ULCERATIVE STOMATITIS IN SOLIPEDS.
Causes. Apart from the ulcerations and erosions of specific diseases (glanders, horsepox, pustulous stomatitis, aphthous fever, etc.,) this condition is especially liable to appear in anæmic and debilitated subjects (Cauvet), as in rachitis (Friedberger and Fröhner), cancer (Cadeac) chronic internal abscess (Cadeac), etc. As an exciting cause and as a means of furnishing an infection atrium for the microbes of ulceration all conditions of simple lesion of the mucous membrane—mechanical, chemical, thermic, venomous, etc., are operative. Dieckerhoff has described it in connection with diphtheritic rhinitis, Friedberger with a nasal and conjunctival catarrh, Zeilinger and Kohler with aphthous fever, Mobius and Hackbarth with trefoil poisoning.
Lesions and Symptoms. There is the usual dainty feeding and disposition to masticate imperfectly or even to drop the partly insalivated morsels, working of the lips, the formation of froth on their margins, and the drivelling of saliva in long strings or filaments. As the disease advances this becomes bloody and fœtid. The local lesions may be at first like white pulpy spots of softened and degenerating epithelium, which is exceptionally, raised in blisters. This is followed by desquamation and the formation of open sores which are indolent, and show a disposition to further erosion and extension. They may be rounded or irregularly indented in their borders, and contain a brownish, blackish or greenish viscid debris. They vary widely, however, in general appearance and in their disposition to speedy or sluggish healing, being apparently influenced by the nature of the pathogenic microbe and the susceptibility of the subject. In some cases the molecular degeneration extends deeply into the mucosa, and even over the edges of the lips into the adjacent skin. Recovery and complete cicatrization may take place in one week, or successive outbreaks may take place in the same animal lasting in all for months as in Cadeac’s case associated with chronic abscess of the mesentery.
Treatment. The first consideration is to correct the debility on which the affection is based. Iron and bitter tonics, mineral acids, and nourishing food given in the form of soft mashes, pulped roots, or farinas, which will require little mastication, and the antiseptic cleansing of the mouth after each meal are the main features of the treatment. As antiseptics, vinegar is inimical to the microbes of the mouth, which affect alkaline media, borax, boric acid, carbolic acid, sulphurous acid, the sulphites and hyposulphites, permanganate of potash, chlorate of potash, creolin, and sulphate or chloride of iron furnish a sufficient choice of comparatively nontoxic agents. Ulcers may be touched with tincture of iodine, lunar caustic, or sulphate of copper.