LAM1NITIS. 
809 
The prognosis is less favourable when the hoofs are already deformed, 
and especially when the soles are dropped. Cases following errors in 
diet are less favourable than those of rheumatic origin ; and when all 
four feet are attacked, there is less hope of recovery than when the front 
feet alone are implicated. Finally, heavy-bodied horses suffer more 
severely than lighter animals. 
Treatment. As a preventive, all horses not in active work should be 
exercised daily, and should be placed on reduced diet, while attention 
should be given to the state of the bowels. Young horses should neither be 
over-worked nor over-fed especially with highly nitrogenous food. Horses 
just landed from a long sea voyage should be placed in loose boxes, and fed 
sparingly on light, easily-digested food. They should not be exercised or 
walked about for a week or so, as even a short journey is apt to precipitate 
an attack. From the earliest times laminitis has been treated by free 
bleeding, which, in fact, is useful if early resorted to. During the first 
three days bleeding from the jugular almost always produces rapid 
diminution of pain and inflammation. It is especially useful in cases 
following dietetic mischief, but is also of advantage even in rheumatic 
laminitis. Local bleeding, either from the coronet or sole, is less 
effectual ; and the production of a wound in the sole is dangerous, 
because it may become -the starting-point of septic or purulent inflam¬ 
mation. If, therefore, bleeding from the toe be resolved on, the parts 
should be treated antiseptically. Bleeding from the coronary plexus is 
not so dangerous, and scarification of the coronet has often been recom¬ 
mended. Some practitioners recommend abstracting five to six quarts 
of blood from the jugular and applying mustard plasters to the chest and 
sides of the thorax. 
The second means of treatment consists in cold applications. Cold 
poultices may be applied to the feet, or the animal may be placed in 
water. When pain is severe, poultices deserve preference. Foot-baths 
are only of use in slight lameness, and it should not be forgotten that 
continued standing favours displacement of the os pedis, and, therefore, 
that it is preferable to allow the animals to lie, and to apply cold 
applications to the feet. Plenty of straw bedding should be given, the 
animals being kept out of draughts, and made as comfortable as possible. 
It is also advantageous to remove the shoes and place the horse on a soft 
bed, so as to oppose descent of the os pedis by distributing pressure over 
the sole. If in acute attacks, the horse cannot be persuaded to lie down 
it should be cast. 
To permit of expansion of the hypersemic tissues and diminish tension, 
Smith recommends dividing the horn wall at one or more points in its 
circumference by means of the knife or saw. This treatment is of 
doubtful value. 
