The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
? 39 
Ailing Aminals 
Answered by Dr. A. S. Alexander 
Fistula 
I have a sorrel mare eight years old 
that has fistula. The sore had been healed 
up before I got her, but has got to run¬ 
ning again. What can be done to cure 
her? F. S. W. 
Tennessee. 
You should have told us the exact loca¬ 
tion of the fistula. That term means a 
pipe or sinus that is discharging pus or 
the secretion of a gland. It may be pres¬ 
ent at many different parts of the body. 
As a rule, however, the name fistula, by 
farmers, is applied to a discharging ab¬ 
scess on the withers, just in front of the 
part where the saddle rests, or where the 
collar rides on the neck. “Poll evil’’ is 
the term applied to a fistulous abscess of 
the poll of the head between the ears, or 
just behind that part. It may be taken 
as certain that in all old-standing cases 
of fistula of the withers or poll, pus has 
burrowed deeply, and that dead or dis¬ 
eased cartilage or other tissue is present 
and the cause of formation of the pus. 
Bruising generally starts the trouble; 
then iiffection with pus germs occurs, and 
the abscess breaks and discharges pus. 
In some bad cases of fistula of the with¬ 
ers a pipe or sinus forms and runs down 
behind the shoulder blade (scapula), and 
when that occurs it is a most difficult 
matter to bring about perfect healing. It 
may occur for a time, but the pus quickly 
gathers and again breaks out. As dead 
or diseased tissue is a foreign body wliere- 
ever found, nature tries to get rid of it 
by a discharge of pus; but as drainage 
rarely is perfect, that method of healing 
rarely succeeds. The first step in the 
sensible treatment of fistula of the with¬ 
ers or poll should be to remove the dead 
or diseased tissue and secure free drain¬ 
age for pus from each pipe and pocket. 
Simply to inject a disinfecting fluid does 
not suffice. A radical operation is usu¬ 
ally necessary. Have it done by a quali¬ 
fied veterinarian, if one is available. 
After clipping the hair from the part and 
washing the skin clean, the horse should 
be past or placed upon an operating table 
and put under the influence of an anes¬ 
thetic, so that undue suffering may not 
occur. The pockets and pipe are then 
laid open wifh the knife and all diseased 
tissue cut out. The wound next should 
be swabbed with incture of iodine and the 
cavities then packed with a strip of ster¬ 
ilized gauze or a rope of teased oakum, 
saturated with a mixture of equal quan¬ 
tities of pure turpentine and raw linseed 
oil or any other mixture preferred by the 
veterinarian, and letting a lag of the 
packing material hang from the wound to 
serve as a drain. The packing should he 
renewed daily. The veterinarian will also 
give hypodermic treatment with a bac- 
terin antagonistic to pus. 
Paralyzed Sow 
I have a sow which has been all right 
until recently. Now she has no use of her 
hind parts; she cannot get up. She eats 
and does not seem to be sick only cannot 
get up. What can I do for her? L. w. 
It is far too common for sows to go 
down in the manner described after hav¬ 
ing nursed a litter of pigs for some time. 
The condition might be prevented w T ere 
all hogs raised in such a manner as to 
insure a strong bony frame, constitution 
and muscular condition. To that end 
every hog from birth should, in season, 
have the chance to graze a succession of 
fresh, green legume crops and at the same 
time have access to minerals such as salt, 
air-slaked lime or ground limestone, and 
wood ashes or bone meal. In addition, 
skim-milk is requisite and the all-corn 
method of feeding should be avoided. Try 
to provide hogs with a variety of ground 
grains or meals and in addition allow 
some tankage. The latter feed is not so 
necessary when hogs are grazing legumes 
and drinking skim-milk. When the green 
crops are not available feed Alfalfa or 
clover hay and roots, in addition to other 
feeds. If they will not eat long hay 
chop it fine and mix with their other 
rations. A sow that goes down after 
nursing pigs generally is soft, pampered 
and affect'ed more or less with rickets. 
Or she has to rob her own tissues of 
feed ingredients lacking in her incom¬ 
plete ration. That may occur to such an 
extent that her bones become too weak 
to support her body and at the same time 
the nerves and muscles are similarly 
weakened. In some instances it is the 
nervous system that is most affected by 
the drain and strain of nursing pigs. In 
others, when rickets is not present, an 
excess of protein feed waste products 
poisons the body, constipation having 
been induced by wrong feeding and lack 
of exercise. Then, when exei’cise starts 
the sow may go down in a heap, just as 
does a horse, that is in like condition 
from overfeeding on oats during a spell 
of idleness, when attacked by azoturia. 
We should advise you to wean the pigs, 
if that has not been done. Then give 
the sow 4 ounces of Epsom salts in slop 
and when that has acted give her twice 
daily a tablespoonful of codliver oil, half 
a teaspoonful of precipitated phosphate 
of lime and 3 to 5 drops of fluid extract 
of nux vomica in any way found most 
convenient. Keep the bowels active. 
Feed as we have suggested. Continue 
the treatment for several weeks, if the 
sow eats well and that is found necessary. 
Prevention is, of course, of greater im¬ 
portance than treatment. 
Pica or Depraved Appetite 
My cows are eating up my fences, and 
I expect them to soon commence on the 
barn. They are in good condition. I am 
feeding good hay and ground oats and 
buckwheat. e. b. 
Pennsylvania. 
This form of depraved appetitie, or 
pica, is not uncommon in cows. It is the 
expression of indigestion, in many in¬ 
stances, or is more commonly induced by 
the lack of some needed nutrient ingre¬ 
dient or element not supplied by the ra¬ 
tion. In the case in question we are in¬ 
clined to believe that the free feeding of 
ground buckwheat may be an irritating 
cause. Sudden change to that feed tends 
to cause indigestion, indicated by an erup¬ 
tion and itchiness of the skin, just as it 
does in some people. “Buckwheat rash,’* 
or “hives,” may be commonly recognized 
ailments to some of our readers. Stock 
sometimes similary suffer from buckwheat 
rash. Under the circumstances we shou'd 
suggest as an experiment that buckwheat 
be stopped for a time, and then made bill 
a small part of the concentrate or meal 
mixture, if it proved to be the cause of 
the depraved appetite. We should also 
suggest allowing free access to salt. That 
alone sometimes proves remedial. Also 
add wheat bran and ground barley or corn 
to the ration, in place of ground buck¬ 
wheat. If possible also supply roots or 
silage to regulate the bowels, and pro¬ 
vide clover or Alfalfa hay in preference to 
Timothy or other hay. Some bright corn 
stover may be fed, but the legume hays 
are the best, as they are rich in lime 
salts, as well as vitamine and protein. 
When changes in feed and mineral mat¬ 
ters, such as we have suggested, do not 
stop the craving for foreign matters like 
bones, wood, bark, leather, etc., some of 
the mineral may be mixed in the concen¬ 
trated feed. It is advised to add 3 or 4 
lbs. of ground limestone, or steamed boim- 
meal, or wood ashes, or “floats,” which is 
ground rock phosphate, to every 100 lbs. 
of concentrate fed to farm cattle, when 
the feed is known to be deficient in lime 
salts. When medicine is required in a 
particularly bad case, try the effects of 
one-half an ounce of bicarbonate of soda 
dissolved twice daily in drinking water, 
or given in soft feed. If other measures 
fail, a veterinarian should be employed to 
administer iodine crystals in a gelatin 
capsule in such doses as he thinks best. 
How to Build a Hay Rack 
I would like to get some advice con¬ 
cerning the making of a hay rack, or hay 
rigging as it is sometimes called. I would 
like to know the dimensions and the best 
kind of wood to use for the average hay 
rack. Would a good grade of white pine 
be suitable, and yet make it light and 
strong? I would also like to know the 
length and thickness of the cross pieces, 
and the sideboards of the box part. Would 
you bolt the crosspieces to the sideboards 
of the box with long “TJ” bolts? 
A. B. F. 
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