808 
DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 
painful. The animals can scarcely be got out of the stable, and groan 
when forced to move. Although the disease is so painful, horses usually 
stand until exhausted. Once having lain down, however, they only rise 
with great reluctance and a vast show of precaution, and when again on 
their feet usually exhibit acute pain for a time. 
Pain is produced by pressing on the soles with the farrier’s pincers, 
especially around the toe, and the metacarpal arteries are found to be 
strongly pulsating. During acute attacks, fever is marked, thermometer 
readings sometimes rising to 108° or 104° F., whilst the surface tempera¬ 
ture is unevenly distributed. 
In favourable cases these symptoms disappear in three to five days, 
but generally last longer. Displacement of the os pedis can be detected 
by the falling-in round the coronet and depression of the sole. Once this 
has occurred complete recovery is no longer possible ; the soles “ drop,” 
and the animal ceases to be useful for work on stones or at a rapid pace. 
Horses with dropped soles exhibit a peculiar gait: the os pedis being 
partly rotated around its transverse axis causes relaxation of the flexor 
pedis perforans; every time the animal extends the limb, therefore, the 
coronet-joint shows abnormal dorsal flexion, in consequence of which the 
heels come first to the ground. 
Laminitis is sometimes complicated with muscular rheumatism, 
pleurisy, pneumonia, or colic, the first two diseases being associated 
with rheumatism, the colic with dietetic errors. Laminitis may not 
become marked until the colic, pneumonia, or pleurisy has passed off. 
Differential diagnosis. The following are some of the conditions 
which most closely simulate laminitis:— 
(1) Bruising of the sole in unshod horses; this is detected by an 
examination of the foot. 
(2) Muscular rheumatism. In this case the animal sometimes moves 
as in laminitis; the step is short and cautious, but the front limbs are 
not extended, and while symptoms of inflammation of the hoof are 
wanting, the muscles of the limb seem in a state of abnormal tension, 
and are painful on pressure. 
Prognosis. The consequences depend partly on the severity of the 
attack, partly on the stage at which treatment is resorted to, and partly 
on the formation of the hoof and the character of the complications. 
The intensity of the disease varies greatly; it may be fairly estimated 
by the degree of pain. 
lo ensuie lesolution, treatment must be adopted within the first 
twenty-four to forty-eight hours. In this case recovery is generally 
complete, though it should not be forgotten that for weeks after the 
disappeaiance of symptoms the tendency to fresh attacks continues, and 
therefore relapses are exceedingly common. 
