The Book of Alfalfa: History, Cultivation and Merits / Its Uses as a Forage and Fertilizer

by F. D. Coburn

TROCAR AND CANNULA

“To use a trocar and cannula, proceed as follows: Tie the animal so it cannot get away. With a sharp knife, make a small incision through the skin over the prominent part of the swelling on the left side. This incision should be made about half way between the point of the hip and the last rib, and should be large enough to admit the trocar and cannula readily. The incision should be made quickly; then the animal will not notice it. After the incision is made the trocar and cannula are pushed quickly in and directed downward, inward, and forward; push the trocar in until the flange of the cannula rests against the skin. Withdraw the trocar and the gas will rush out; that is, it usually does so; occasionally, however, the end of the cannula is plugged up with green food. This can usually be remedied by pulling out the cannula part way, or pushing the trocar in again and withdrawing it. If this doesn’t work, tap the stomach again in another place, using the same hole through the skin. The escape of gas is usually accompanied by a small quantity of green food.

Trocar and Cannula

“If a trocar and cannula are not available in an urgent case, a knife can be used very successfully—a good-sized pocket knife blade, pushed quickly through the skin and muscles, in the same manner as described for the trocar and cannula. Care must be taken that the sharp edge of the blade is not turned towards the animal’s tail, as it sometimes jumps forward, and a much larger hole is cut than was originally intended.

“A careful and observing stockman of Colorado, who has had a large experience with alfalfa bloating, informs me that he prefers a moderately small, sharp butcher knife to either a trocar and cannula or a pocket knife. It gives relief quicker and with no bad effects. Sometimes, if the opening through the skin is small, made by a small knife, a quill or small tube is fastened in to keep the incision open, so the gas can escape. It is usually necessary to keep the incision open for several hours. The only bad result of tapping is that occasionally green food gets outside of the rumen into the abdominal cavity in sufficient quantities to cause inflammation and death; but if the operation is intelligently performed, these bad results are extremely rare—probably not more than one case in 100. If the weather is warm, care should be taken that flies do not bother the wound in the skin.

“If the case is not severe enough to warrant tapping, the following remedies will be found useful: A gag made by winding a good-sized rope back of the horns and through the mouth, or a bit, made of a piece of wood the size of a fork handle, can be tied in the animal’s mouth. The bit should be smooth, to prevent injuring the mouth. Then a small handful of salt should be thrown well back on the roots of the tongue. This causes the animal to work its tongue, increases the flow of saliva, and thus favors the regurgitation, or gulping up, of the gas. The salt and saliva swallowed help to stop fermentation.

“Blankets wrung out of cold water and wrapped around the abdomen or belly, or cold water dashed on with a bucket, often give relief. Turpentine given as a drench, in milk sufficient that it will not irritate the animal, is good, two ounces of turpentine for adult cattle and one-half ounce for sheep being a dose. Hyposulphite of soda, dissolved in water and given as a drench, is good; one ounce for cattle and two drachms for sheep. This can be repeated every half hour for two or three doses. Aqua ammonia, two ounces for cattle and one-half ounce for sheep, well diluted with water; carbolic acid, cattle 30 drops, sheep 8 to 10 drops in sufficient water; common soda, in half-ounce doses for cattle and one-half drachm for sheep, can be given. In giving medicine as drenches, they should be well diluted with water or other substances until they will not burn when touched to the tongue. In giving drenches, be careful and not choke the animal. If the animal coughs or struggles violently, stop at once until it recovers somewhat. Give drenches slowly.

“Drenches are mostly administered from a long-necked, thick, glass bottle, or drenching horn. Take hold of the nose with the left hand, by putting the thumb and finger in the nostrils, while an assistant takes hold of the horns, and tips the head back. Standing on the right side of the animal, with the right hand put the neck of the bottle in the right corner of the mouth, and pour the medicine in slowly. After the bloating has been relieved, it is a good plan to give the animal a purgative—one pound of Epsom salts, with one-half pound common salt, for cattle; and for a sheep, six ounces of Epsom salts and three ounces of common salt, dissolved in plenty of warm water, and given as a drench. The animals should also be dieted until their digestive organs regain their normal condition. By dieting, I do not mean starving, but plenty of easily digested and nutritious food. An animal that bloats once is very liable to bloat again. By judicious handling and feeding, by watching animals closely, and treating them in time, few will be lost by alfalfa bloating.”