FOOT-ROT 127 



FOOT-ROT OF COLTS 



This disease has also been described as canker of the 

 foot. As it differs markedly from true canker of the foot 

 I prefer the name "foot-rot," which not only differen- 

 tiates the condition from true canker of the foot but also 

 describes the condition more accurately. 



Foot-rot affects colts usually from the first to the fourth 

 year of life. I have seen only one ease in the mature 

 horse. While I have not been able to disprove the infec- 

 tious nature of the condition, I do not believe that it is 

 infectious. It appears nearly always in isolated cases 

 and shows no tendency towards transmissibility. Appar- 

 ently, it is a pathological process incident to colthood. 

 Cases have been seen under sanitary as well as unsanitary 

 stabling conditions. 



Symptoms. There is at first a slight "soreness" in 

 movement of the affected foot. This may be any one of 

 the four, although the disease shows a slight preference 

 for the posterior extremities. Occasionally all four feet 

 may be involved. About the time that attention is at- 

 tracted to this soreness in movement, there is also noted a 

 slight thickening in .the region of the coronet. This 

 thickening extends, in some cases, up to, and may even 

 include, the ankle. If the swollen member is now care- 

 fully examined it will be discovered that the sole of the 

 foot is the seat of a degenerating process. There is an 

 area, varying in size from an inch in diameter to two 

 inches, in which the horn has degenerated into a black, 

 mushy substance. If this area is curetted thoroughly 

 an uneven layer of raw, easily-bleeding, granulating tis- 

 sue is found below. The degenerating process slowly 

 spreads, so that at the end of one or two months the entire 

 sole of the foot may disappear, leaving the black, mushy 

 substance already described, and under this an expanse of 



