ACUTE GASTRIC INDIGESTION IN SWINE.
Causes: fermented or putrid swill, spoilt vegetables, frozen aliments, caustic alkalies (powdered soaps) from kitchen, indigestible materials, poisons. Symptoms: dullness, grunting, restlessness, seeking seclusion, colics, vomiting, rumbling, tense, tucked up abdomen, diarrhœa. Treatment: emetic, bland acids, laxative, dieting, bitters, iron.
Causes. Swine have such a varied dietary, are so constantly fed swill containing all manner of ingredients and often kept in barrels, etc., that are never emptied and cleansed, and therefore so often the seat of septic fermentation, that both gastritis and enteritis are often produced. Spoilt turnips, potatoes, apples and other succulent vegetables, or those that have been exposed to frost, or which are devoured while frozen are additional causes of irritation. The various caustic alkaline powders used in washing the table dishes and the product added to the swill is another cause of such outbreaks which, attacking a whole herd at once, is attributed to hog cholera. Then indigestible materials (hoofs, hair, bristles, tree bark, etc.) when they fail to be rejected by vomiting cause gastritis and indigestion. Finally a long list of medicinal and toxic substances act in this way.
Symptoms are like those seen in dogs, dullness, arching of the back, drawing the feet together, erection of the bristles, hiding under the litter, grunting, restlessness, frequent movement from place to place, lifting of the hind feet, grubbing in the litter with the snout, tension of the abdomen, and often abdominal rumbling followed by diarrhœa and recovery. More commonly, however, relief comes from early rejection of the irritant matters by vomiting.
Treatment. Induce emesis as in the dog. Give vinegar in case of alkaline poisoning. Follow this by a laxative if the irritants have gained the intestines, and finally a course of iron or bitters. Careful dieting is absolutely essential.