184 DISEASES OF THE FEET. 



SYMPTOMS OF ACUTE LAMINITIS.— The characteristic symp- 

 toms in the feet are always preceded by general symptoms of 

 dulness and distress. There is loss of appetite, increased thirst, 

 and diminution in the quantity of urine. The gait is unsteady, 

 althougli not as yet characteristic of the malady. When the 

 symptoms become developed, which may happen in a period 

 varying fiom a few hours to several days, the horse will try to 

 relieve the walls of the affected hoofs of pressure by, if the malady 

 be in the fore feet, stretching them forward so as to throw weight 

 on the heels, and by bringing the hind feet, as much as possible, 

 under the centre of gravity of the body. But, if the disease be 

 confined to the hind feet, the animal will draw back his fore 

 feet under his body, and will advance the hind ones, so as to 

 relieve their toes of pressure ; and the head and neck will be 

 bent down, in order to take weight off the hind legs, by putting it 

 on the forehand. The horse evinces uneasiness in the afl'ected 

 feet. Generally, there is a considerable amount of heat present in 

 the hoofs ; the coronets are full and more or less hot ; the arteries 

 which run down the pasterns throb ; and the affected limb is 

 usually " filled " below the knee or hock, as the case may be. 

 Tapping the foot even lightly causes pain. The horse objects 

 strongly to any foot being taken up, if, by doing so, weight be 

 thrown on an affected leg. He suffers great distress, especially 

 when the hind feet are attacked. He is most unwilling to move ; 

 and, in a first attack, is generally very averse from lying down ; 

 but in subsequgnt ones, he usually appears only too glad to get the 

 weight of his body off his feet. During movement, he tries to 

 save the toes of the affected feet from pressure by putting it on 

 their heels. The breathing is hurried, and the lining membrane of 

 the eyelids (the conjunctiva) is niore or less red from 'congestioin, 

 and sometimes tinged with yellow. The state of the breathing is 

 apt to give rise to the idea in the minds of inexperienced observers, 

 that the animal is suffering from inflammation or congestion of the 

 lungs. The pulse is full and hard, and differs in this respect from 

 that in the large majority of other diseases, in which, if the pulse 

 be hard, it will also be small. 



Although the attack, especially if slight, may pass off without 

 any well marked injurious result on the afiected foot ; its tendency 

 is to cause the pedal bone to " drop " to a greater or less extent, in 

 which case the profile of the foot will subsequently assume a con- 

 cave appearance (Fig. '58), and the toe of the hoof will become 

 greatly thickened by the new growth of horn, as may be seen by 

 comparing Fig. 60 with Fig. 61. At other times, haemorrhage 

 (bleeding) takes place inside the hoof, or an exudation may be 

 formed within it, and also cause displacement of the point of the 



