QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 251 



Give the symptoms and the treatment of fracture of the os corona. 



Symptoms : Sudden severe lameness ; volar flexion of the fetlock 

 joint and crepitation in the affected region will make the diagnosis 

 easy. Fissures are harder to detect and require careful examination. 



Treatment: Complete fixation in a plaster cast for six weeks. 

 Lameness following may be removed by median neurectomy. Usually 

 unfavorable. 



Give the pathology and the treatment of side-bones. 



Side-bone is a condition in which the lateral cartilages of the 

 foot are partially or entirely ossified. The causes are excessive 

 concussion by work on hard roads, shoes with high heel-calks which 

 prevent the normal frog-pressure, and traumatisms. There is a 

 congenital predisposition in heavy coarse-bred horses, a large per- 

 centage of which are affected. 



Treatment : Rest the horse, remove shoes and place the patient in 

 a peat-moss or other soft bed. Thin the wall over the affected 

 cartilage and apply wet swabs to soften the horn. A special shoe 

 is necessary when the outer cartilage is ossified and the correspond- 

 ing quarter is contracted. After the lameness lessens, or disap- 

 pears, prepare the foot for the shoe by lowering the outer wall more 

 than the inner. The shoe should be flat, the outer branch broad and 

 well set out, the inner branch closely fitted, thus giving a wider 

 supporting surface on the outside. If both cartilages are affected, 

 a plain open shoe with high calks is best. The bar-shoe is contra- 

 indicated, as frog-pressure is undesirable in this condition. As 

 a last resort, perform neurectomy to remove lameness. 



Mention the varieties of ring-bone and give treatment of each 

 variety. 



1. Articular: Lameness can only be removed by performing 

 neurectomy, and then only in case anchylosis has not occurred. 



2. Peri-articular: Level the foot and apply a level shoe or 

 one with the heels raised slightly and the toe shortened. Rest 

 for six weeks may be enforced by, and benefit derived from point- 

 firing and blistering. These measures failing, neurectomy is the 

 only resort. 



3. Traumatic and rachitic forms are sometimes noted. These 

 seldom cause severe lameness. Treat with cold applications or 

 blisters. 



Give the symptoms and the treatment of quittor. 



Symptoms : The first symptom is a diffuse swelling in the region 

 of the coronet and bulb of the heel. Later, abscess formation occurs 

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