MOIST ECZEMA OF THE TAIL, NECK, CHINE AND DEWLAP OF CATTLE.
Definition. Causes: in work oxen, winter, foul stables; dairy cows on spoiled fodder or maize, wheat, buckwheat, cotton seed, etc. Contagion. Symptoms: skin hot, thick, tender, exuding, matted hair, vesicles, itching, excoriation, ulceration, bleeding, sloughing. Treatment: Soothing. Cleanliness. Pure air. Tepid sponging. Dusting powder. Clip or shave. Calomel with care. Phenol. Creolin. Silver or copper salts. Tannic or boric acid.
This is an acute eczematous eruption of cattle beginning as a congestion and swelling of the skin and advancing to an exudation or secretion which bedews the surface with a sticky discharge, and concretes into scabs and crusts.
Causes. The disease has been mainly seen in work oxen during winter, when kept in close, foul stables and not properly groomed. It is also seen in dairy cows and may be attributed to the indigestion and gastric disorders which come from the ingestion of spoiled fodders, or from a too stimulating diet, such as Indian corn, wheat, buckwheat, barley, cotton seed, and the seeds of the leguminosæ. Lafosse looked upon it as contagious, but Cadeac denies both this and its alimentary origin.
Symptoms. The attack is severe, the skin becoming swollen, hot and tender, especially at the base of the tail, on the neck, chine and forehead. Soon the turgid, congested skin exudes a somewhat glutinous serous product, which mats the hairs into tufts and exposes the intervening red, excoriated skin, with here and there vesicles singly or in groups. Itching is usually intense and the animal licks, rubs and scratches the affected surface unmercifully. The resulting excoriations and sores add greatly to the severity of the troubles, including ulceration, bleeding and even sloughing.
Treatment. Prophylaxis should be the first consideration, and in the acute stages of the disease, its arrest by soothing applications. Cleanliness, pure air, and tepid sponging, to be followed by a dusting powder of boric or salicylic acid, or a lotion of acetate of lead or sulphate of zinc may serve a good purpose. If the case proves obstinate, the hair may be clipped or shaved to allow of the more direct and thorough application of the dressings. Cadeac especially recommends an ointment of calomel (1 ∶ 10) but this must not be applied over an extended surface, nor must it be recklessly repeated owing to the dangerous susceptibility of the bovine race to mercurialism.
Lotions and ointments of carbolic acid are of great value in moderating the intense pruritus, and a combination of this with lead acetate will often prove quite effective. Lotions, liniments or ointments of tar, oil of cade, creosote, or creolin. When ulcers are present they may be treated by solutions of silver nitrate (2 ∶ 100) or cupric sulphate (2 ∶ 100) or powdered iodoform. When the exudate is excessive, astringent dusting powders often serve a good purpose; tannic acid and boric acid, with starch or lycopodion.