780 
DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 
occupy a considerable time (three to four weeks). Severe lameness, and 
symptoms of diffuse purulent inflammation of the fibro-fatty frog, are 
always grave. On attempting to bear weight on the foot, the latter 
shows excessive volar flexion, swelling appears in the heel, and pain is 
exhibited on forcibly flexing the toe. 
Treatment. The chief indications are to prevent infection, to dis¬ 
infect the wound, and to limit inflammation. After carefully removing 
the foreign body and taking precautions against any particles being left 
behind, the entire hoof must be pared as for shoeing, and any loose 
fragments of horn removed from the sole or frog. The track of the nail 
should then be cut out until the injured soft tissues are exposed. The 
funnel-shaped opening, and, if possible, the wound in the soft tissues, 
are then washed out with clean water, or, better still, with a disinfectant; 
(a syringe is useful) or the parts can be swabbed with a tampon saturated 
with 10 per cent, chloride of zinc solution or pure “ Sanitas ” oil. As 
the chief object is to keep the wound disinfected, a dressing moistened 
with some disinfecting fluid is applied over all. 
Should pain increase during the next few days, the wound should be 
cautiously probed, and any imprisoned discharge allowed to escape, 
after which the foot is immersed twice a day, for one to two hours 
at a time, in a bath containing some disinfectant. Plenty of clean 
straw bedding must be given, and the dressing moistened five or six 
times a day. 
To sum up, the object of treatment is, to confine the inflammation to 
the point of injury, for which purpose it is necessary to keep the parts 
thoroughly clean, to avoid retention of pus or wound discharges, and 
to minimise the decomposition which is apt to occur in wounds. 
When pain decreases, a dry dressing is sufficient; and as soon as 
inflammation or suppuration stops, a splint dressing can be applied to 
protect the soft parts, which are only covered with a very thin layer of 
horn. The sole is smeared with tar and covered with tow, which is 
retained by means of a pair of wooden splints placed one over the other 
in the form of a cross, with their ends thrust under the shoe. Provided 
the roads are dry, the horse can work with this protection, but in wet 
weather it is better to give a few days’ further rest in the stable. 
When suppuration is confined to a portion of the fibro-fatty frog, 
precautions should be taken against further infection and retention of 
pus, which would lead to diffuse cellulitis of the whole structure. 
In cases where the flexor pedis perforans tendon and its bursa are 
still intact, it is sometimes useful to scrape out the wound with a curette. 
This removes the infected masses of granulation tissue which form so 
freely, and constitute an obstacle to the escape of wound discharges and 
of necrotic material. After sponging out with chloride of zinc solution, 
