The diseases most to be dreaded are garget, puerperal or milk fever, and idiopathic or common fever, commonly called “horn ail,” and often “tail ail.”
Garget
is an inflammation of the internal substance of the udder. One or more of the teats, or whole sections of the udder, become enlarged and thickened, hot, tender, and painful. The milk coägulates in the bag, and causes inflammation where it is deposited, which is accompanied by fever. It most commonly occurs in young cows after calving, especially when in too high condition. The secretion of milk is very much lessened, and, in very had cases, stopped altogether. Sometimes the milk is thick, and mixed with blood. Often, also, in severe cases, the hind extremities, as the hip-joint, hock, or fetlock, are swollen and inflamed to such an extent that the animal cannot rise. The simplest remedy, in mild cases, is to put the calf to its mother several times a day. This will remove the flow of milk, and often dispel the congestion.
Sometimes the udder is so much swollen that the cow will not permit the calf to suck. If the fever increases, the appetite declines, and rumination ceases. In this stage of the complaint, the advice of a scientific veterinary practitioner is required. A dose of purging medicine and frequent washing of the udder, in mild cases, are usually successful. The physic should consist of Epsom salts one pound, ginger half an ounce, nitrate of potassa half an ounce; dissolved in a quart of boiling water; then add a gill of molasses, and give to the cow lukewarm. Diet moderate; that is, on bran, or if in summer green food. There are various medicines for the different forms and stages of garget, which, if the above medicine fails, can be properly prescribed only by a skilful veterinary practitioner.
It is important that the udder should be frequently examined, as matter may be forming, which should be immediately released. Various causes are assigned for this disease, such as exposure to cold and wet, or the want of proper care or attention in parturition.
An able writer, Mr. Youatt, says that hasty drying up a cow often gives rise to inflammation and indurations of the udder, difficult of removal. Sometimes a cow lies down upon and bruises the udder, and this is another cause. But a very frequent source, and one for which there can be no excuse, is the failure to milk a cow clean. The calf should be allowed to suck often, and the cow should be milked at least twice a day as clean as possible, while suffering from this complaint.
If the udder is hot and feverish, a wash may be used, consisting of eight ounces of vinegar and two ounces of camphoretted spirit; the whole well and thoroughly mixed, and applied just after milking, to be washed off in warm water before milking again.
In very bad cases, iodine has often been found most effectual. An iodine ointment may be prepared by taking one drachm of hydriodate of potash and an ounce of lard, and mixing them well together. A small portion of the mixture, from the size of a pigeon’s egg, in limited inflammations, to twice that amount, is to be well rubbed into the swollen part, morning and night.
When milk forms in the bag before parturition, so as to cause a swelling of the udder, it should be milked away; and a neglect of this precaution often leads to violent attacks of garget.
Prevention is always better than cure. The reason most commonly given for letting the cow run dry for a month or two before calving is that after a long period of milking her system requires rest, and that she will give more milk and do better the coming season than if milked up to the time of calving.