486 GENERAL THERAPEUTIC MEASURES 



gastro-enteritis in cattle, sheep and swine in parts of this country. 

 Potatoes and roots are more suitable for ruminants than for horses; 

 yet upon the latter they act as natural and agreeable laxatives, and form 

 a palatable addition to dry fodder, particularly carrots. The best variety 

 of hay for horses consists of good bright timothy or herds grass with a 

 slight admixture of red top and clover. Carrots should be sliced longi- 

 tudinally to prevent choking when given to horses. Clover hay is dusty 

 and apt to provoke "heaves" in horses, and that, together with rowen, is 

 more appropriate for ruminants. 



Bran is but poorly digested by horses, yet acts favorably as a laxa- 

 tive when given once or twice a week mixed with boiling water and 

 plenty of salt, constituting a "bran mash." Bran takes the place of oats 

 as a nitrogenous food for ruminants, and is less expensive. Cottonseed 

 meal, being extremely rich in nitrogen, and usually in oil or fat, is not 

 easily digested by any animal, but may be given in quantities of a quart or 

 two to ruminants, and from half a pint to a pint to horses, daily. Cotton- 

 seed meal is supplied cattle to compensate for a deficiency of nitrogen in 

 the food, while in horses it acts as a slight laxative and may improve the 

 general condition. Straw and com fodder are not readily digested by 

 horses unless cut and steamed, but are suitable for ruminants and are 

 often preferable to a poor quality of hay. The demands of the system 

 for food vary in relation to tissue change, which is diminished by rest, 

 increased by work, and either accelerated or decreased by disease. The 

 requirements for nutriment are greater during the growing period and for 

 the formation of the various natural products, as milk or wool. The state 

 of the digestive organs and assimilative powers guide us in selecting the 

 kind and quantity of food desirable. In acute disease it is advisable to 

 feed little and often, the food being prepared in the most digestible and 

 palatable form, and in as great a variety as attainable. We may restrict 

 the diet as a whole or in part. Starving diminishes circulatory protein, 

 increases tissue waste, weakens an animal, and lessens the natural resist- 

 ance against disease. Restricting the diet is useful in controlling un- 

 manageable animals, in diminishing sexual excitement, and in the treat- 

 ment of plethora when combined with proper exercise. In most acute 

 inflammatory diseases, as in acute laminitis, a restricted laxative diet is 

 desirable, as steamed oats with bran and salt, roots and green fodder. In 

 acute indigestion, or in acute inflammation of the alimentary tract, and in 

 acute nephritis, all food should be withheld for at least 24 hours. In 

 acute peritonitis all food is contraindicated, by the mouth. In the milder 

 forms of acute gastro-enteritis we must restrict the diet to small quantities 

 of easily digested food, as cracked or steamed oats, chopped hay and 

 gruels, with the addition of a little green fodder or roots for horses; 

 while carnivora are given milk and lime water. In chronic digestive dis- 

 orders the food must be readily digestible and assimilable, and of a 

 nitrogenous character, since anemia and malnutrition follow the defective 

 digestion and absorption. In chronic indigestion or gastro-enteritis of 

 horses, Zuill recommends oats (boiled, scalded or steamed, and allowed 

 to stand 12 hours), 2 parts; bran, 1 part; and malted barley, 1 part. 

 The addition of salt and a little green fodder to this ration is palatable 



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