138 DISEASES OF THE STOMACH AND BOWELS 



inflammation of the forestomachs or abomasum. It may be 

 associated with pregnancy especially in those cases which 

 cause an undue uterine enlargement (placental dropsy). 

 Chronic peritonitis which leads to adhesions between the 

 compartments of the stomach or the stomach and the 

 parietal wall is also a cause. Atony may be associated 

 with gastric tumor formations, liver diseases (echinococcus, 

 tuberculosis, pseudoleukemic infiltration, gall-stones). It 

 may also be secondary to chronic heart and lung diseases. 



Symptoms. — In acute cases the symptoms are those of 

 a simple indigestion (dyspepsia). The appetite and thirst 

 are diminished, rmnination is impaired, the animal chewing 

 its cud at rare intervals and with little vigor. The move- 

 ments of the paunch are feeble but may occur with normal 

 frequency. If no corrective measures are taken the condition 

 becomes chronic. 



The chronic form may develop from the acute or, what 

 is usual, gradually of itself. The appetite is capricious. 

 At times it may be practically normal. Roughage may be 

 preferred to concentrates. The patient usually drinks little 

 water although some cases show increased thirst. Rumina- 

 tion becomes suppressed. Eructations of fetid gas from 

 the gullet are common, and a regurgitation of rumen con- 

 tents through the mouth is occasionally noted. The 

 ejected mass has usually a fetid odor. The hollow of the 

 left flank is distended with gas, the paunch movements 

 either cease or are very feeble and on palpation (over flank 

 or through rectum) the food in the rumen feels firm and 

 retains finger imprints longer than in health. The bloat 

 is often not continuous but intermittent and increasing 

 following the ingestion of food, a rather characteristic 

 symptom. 



Occasionally colicky pains are manifested by the animal 

 switching its tail and kicking against the abdomen with its 

 hind limbs. Rolling, as in the horse, is rarely observed. 

 The bowels are generally constipated, the feces black, hard 

 and dry, sometimes covered with blood-stained mucus and 

 passed in the form of fist-sized balls. If the patient has 

 been fed succulent food, or if the constipation has existed 



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