QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 291 



Give the causes, symptoms and the treatment of puerperal septicaemia. 



Causes: Septic inflammation of the uterus; retained placenta; 

 retention of a decomposed fcetus; infection of wounds occurring 

 during labor. 



Symptoms : Pour or five days after parturition, we notice fever, 

 rapid pulse and rapid respiration, fetid discharge from vulva, ex- 

 treme weakness, lessened milk secretion, constipation alternating 

 with diarrhoea, death in a short time (24 hours to a few days). In 

 non-fatal cases pyemic arthritis may supervene. 



Treatment: Usually fruitless. Thoroughly cleanse and disin- 

 fect the septic genital tract. Quinine, which stands preeminently 

 the best drug in septic fevers, should be administered in large doses 

 (one ounce, twice daily if necessary). 



Write a prescription for retained placenta in the cow. 



The handling of retained placenta is principally mechanical, 

 although in cases accompanied by grave constitutional disturbances 

 the following may be useful: 



Tr. digitalis S vj 



Quininae sulphatis 3 ij 



( Ac. sulphuricl qs. ) 



Spts. vini rect. qs. ad Oj 



M. 



Sig. — Give one ounce every 4 hours. 



Give the causes, symptoms and treatment of acute mastitis in the cow. 



Causes : In practically every case mastitis originates from infec- 

 tion, which gains entrance through the teats, wounds, or by the 

 blood- and lymph-stream. As predisposing or accessory factors the 

 following may be considered : cold, trauma, retained placenta, filthy 

 surroundings, careless and irregular milking, and inflation of the 

 udder in the treatment of milk fever. 



Symptoms: One or all four quarters of the udder may be in- 

 volved. Heat, tenderness, redness, and swelling are marked from 

 the first. There is a suspension of the milk secretion in the affected 

 quarters. The milk which is present in the gland is clumpy and 

 may be streaked with blood. Fever, loss of appetite, constipation, 

 and general depression show the systemic disturbance. Complica- 

 tions that may aggravate the condition are gangrene, abscess for- 

 mation, pyaemia, septicemia, atrophy of the gland, and pyaemic 

 arthritis. 



Treatment: Hot fomentations and massage increase leucocy- 

 tosis and are conceded to be the most valuable of all treatments. 

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