AZOTURIA.* 
By W. B. Robinson, D.V.M., Mt. Sterling, Ky. 
The subject selected for me to discuss before this meeting is 
a puzzle and one that has never been solved, a disease known 
to the profession as azoturia. This puzzle has for years and 
years baffled the most ardent attempts of scientific investigations. 
The more research we make, the more we study the nature and 
cause of this disease, the deeper we are driven into this complex 
mystery. 
Azoturia is an acute disease of the horse, characterized by an 
arrest of locomotion caused by paralysis, generally of the poste¬ 
rior limbs, together with a morbid change in the character of the 
urine. 
Etiology .—As to the direct cause I will not enter into a dis¬ 
cussion, but the accessory cause is a hypernitrogenous condition 
of the system, and I believe leading to autotoxemia. 
It is seen only in plethoric animals, well fed and on exercise 
after a period of rest. 
The principal morbid changes are destruction of the red blood 
cells, freeing of haemoglobin and hemorrhage into the larger 
muscles, as gluteal, crural and pectoral. They become hard, 
firm and fixed, losing* their transverse striations. The urine 
varies from red to black and is often thick, due to the broken- 
down constituents of the blood. 
Symptoms .—This disease is usually easily diagnosed, though 
sometimes it is very obscure. I will try to outline the typical 
symptoms. 
On leaving the stable, after a few days’ rest, the horse is full 
* Presented at Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association, February 28-29, 1912. 
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