Bloat in Cattle 261 
If medicines fail to give relief, the only remedy is to 
perform “rumenotomy ”—that is, to eut into the paunch 
and remove its contents through the incision. A skilled 
surgeon should be employed. The animal should be 
confined with the right side to the wall, and the inei- 
sion made on the left side, half way between the point 
of the hip and the last rib, extending downward five 
or six inches. An incision is then made in the rumen, 
a thin cloth being introduced into the wound, to pre- 
vent the material from dropping into the abdominal 
eavity. The contents of the rumen are then removed 
with the hand, the parts washed clean, the rumen well 
sewed up with catgut, the stitches close together, and 
the skin and muscles then sewed. No food should be 
allowed for twenty-four hours following the opera- 
tion, and, after this, only milk and gruels for ten days. 
Coarse food is likely to get into the wound and prevent 
its healing. 
HOVEN, OR BLOATING IN CATTLE 
Hoven is a distension of the paunch, or rumen, with 
gas. It is liable to occur when cattle are pastured on 
clover or alfalfa, especially if the growth is rank, and 
from eating frozen roots or pumpkins, but may occur on 
other kinds of pasture. The tendency to produce bloat- 
ing seems to be greater when the pastures are wet with 
dew or rain, or when the food is frozen. Fermentation 
proceeds rapidly, the gas does not all escape and soon 
distends the rumen to a large size. 
Slight bloating often occurs when cattle are suffering 
