184 SWINE PRACTICE 



peremia and cloudy swelling which may become so intensive that 

 the cells undergo necrosis. The detritis of the dead cells and coagu- 

 lated exudate, accumulated in the lumina of the tubules, may be 

 readily observed. The intertubular tissue may be infiltrated with 

 leukocytes. If the inflammation is intense there may be hemorrhage 

 into the kidney substance or into the glomeruli or tubules. 



Symptoms. — The animals show evidence of distress. One of the 

 first indications of the disease is arched back and stilty gait. There 

 are frequent attempts at urination, but little urine is voided, and 

 the animals usually have a temperature ranging from 104 to 106 de- 

 grees Fahrenheit. In the beginning of the attack they may eat, but 

 inappetence becomes evident soon after the onset. It is possible that 

 the foregoing symptoms are not characteristic of uncomplicated 

 nephritis, but of cases in which nephritis was the most prominent 

 condition. In the cases that have been observed the disease most 

 frequently terminated fatally in from two to four days after the on 

 set, the few cases that recovered requiring from one to six weeks. 



Treatment. — The treatment of nephritis in swine is a difScult prob- 

 lem. Resort should be had to the usual hygienic practices. Dia- 

 phoresis is not practical in swine, and purgation should not be resort- 

 ed to as a means of elimination, for such procedure would probably 

 aggravate the condition existing in the kidney. General treatment 

 of symptoms as they arise is probably all that can be accomplished 

 therapeutically until further knowledge is obtained. 



Acute Interstitial Nephritis 



An occasional kidney is found in which there is a leukocytic in- 

 vasion and other evidence of a reaction in the interstitial or sup- 

 porting tissue, the parenchymatous tissue being unaffected. But this 

 condition is not common, and thus far has not been observed clinically 

 in swine. 



Purulent Nephritis 



Purulent nephritis is inflammation of the kidney characterized 

 by the formation of pus, a condition of frequent occurrence in swine. 

 In the study of swine kidneys from abattoirs one-half of one per 

 cent have been found affected. 



Etiology. — Pyogenic cocci and the colon bacteria are the most com- 

 mon causative agents. Purulent inflammation elsewhere in the body 

 predisposes to renal metastasis, although purulent inflammation may 



