Cause.—Although the pig may look well, he has a weakness of the circular fibres of the intestines, due to irritating foods that either constipate or produce diarrhoea.
Symptoms.—Very plain. A protrusion of the rectum all the way from two to four inches. The pig irritates the protrusion by rubbing it against the sides of pens, etc.; it cracks, bleeds and in warm weather will become fly-blown and maggots accumulate in large quantities.
Treatment.—In the first stages of this disease, wash the protruded parts with an antiseptic solution of Carbolic Acid, one teaspoonful to a pint of water. Give rectal injections of Soap and Warm Water or Sweet Oil, give about two ounces of Castor Oil internally and feed soft, sloppy food. In chronic cases of long standing, remove the exposed portion of the intestine after washing nicely with the antiseptic solution. Remove the protrusion with a sharp knife and stitch the cut end of intestine edges to the anus. Feed easily digested food, such as wheat bran, mixed with flaxseed meal on which boiling hot water has been poured, cooling before feeding. Also give regulator and tonic as prescribed on first page of this chapter.
PIN WORMS.
Cause.—Hogs consume the eggs that encapsule well matured embryonic worms with their food or drinking water. These worms multiply very rapidly in the small intestines and are from one-half to one inch in length.
Symptoms.—No signs are noticed unless the worms are very abundant, as they are small and difficult to see with the naked eye. The principal point of attack is in the back part of the small intestines, where considerable inflammation is set up, especially when there are other worms, such as the Roundworm, present.
Treatment.—Is of little value, as the worms in the intestines are very difficult to get at, but as their presence causes very little disturbance, it is hardly worth while treating; however, preventive measures should be applied by disinfecting, burning manure and bedding.
The following has proven a very effective treatment for Pinworms: Powdered Quassia, one pound; Sulphur, two pounds; Glauber Salts, one pound; Powdered Tobacco, one-half pound; Sulphide of Antimony, one pound; Hyposulphite of Soda, two pounds; Beechwood Charcoal, one pound; Common Salt, two pounds.
The above must be well powdered and thoroughly mixed. Give one heaping teaspoonful to every one hundred pounds of hog weight. To small pigs, give doses in proportion to weight. Place it in their feed or slop twice a day. In addition to being a vermifuge, it is an alterative and tonic that should be given pigs and hogs which do not thrive properly. Best results are obtained in treatment of Pinworm when the principal food consists of vegetables, mashes and slops.