336 DISEASES OP CATTLE. 



Treatment. — Rest, poulticing the feet with moistened clay, followed 

 by astringent washes— strong white-oak bark or alum water. 



If the pain and heat last several days, it is probable that pus has 

 formed beneath the wall of the hoof. In this case it is necessary to 

 cut through the wall, usually at the most prominent part of the sole, 

 to allow the accumulation to drain out. The animal should then be 

 caused to stand for several hours daily in a tub containing creolin 

 solution (3 per cent). When not in the creolin solution the foot should 

 be dressed with pine tar and cotton and bandaged with bagging. 



LOSS OP HOOF. 



Cattle sometimes become fastened between planks or otherwise and 

 pull off the wall of one or both claws in the effort to extricate them- 

 selves. The claws of one or more feet may be shed as the result of 

 acute laminitis. 



Treatment. — Wash the bleeding surface with "an antiseptic and then 

 with an astringent, as a weak solution of alum, then apply a thick 

 coating of pine tar; cover this with a layer of oakum or absorbent 

 cotton; apply another coat of tar over this, and then bandage closely 

 and firmly. This may remain without disturbance until the new 

 growing wall becomes sufficiently strong to sustain the pressure and 

 weight of the animal. If, however, at any time it becomes manifest 

 by oozing or bad smell that pus is forming under this dressing, the 

 bandage should be removed and the suppurating surface freshly 

 cleaned and dressed. This may have to be repeated every few days, 

 and should be continued so long as there is any pus formation. If 

 the loss of hoof is due to suppurative laminiti", the parts denuded of 

 the horny covering must be thoroughly cleanst 1 and disinfected with 

 carbolic acid, creolin, lysol, or other antiseptic Then apply a mod- 

 erately thick layer of absorbent cotton, and apply the tar and bandage 

 over this. After this the antiseptic solution may be poured in at the 

 top of the dressing daily. It will thus soak in and saturate the dress- 

 ing and inflamed tissue. It may become necessary to remove the 

 whole of the dressing at daily or longer intervals to give the parts a 

 fresh cleaning, and then to reapply it. 



FOUL IN POOT (FOOT ROT). 



A variety of causes may produce inflammation of the foot between 

 the claws or toes. It may be due to overgrowth of the claws and 

 inward pressure, as in ingrowing nail of man; or it may be caused by 

 the irritation of stable filth, to impaction and hardening of soil 

 between the claws, or to other foreign substances becoming wedged 

 in and causing inflammation and softening or ulceration of the skin 

 in the interdigital space. Under some conditions several cattle in the 

 same herd become affected, and this has led some to think that the 



