Lumpy Jaw can also be transmitted by coming in contact with or eating food over which lumpy jawed cattle have slobbered. A healthy animal eating such food with very slight bruises or abrasions of the mouth will contract the disease very readily. This disease is misleading as other organs are affected with the Ray Fungi or the Bacillus of Actinomycosis, as the lungs and even the digestive organs have been found to be affected with this disease.
Symptoms.—External symptoms or signs are the only means by which to ascertain the disease. Its exact location is on the lower jaw bone near its angle. It may also affect the upper jaw, but this is an exception and not a rule. Internally it may affect the tongue, mouth, throat or lungs, but rarely the intestines. This enlargement continues to grow until it reaches the size of that of a man’s head, breaks and discharges pus. The animal becomes poor and emaciated, the hair takes on a dull roughened appearance and in many cases it is very difficult for it to eat, especially where the disease separates the gums and bone from the teeth and causes them to become very loose or to drop out. The animal in the latter stages of this disease generally dies from starvation.
Treatment.—Successful in its first stages. Soft, nitrogenous food should be fed, such as wheat bran mashes, steamed rolled oats or barley, hay dampened with clean water, so as to make it pliable. Hay containing woody matter as stems, etc., should not be fed to an animal affected with Lumpy Jaw as it tends to aggravate the disease. Internally in their drinking water give two drams of Potassium Iodide morning and night. This treatment, however, should be omitted when the animal’s skin becomes scaly or when an excessive watery discharge flows from the eyes. On the outer surface over the enlargement apply the following ointment: Red Iodide of Mercury, four drams; Lard, two ounces. Mix well and rub in briskly for twenty minutes every five or six days for three weeks. The cure can generally be ascertained by the animal gaining in flesh, although the lump may remain. Where Lumpy Jaw is of long standing so as to impair the use of the animal’s tongue or teeth, it is best to destroy the animal, as this lessens the possibility of infecting healthy animals.
LUNG FEVER.
(Pneumonia)
Cause.—Generally follows congestion of the lungs. It may be due to parasitic organisms or exposure to cold, drafts when warm after being driven, etc. Drenching perhaps is the most common cause as it is very difficult for a cow to swallow when the head is elevated; inhaling smoke, gases, etc., also tend to produce pneumonia.
Symptoms.—Chilling or shivering, temperature elevated to 105° or 106° F., nose hot and dry, horns and legs cold. Pulse rapid though strong, breathing fast and the appetite very good in some cases. The animal urinates small quantities of urine but often, of a dark amber color. A discharge from the nose follows, also a cough. If the ear is placed back of the fore leg, a dry crackling sound can be heard something on the order of rubbing hair between the fingers.
Treatment.—Place the animal in a dry, well lighted and ventilated stable, but avoid drafts. Give Pulv. Iodide of Ammonia, one ounce; Pulv. Potassium Nitrate, four ounces; Pulv. Nux Vomica, four ounces; Pulv. Capsicum, one ounce; Quinine, one ounce. Mix well and make into thirty-two powders. Place one powder in gelatin capsule and administer every three or four hours with capsule gun. Supply the animal with fresh water at all times. Feed laxative food as hot wheat bran mashes or steamed rolled oats. Also feed vegetables, such as potatoes, apples, carrots and kale. It is also advisable to apply the following over the region of the lungs just back of the fore legs: Aqua Ammonia Fort., four ounces; Oil or Turpentine, four ounces; Raw Linseed Oil, six ounces. Mix and shake well and apply two or three times daily. It is also advisable to hand rub the legs and bandage them with woolen cloths.
If the above treatment is properly carried out, the animal will make a complete recovery in a week or ten days.