SYMPTOMS OF CHRONIC ARTICULAR RHEUMATISM 



IN THE HORSE. 



Larger joints, muscles, heart, false membranes, indurations, thickenings, 

 calcifications, remittent, weather changes, cold, damp beds, winds, open 

 windows or doors, draughts, cold sponging, clipping. Diagnosis : lameness 

 variable, shifting, electric and meteoric storms. 



Chronic rheumatism may be a sequel of the acute, or it may oc- 

 cur from the same causes acting with lessened force, or on a less 

 susceptible animal. It tends to attack the larger joints especially, 

 though it may implicate the muscles as well. Coincident affection 

 of the heart . is less common than in the acute, and when it 

 does arise seems to advance slowly. It is liable to cause perman- 

 ent distensions of the affected joint capsules, as well as false mem- 

 branes, articular abrasions, degenerations and ulcerations and less 

 frequently bony enlargements and calcifications, the latter impli- 

 cating the soft tissues in the vicinity. 



The attendant lameness is liable to be remittent or intermittent, 

 subsiding in warm buildings and during genial, clear sunny 

 weather, and relapsing in connection with cold, raw nights and 

 mornings, exposure in the dew or rain, and before and during 

 great changes of weather. Cold, damp beds, chilling draughts be- 

 tween open doors or windows, washing with iced water, sudden 

 intense cooling of the body after perspiration, clipping during 

 cold weather, any cause of sudden rigor, when followed by stiff- 

 ness, lameness and articular swelling, serves to identify the latter 

 as rheumatic. Even the warmth induced by judicious exercise, 

 may cause improvement, so that a horse, starting out stiff or 

 lame, may drive out of it after going a mile or two. The for- 

 mation of subcutaneous nodules, though rare, appears to be more 

 frequent than in acute rheumatism. 



Diagnosis is to be based largely on the variability of. the lame- 

 ness at different times, its propensity to shift from place to 

 place, its manifest association with exposure to cold, and with 

 the immanence of electric storms or change in the barometric 

 pressure, and its improvement under genial weather, warmth and 

 comfort. 

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