a more or less complete 

 paralysis of parts of the body. Ordinarily the cow will remain 

 quiet, with the head turned back towar Is the flank, but occasion- 

 ally she will plunge about madly, so there is danger of her 

 breaking her horns or injuring those about her. The secretion of 

 milk is ordinarily suspended. The temperature is below the normal, 

 occasionally as low as 95° (F. ) The pulse is increased in fre- 

 quency, sometimes reaching 100. Respiration is slow and deep. 

 The nervous troubles cause constipation and the retention of the 

 urine. The duration of the disease may vary from one to three or 

 occasionally five days. Probably about seventy-five per cent, of 

 the affected animals die. Recovery when it occurs is very rapid. 

 The most fatal cases are those that are affected almost imme- 

 diately after calving. Those cases that occur after two or three 

 days are not apt to be so severe and they more readily yield to 

 treatnient. "\Vhen the trouble comes on slowly there is more hope 



