This disease may be caused by exposure to cold and wet; too severe weather; sudden changes of weather; cold nights and mornings and hot middays, are apt to induce it.
Symptoms.—Want of appetite; loss of the cud; dull, staring eyes; ears are hung down; the head is held up; the mouth open; breathing quick, labored and difficult, with heaving of the flanks; grating of the teeth; inside of the nose and white of the eyes much reddened; a discharge, at first thin and watery, afterwards mattery and offensive, flows from the nostrils; frequent painful cough, attended with rattling in the throat. These symptoms gradually become more and more severe, until the animal dies.
Treatment.—The A.A., will generally be found sufficient. Give a dose of five drops every two hours. Should the disease not yield in a day or two, the E.E., in doses of five drops, may be alternated with the A.A., every three hours.
CHAPTER IV.—Part III.
DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF DIGESTION
Tympanitis—Hoove—Blown—Maw Bound
This disorder—is of two kinds; one due to the evolution of gas from the food taken, the other to the impaction of the food. In one case the gas produces enormous inflation of the rumen, or first of the four stomachs possessed by sheep, in the other, distention.
| DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DISTENTION FROM GAS AND FOOD | |
|---|---|
| DISTENTION FROM GAS | DISTENTION FROM IMPACTED FOOD |
| The left flank, on pressure, feels soft, elastic and yielding to the fingers. On percussion, sound hollow and drum-like. | The left flank, on pressure, feels solid; does not yield readily to the fingers. On percussion, or on being struck, sound dull. |
| Frequent belching; the wind which escapes has an offensive smell. | No belching or eructation of wind. |
| Respiration quick, short and puffing. | Respiration not much interfered with. |
| Position standing; head stretched forward, unable to move; moans, and appears in great distress; eyes red and staring. | Position lying down, and is with difficulty induced to move; looking dull and listless. |
Treatment.—This is the same whether the distention is from gas or impacted food. F.F. may be given, a dose every quarter or half hour. We give the method of puncturing, which, however, need never be resorted to if the F.F. be administered.
Puncturing.—Relief is sometimes very urgently required, and this is best afforded either by plunging a trocar into the left side, or by passing a probang down the œsophagus into the paunch. If the trocar is used, let the canula on the instrument be ten or twelve inches long, so as to prevent the paunch from slipping away from the canula and causing delay, and perhaps further danger. Chloride of Lime is valuable after the animal is somewhat relieved by the use of the trocar; about two drachms should be mixed with a quart of water. In case of immediate relief being imperative, and a trocar not being at hand, a long, sharp pointed pen-knife may be used for puncturing. The place for puncturing is midway between the hip and ribs, where the distended rumen is prominent; the direction is inward and downward. The puncture will be followed by an outrush of gas, fluid, and even portions of food. A quill, or some other tube, must be ready to be inserted in the hole immediately after the knife is withdrawn, otherwise the wound will close. If nothing tubular be at hand, a smooth piece of stick must be put in, or anything else that will serve the purpose of keeping open the wound till the gas has escaped. The danger of this operation is not from the wound itself, but from the escape of the contents of the paunch into the abdomen, which would cause peritonitis, or from piercing the spleen or kidney. The operation can only be regarded as a rough one, to be adopted in case of great emergency.
When distention has ceased and matters have to some extent resumed their ordinary course, the animal should remain some hours without food or water. The food afterwards should be sparing and suitable.