DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF CATTLE 
357 
Symptoms. — The animal stops eating, slavers at the 
mouth, coughs, breathes heavily, and after a time becomes 
bloated In the paunch, which is noticed at the left side. If 
not relieved it becomes so bloated that it drops down from 
suffocation and soon dies. Bloating is generally worse when 
from an apple or potato, as it acts just like a cork in a tube. 
Treatment. — Examine the mouth and throat, or gullet, 
and endeavor to ascertain the cause ; also examine along the 
left side of the neck to try to find where the obstruction is 
lodged in the tube. If you can feel or see what is choking 
the animal, and you think you can reach it, put a clevis 
crossways in the mouth and run your hand down the throat 
and bting it up. If you cannot reach it pour half a pint of 
linseed oil down as a drench, then move the obstruction by 
working it with your hand from the outside until the oil gets 
worked around it, as it may slip down when you get it 
started. If you have no raw linseed oil any other kind of oil 
will do. If this fails, pass down a probang, which is an in- 
strument for that purpose. 
A small wooden gag goes with the probang. This is 
placed in the mouth crossways. Have a man stand on each 
side to hold a horn and one end of the gag, keeping the 
cow's head in line with the body. Oil the probang and pass 
it through the hole in the gag as indicated in Fig. 59. Press 
it forward through the centre of the mouth into the gullet or 
throat. Press gently forward until the obstruction is felt 
and then endeavor to press it into the stomach. Tap with a 
trocar and cannula on the left side to allow the gas to escape, 
following the directions as given in Section 8. See Fig. 60. 
Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to shove down 
a broom-handle, or anything of that kind, to remove the 
obstruction, as you are apt to burst the tube which leads to 
the stomach. You will then lose the animal. A probang is 
something that every stock owner should keep on hand. See 
appended announcement. * 
8. Bloating (Tympanites). 
This is a formation of gas in the paunch, or rumen, and 
is a common occurrence among cattle. 
Causes. — Choking, sudden change in the food, wet clover, 
or eating frozen roots of any kind may cause it. 
Symptoms. — The left side is greatly swollen with gas, 
and in severe cases the whole belly is distended. Tapping 
