74 SPECIAL EQUINE THERAPY 



the pharynx, because of a "bad mouth." The necessary 

 dental attention properly executed ends the cough. 



A short, choppy, dry cough with spells of dyspnea 

 may be due to a heart lesion. This must be classified and 

 properly treated if possible. This class of coughing pa- 

 tients usually come with a history of occasional epistaxsis. 



In this whole list of varied pathological conditions, 

 and it is only an incomplete list, the predominating symp- 

 tom and the symptom that brings the patient to the vet- 

 erinarian, is the cough. The practitioner that is satisfied 

 to treat, and tries to satisfy his client by treating all 

 coughs with stock cough mixtures is not only doing poor 

 practice, but is also doing poor business. Many times he 

 tries to cure a ten-dollar case with a fifty-cent bottle of 

 ' ' cough mixture. ' ' His treatment is frequently no more 

 eif ective than so much water. To hit a target one must 

 aim before firing. 



The object of this random chapter on coughs and their 

 treatment is to impress upon the general practitioner the 

 futility of attempting the correction of conditions having 

 such a varied pathology by the use of a common agent. 

 One would show just as poor judgment were he to attempt 

 the cure of all forms of lameness by the use of liniments. 

 The use of stock cough mixtures by the practitioner is the 

 result of "getting into a rut" more than anything else, 

 and the effect of the tendency, now so general, of using 

 ready-made pharmaceuticals. The alluring formula of 

 the average proprietary "cough mixture," containing 

 sometimes a dozen ingredients, that is offered for veteri- 

 nary use by most pharmaceutical houses at a cheap price, 

 makes it a "best seller." The average veterinarian, with 

 little trouble, could demonstrate both a chemical and a 

 physiological incompatibility in most of these cough rem- 

 edies. He uses them against his own better judgment. 



