Highly-bred horses are cared for from the moment of their birth. Up to a certain period—varying in different parts of the country and in different animals—the colt is allowed to roam the field. All at once, however, it is taken up, and its education commences. From the dew, and from the grass under its feet and within its mouth, the colt is suddenly removed to dry food, and is imprisoned inside a hot and fetid stable. Nature rebels against such treatment. The strangles is the consequence, after which the poor captive becomes better adapted to its unnatural situation.
THE HEAD OF A HORSE WITH STRANGLES.
Strangles is ushered in by slight general indisposition, which, however, does not pass away. Sickness rather hovers over the colt than plumps directly upon it. The animal is then, in stable phraseology, "breeding strangles." After a few days, a stiffness of the neck is conspicuous; subsequently an enlargement can be perceived. It is, at first, very hard, hot, and tender. A discharge from the nose appears. The symptoms of general disease become aggravated. The throat is sore; the breathing is oppressed; the discharge is copious; the coat stares; the appetite is lost; the creature stands, with eyes half closed, the picture of mute distress.
At length the tumor softens. It becomes prominent at a particular spot. Upon this place the surgeon makes an incision. A pint or more of pus escapes, and the animal quickly recovers.
Such is the history of a case of strangles, as the disorder generally develops itself. Of course it will vary in degree, though in every instance a sufficient similarity will be apparent to guide the student.
With regard to treatment: never purge or bleed a colt when it exhibits a dubious sickness. It may be "breeding strangles," and the strength then will be needed to cast off the disease. Give all the nourishment the animal can imbibe. If food should be rejected, whitened water, or boiling water into which some flour has been stirred, or thin gruel, is useful for that purpose. A little green-meat is generally relished. But, if the colt is not frightened at the approach of a stranger, the food should be offered, little at a time, by the hand—not forked into the rack or cast upon the ground, for the animal to breathe upon and then turn from with disgust. Corn, crushed and scalded, may be allowed, if it can be eaten. No grooming must annoy the feverish body; the clothing must be light; the bed should be ample, and scrupulously clean; the loose box ought to be large, perfectly well drained, with every door and window open during the day, and only partly closed at night.
Some persons blister the abscess, and then apply a poultice over the blistered part: to this practice the author objects. In the first place, sufficient friction cannot be employed to insure the effects of a blister. In the second place, a blister is said to be endowed with the properties of bringing forward or of dispersing a tumor. In strangles, one of these processes alone is desirable, the dispersion being much to be dreaded. In the third place, though oil and water are in their natures antagonistic, yet water will creep through a coating of oil, and warm water, especially, thickens the cuticle. This action may possibly prevent the vesicatory from reaching the cutis, should the emollient be applied immediately after the blister. In the last place, the weight of the poultice is likely to stretch the cloth in which it is applied; when, being removed from the skin, the cold air of course finds its way between the poultice and the tumor. Cold is not desirable where we seek to promote suppuration; but cold is increased by damping a surface, and allowing it to be swept by a current of air. Evaporation then takes place, and the warmth is decreased by many degrees.
The writer prefers gently stimulating with the following mixture:—
| Spirits of turpentine | Two parts. |
| Laudanum | One part. |
| Spirits of camphor | One part. |