DISEASES OF THE BONES AND JOINTS 293 



Symptoms.— In the first stages the young animal seems weak 

 and loses his appetite; the belly becomes bloated, and often an 

 obstinate diarrhea sets in. The most important symptom is a 

 disturbance in locomotion, brought about by pains and aches 

 in the bones. Affected animals step about restlessly, move 

 stiffly and with care, lie down much of the time, and resent 

 being disturbed. The bones of the limbs become enlarged at 

 their ends, producing hard, sensitive swellings at the joints. 

 The bones may become distorted under the weight of the body 

 or the traction of muscles attached to them. If not arrested, 

 rickets soon leads to softening of the bones. In extreme cases 

 the bone tissue is so soft it can be cut with a knife. 



Treatment.- — If treatment is not given, rickets may run a 

 chronic course of several months, but spontaneous recoveries are 

 not infrequent. As soon as the diagnosis is made the diet should 

 be regulated and good quarters and an opportunity for daily 

 exercise provided. Food rich in calcium, especially green feed, 

 is nature's remedy. In many cases lime in the form of powdered 

 chalk (calcium carbonate) will be found beneficial. The daily 

 dose for foals is 10 to 20 grams. Precipitated calcium phosphate 

 should be administered if the food is deficient in phosphates. 



BONE FRACTURES 



A fracture is defined as a break in a bone. Kicks, blows, and 

 falls on slippery pavements are common accidents that may re- 

 sult in fracture. A simple fracture is one in which the bone is 

 broken into but two parts and the skin remains unbroken. This 

 form is the least serious, for healing usually takes place without 

 infection. If the skin is wounded and one of the broken ends 

 protrudes it is termed a compound fracture. This is very 

 serious, for the protruding end always becomes infected. A 

 comminuted fracture is one where the bone is broken into three 

 or more pieces. Besides these, there may be recognized com- 

 plete, incomplete, transverse, longitudinal, greenstick, double, 

 and triple fractures. 



The horse, according to records compiled from many cases, 

 breaks the tibia eighteen times to the pelvis sixteen, first phalanx 

 thirteen, and radius eight times. When the point of the hip is 



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