984 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
July  21,  1923 
Ailing  Animals 
Answered  by  Dr.  A.  S.  Alexander 
Incipient  Heaves 
I  have  a  horse  that  is  coming  down  with 
the  heaves.  Can  you  tell  me  anything  to 
do  for  him? 
New  York.  M.  J.  T. 
Heaves  generally  is  brought  on  by  the 
prolonged,  excessive  feeding  of  coarse  dry, 
bulky  or  dusty  roughage  and  working  the 
horse  when  the  stomach  and  intestines 
are  distended  ivith  such  feed.  Irritation 
of  the  pneumogastric  nerve  of  the  stomach 
is  the  first  effect,  characterized  by  indiges¬ 
tion  then  the  branch  of  the  nerve  supply¬ 
ing  the  lungs  becomes  similarly  affected 
and  the  double,  bellowslike  heaving  action 
of  the  abdomen,  seen  when  standing  be¬ 
hind  the  horse,  becomes  apparent.  The 
cough  accompanying  the  heaving  is  due 
to  generation  of  gas  in  the  stomach  and 
intestines  as  a  result  of  the  chronic  in¬ 
digestion.  To  relieve  heaves,  which  is 
incurable  when  established,  one  should  re¬ 
move  all  of  the  causes  mentioned  and  so 
feed  and  work  the  horse  as  to  cause  as 
little  discomfort  as  possible.  To  that  end 
it  is  well  to  let  a  heavey  horse  live  on 
grass  in  summer,  but  also  have  oats  and 
bran,  if  work  has  to  be  done,  and  to  feed 
oat  straw  and  corn  stover  in  Winter,  in 
preference  to  hay.  Wet  all  feed  with  lime- 
water  which  may  be  made  by  slaking 
quicklime  in  water  and  using  the  clear 
liquid  when  the  lime  has  settled.  A  lump 
of  quicklime  as  large  as  a  walnut  will 
suffice  for  slaking  in  a  quart  of  soft  water. 
Do  not  allow  any  bulky  feed  at  noon 
when  the  horse  has  to  work  and  do  not 
work  him  immediately  after  a  meal.  At 
all  times  keep  the  bowels  active.  The 
feeding  of  bran  will  help  when  grass  is 
not  green  and  laxative  and  carrots  as  well 
as  bran  may  be  freely  fed  in  Winter. 
When  the  breathing  is  particularly  dis¬ 
tressed  in  hot,  damp,  muggy  weather,  as 
usually  is  the  case  in  the  asthmatic  type 
of  the  disease,  mixing  a  teaspoonful  of  a 
mixture  of  equal  quantities  by  weight  of 
chlorid  of  ammonia  and  powdered  stra¬ 
monium  leaves  in  each  feed  will  be  likely 
to  give  relief,  as  would  the  feeding  of 
commercial  or  proprietory  heave  powders. 
A  tablespoonful  of  Fowler’s  solution  of 
arsenic  given  night  and  morning  in  a  little 
water  or  sprinkled  upon  the  feed  is  also 
excellent  for  the  relief  of  heaves.  The 
cough  may  be  relieved  by  letting  the  horse 
inhale  the  fumes  from  a  pailful  of  crude 
petroleum  oil,  preferably  Beaumont,  Tex., 
oil,  set  in  the  manger  in  such  a  way  that 
it  will  not  be  upset. 
Death  of  Sows 
I  had  five  sows  with  little  pigs.  Four 
of  them  got  sick  ;  three  of  them  are  dead. 
They  lay  around,  did  not  seem  to  be  in 
any  pain  ;  when  they  tried  to  walk,  wrnuld 
stagger.  Two  sows  were  sick  only  about 
two  days,  one  lived  about  two  weeks.  I 
have  taken  the  little  pigs  away  ;  some  of 
them  are  affected.  I  fed  the  sows  sepa¬ 
rated  milk  direct  from  the  separator. 
Would  that  be  the  cause?  I  have  been 
told  it  was. 
New  York.  T.  B. 
Skim-milk,  straight  from  the  separator 
is  a  good  food  for  swine,  provided  the 
foam  is  removed  before  feeding.  Frothy 
separator  milk  is  liable  to  kill  quickly  by 
causing  bloat,  or  it  may  induce  scouring, 
which  is  less  deadly  but  quite  injurious 
to  little  pigs.  We  scarcely  think,  however, 
that  the  separator  milk  killed  the  sows. 
It  is  much  more  likely  that  they  were 
attacked  by  hog  cholera,  and  if  the  local 
graduate  veterinarian  is  of  like  mind 
after  making  a  thorough  investigation  the 
remaining  sows  and  pigs  should  be  vacci¬ 
nated  by  the  simultaneous  or  double 
method.  The  right  course  when  hogs  are 
attacked  by  serious  disease  is  to  have  a 
qualified  veterinarian  make  a  post  mortem 
examination,  and  if  necessary  he  will  also 
send  tissues  from  the  carcass  to  the  State 
agricultural  experiment  station,  veteri¬ 
nary  department,  for  laboratory  examina¬ 
tion  and  tests,  or  he  may  know  of  some 
other  professional  pathologist  who  under¬ 
takes  such  work  for  the  profession.  Mean¬ 
while  we  should  advise  you  to  move  the 
unaffected  pigs  and  sows  into  new  quar¬ 
ters  on  ground  not  previously  occupied 
by  swine.  Then  perfectly  cleanse  the  old 
hog  houses,  disinfect  them  with  a  mixture 
of  one  part  of  compound  cresol  solution 
and  30  parts  of  water  and  then  apply 
freshly  made  lime  wash  in  each  three  gal¬ 
lons  of  which  has  been  mixed  one  pound 
of  fresh  chloride  of  lime.  Flood  the  floor 
with  the  limewash  after  cleansing.  Also 
plow  and  crop  the  old  hog  yards  and  pad- 
docks.  Let  the  other  pigs  and  sows  oc¬ 
cupy  clean  colony  houses  on  grass  not 
pastured  by  swine  since  it  was  seeded 
and  also  let  them  graze  a  succession  of 
green  crops,  preferably  legumes,  besides 
feeding  well  on  mixed  meals  and  giving 
skim-milk  to  the  pigs.  Let  all  of  the 
hogs  help  themselves  at  will  to  salt,  air- 
slaked  lime  or  ground  limestone  and  wood- 
aslies  or  bonemeal.  Keep  all  feeding  and 
watering  utensils  clean.  In  that  way  the 
pigs  will  largely  be  kept  free  from  worms, 
and  if  vaccinated  they  will  not  contract 
cholera.  Swine  plague  is  similar  to 
cholera  and  is  a  disease  that  might  cause 
similar  symptoms  to  those  you  described. 
It  may  also  be  prevented  with  some  suc¬ 
cess  by  vaccination,  but  not  with  such 
certainty  as  for  cholera. 
Fits  From  Indigestion 
I  have  a  pig  about  two  months  old  that 
acts  strange  when  fed.  He  will  rush  up 
and  eat  a  fewr  mouthfuls  and  then  will 
step  back  and  whirl  around  like  a  top 
for  a  few  times  and  then  act  as  though 
he  was  half  starved.  I  am  feeding  milk, 
white  middlings  and  cracked  corn. 
New  Hampshire.  c.  S.  B. 
The  symptoms  described  are  those  of 
fits  or  convulsions,  similar  to  those  suf¬ 
fered  by  infants  when  affected  w7ith  in¬ 
digestion.  A  rich  concentrated  ration, 
fed  when  pigs  are  hungry  or  thirsty  so 
that  it  is  gulped  down  fast,  is  liable  to 
bring  on  a  fit.  The  disease  is  due  to  irri¬ 
tation  of  the  stomach  and  then  of  the 
brain  in  a  reflex  manner.  Fast  drinking, 
by  causing  a  spasm  of  the  gullet,  may 
also  induce  the  trouble.  Calves  are  often 
affected  in  that  way  and  pigs  in  some 
instances  seem  to  be  similarly  affected. 
Worms  are  a  common,  aggravating  cause. 
Feed  skim-milk  bloodwarm  (100  degree 
F. )  after  removing  the  froth,  and  be  sure 
that  all  feeding  and  drinking  utensils  are 
kept  clean  and  sweet.  Feed  three  times 
daily,  in  preference  to  night  and  morning. 
Mix  middlings,  ground  barley  or  rye  and 
a  little  bran  and  oilmeal  in  the  slop. 
Corn  is  better  fed  shelled,  from  a  self- 
feeder,  along  with  tankage.  Let  the  pigs 
run  on  a  succession  of  fresh  green  grazing 
crops,  preferably  legumes,  from  early 
Spring  until  late  Autumn  and  at  all  times 
have  free  access  to  pure  drinking  and 
bathing  water,  salt,  air-slacked  lime  or 
ground  limestone,  wood  ashes  and  char¬ 
coal  or  bonemeal.  To  rid  pigs  of  round 
worms  withhold  feed  for  24  hours.  Then 
give  30  drops  of  oil  of  chenopodium  and 
one-half  ounce  of  castor  oil,  from  a  bottle, 
for  every  50  pounds  of  body  weight.  This 
treatment  may  be  repeated  in  two  weeks 
and  again,  later,  if  any  sign  of  worms  is 
seen.  There  will,  however,  be  little  likeli¬ 
hood  of  pigs  contracting  intestinal  worms 
or  having  fits  in  future,  if  you  move  the- 
sow  and  litter  in  a  clean  crate,  by  w7agon, 
to  a  new  colony  house  on  grass  not  used 
by  hogs  since  it  was  seeded,  as  soon  as 
the  pigs  are  nursing  well  and  are  strong 
on  their  feet.  It  is  also  necessary  to 
wash  the  belly,  udder  and  teats  of  the 
sow  before  the  pigs  are  allowed  to  nurse 
for  the  first  time  and  then  to  prevent 
those  parts  from  becoming  contaminated. 
To  that  end  it  is  also  a  good  plan  to  treat 
the  gilt  or  sow  for  worms  before  she  is 
bred.  The  aim  of  such  treatment  is  to 
prevent  pigs  from  getting  access  to  filth 
which  may  contain  eggs  of  worms.  Com¬ 
plete  feeding  also  supplies  all  of  the  needs 
of  the  body  so  that  growth  and  develop¬ 
ment  are  fast  and  worms  given  less  favor¬ 
able  conditions  in  which  to  multiply,  if 
they  happen  to  enter  the  intestinal  tract. 
Tail  Rubbing 
I  have  a  pony  five  years  old.  I  don’t 
use  her  much,  sometimes  one  day  a  week, 
but.  feed  her  twice  a  day  on  hay  and 
molasses  feed.  She  keeps  rubbing  her  tail 
while  standing  in  the  stable.  Could  it  be 
that  she  has  an  itch?  Is  wood  alcohol 
any  good  for  it? 
New  York.  J.  w. 
No  animal  of  this  sort  ever  should 
stand  for  a  single  day  without  working 
or  taking  active  exercise  in  the  open  air. 
When  not  so  treated  and  the  feed  is  in 
excess  of  the  needs  of  the  resting  body  its 
products,  including  waste  products  which 
should  be  eliminated  by  active  excretion, 
Jtre  retained  in  the  tissues.  Some  of  these 
products  are  poisonous  (toxins).  When 
these  are  present  in  large  quantities  in  a 
horse  that  has  been  fully  fed  oats  or  other 
rich  feed  while  standing  idle  for  a  day  or 
two  and  suddenly  are  pumped  into  the 
tissues  by  the  blood  circulation,  when 
the  horse  is  worked  or  exercised, 
azoturia  may  be  the  result  and  end 
fatally.  It  is  characterized  by  loss  of 
power  of  one  or  both  hind  legs  and  by 
dark  color  of  the  urine.  In  other  cases 
of  the  sort,  from  exactly  the  same  set  of 
conditions,  lymphangitis  is  the  result.  It 
is  characterized  by  sudden  swelling  of  a 
hind  leg,  great  pain,  high  fever,  hurried 
breathing,  full,  bounding  pulse,  loss  of 
appetite  and  reddening  of  the  mucous 
membranes.  In  the  same  way  diseases 
of  the  skin  may  be  caused.  Of  these  tail 
and  mane  rubbing  is  a  common  example. 
The  skin  becomes  foul,  especially  at  the 
roots  of  the  mane  and  tail,  and  dandruff 
clogs  the  pores.  Parasitic  mites  may  be 
attacked  by  this  foul  condition  and  cause 
intense  itching  which  also  may  occur 
without  their  presence.  The  result  is 
that  the  horse  starts  rubbing  and  then 
the  skin  becomes  sore,  cracked  or  scabby 
from  exudation  of  inflammatory  lymph 
which  dries  on  the  part.  Better  clip  the 
pony  and  wash  the  skin  clean.  Also  scrub 
the  roots  of  the  mane  and  tail  with  soap 
and  hot  water.  When  dry  pour  on  and 
rub  in  daily,  for  three  days,  a  mixture  of 
one  part  of  kerosene  and  three  parts  of 
machine  oil.  or  cottonseed  oil  or  sweet 
oil ;  then  saturate  the  pai'ts  every  three 
days  with  a  mixture  of  two  ounces  of 
flowers  of  sulphur,  one-lialf  an  ounce  of 
oil  of  tar,  one-lialf  an  ounce  of  coal  tar 
dip  or  disinfectant  and  one  pint  of  cotton¬ 
seed  oil.  Make  the  pony  w7ork  or  take 
outdoor  exercise  every  day.  Bed  with 
sawdust  or  planing  mill  shavings.  Feed 
no  grain  when  there  is  not  work  for  the 
pony  to  do,  but  allow  bran  and  carrots 
Blood  in  Milk 
Have  a  heifer  that  freshened  last  Au¬ 
gust.  She  gave  good  milk  for  about  three 
months,  then  it  became  bloody.  It  would 
be  all  right  for  one  or  two  milkings,  then 
it  wrnuld  be  full  of  clots.  When  put  in 
pans  this  muddy  substance  and  blood  all 
settle  to  the  bottom.  She  is  an  extra  good 
heifer,  passed  the  New  York  State  test 
for  tuberculosis.  c.  M. 
As  the  heifer  gave  normal  milk  for 
three  months  after  calving,  it  is  evident 
that  ‘the  presence  blood  in  the  milk  was 
not  caused  by  the  excessive  congestion  or 
engorgement  of  the  udder  with  blood, 
which  one  sees  just  before  or  after  calving 
and  causes  rupture  of  tiny  blood  vessels. 
If  the  blood  came  freely  when  the  trouble 
first  started,  we  think  it  most  likely  that 
a  blow  was  the  cause.  A  kick  often 
causes  the  injury,  or  the  cow  may  injure 
her  udder  when  lying  down,  or  when 
stepping  over  a  high  sill  or  other  obstacle, 
or  by  having  it  trampled  upon  by  another 
cow.  Following  an  original  injury,  in¬ 
fection  may  make  the  disease  chronic,  and 
garget  is  present  and  the  cause  of  ab¬ 
normal,  clotted  or  bloody  milk.  In  the 
worst  cases  pus  escapes  with  the  milk,  and 
when  that  is  so  the  milk  is  utterly  unfit 
for  use  by  man  or  animals.  Under  the 
circumstances  the  first  step,  in  the  case 
in  question,  should  be  to  determine  the 
source  of  the  bloody  milk.  For  that  pur¬ 
pose  set  a  sample  of  milk  from  each  quar¬ 
ter  of  the  udder  in  a  separate  labeled 
bottle  that  has  been  sterilized  by  boiling, 
and  mark  on  the  label  the  source  of  the 
contents.  Then  note  if  all  of  the  milk 
becomes  equally  affected,  or  if  that  in 
one  bottle  or  two  is  affected.  In  that 
way  you  can  determine  from  which  quar¬ 
ter  or  quarters  the  abnormal  milk  comes. 
When  bacteria  in  the  milk  utensils  are 
the  cause  of  changes  in  milk,  including 
red  discoloration,  the  milk  appears  sound 
at  time  of  withdrawal,  but  becomes  af¬ 
fected  on  standing.  When  garget  is  the 
cause,  the  milk  is  unsound  when  stripped 
from  the  udder.  If  the  trouble  proves  to 
be  bacteria,  more  scrupulous  cleansing, 
scalding  and  sun-drying  of  the  utensils 
and  the  use  of  pure  water  for  washing 
the  vessels,  etc.,  should  quickly  end  the 
trouble.  If  garget  is  present,  however, 
and  of  the  "chronic  form  we  suspect,  the 
cow  should  be  isolated,  the  milk  caught 
in  a  vessel  containing  a  disinfecting  so¬ 
lution.  and  then  throw7n  out  where  it 
cannot  be  got  at  by  animals,  and  the  milk 
secretion  dx-ied  off,  if  that  proves  possible. 
The  heifer  should  then  be  fitted  for  the 
butcher. 
Eye  Disease;  Wind  Galls 
1  Can  you  suggest  something  for 
horse’s  eyes  running.  We  are  giving  him 
steamed  bran  wdtli  tonic  in  at  night. 
2.  What  is  good  for  wind  gall  above  the 
horse’s  hoof?  a.  j.  h. 
1.  You  do  not  describe  the  exact  con¬ 
dition  present,  but  experience  teaches  us 
that  the  commonest  severe  disease  of  the 
horse’s  eyes  is  periodic  or  recurrent  oph¬ 
thalmia,  commonly  called  moon  blindness. 
The  attacks  come  on  at  intervals  of  a 
month  or  more.  The  eyelids  swell  and 
tears  discharge.  The  lining  of  the  eye¬ 
lids  is  seen  to  be  gi’eatly  i-eddened  ;  then 
the  eyeballs  become  cloudy,  bluish  in  color 
or  a  yellow  deposit  forms  in  the  low7er 
part  of  the  anterior  chamber  of  the  eye 
(cornea)  in  chronic  cases.  One  eye  usu¬ 
ally  is  attacked,  and  in  time  goes  blind 
from  cataract.  Then  the  other  one  may 
become  similarly  affected,  'or  in  some 
cases  both  eyes  are  affected  at  the  same 
time.  Many  horsemen  think  that  “wolf 
teeth”  cause  the  disease,  but  that  is  not 
the  case,  those  teeth  being  merely  insig¬ 
nificant  vestigial  teeth,  representing  the 
antei-ior  pi-e-molar  teeth,  or  third  grinding 
teeth,  of  the  upper  jaw  of  the  prehistoric 
horse.  They  do  not  injure  the  eyes  in 
any  way,  and  need  not  be  removed. 
Neither  have  the  changes  of  the  moon 
anything  to  do  with  the  causing  of  per¬ 
iodic  ophthalmia.  The  disease  is  incur¬ 
able  when  established,  but  blindness  may 
be  retarded  somwhat  by  dissolving  a  dram 
of  iodide  of  potash  in  the  drinking  w7ater 
night  and  morning  at  times  of  attack  and 
also  bathing  the  eyes  frequently  w’ith 
water  containing  all  the  boric  acid  it  will 
dissolve  when  hot.  In  addition  to  that 
treatment,  put  a  little  bit  of  one  per  cent 
yellow7  oxid  of  mercury  ointment  in  the 
eye  each  evening  wdxile  the  inflammation 
is  present,  and  also  apply  it  freely  to  the 
upper  eyelid  and  depression  over  the  eye. 
If  there  is  a  heavy  discharge  from  the 
eye,  wet  the  eyeball  every  three,  four  or 
six  houx’S  with  a  15  per  cent  solution  of 
argyrol,  according  to  the  severity  of  the 
attack,  and  use  the  yellow  ointment  as 
soon  as  the  discharge  abates.  An  af¬ 
fected  horse  should  be  isolated  and  the 
stable  somewhat  dai’kened.  Veterinarians 
are  now7  trying  the  effects  of  a  new7  bio¬ 
logic  antagonistic  to  the  disease,  but  we 
have  had  no  definite  report  as  to  the  re¬ 
sults.  Some  of  them  also  inject  a  10  per 
cent  mixture  of  Lugol’s  solution  and  dis¬ 
tilled  or  freshly  boiled  water  into  the 
fatty  cushion  behind  the  eye,  and  have 
found  that  so  doing  retax7ds  attacks,  but 
does  not  cui*e  the  disease. 
2.  Wind  galls  are  incurable  w7hen  es¬ 
tablished.  Pressxxre  by  means  of  padded 
flat  corks  bound  upon  the  parts  at  night 
temporarily  l-educes  the  puffs. 
