Symptoms.—The discharge is yellowish or like cream and in some cases greenish. It may be discharged in clots, or of some thickness, constantly flowing, or snorted out in quantities; it may come from both nostrils, but generally only from the left. The glands under the left jaw are often fixed, hard, and painful. The membrane of the nose has a lead color. The discharge may stop for a time, and then come on again, more profuse than before. After continuing a long time, the animal becomes thin and poor, and may finally die.
Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of C.C., three times per day. It will be found quite sufficient to entirely control and finally arrest it in recent cases, and will not fail to benefit even the most inveterate.
Pleurisy, Pneumonia, Inflammation of the Chest
The pleura is the delicate serous membrane, covering the lungs with one surface, and lining the cavity of the chest with the other. Systematic writers treat of the inflammation of this membrane, Pleurisy, and that of the substance of the lungs, Pneumonia, separately. But as this rarely occurs in fact, and leads to no practical result in the treatment, and indeed can be rarely detected before death, I prefer the more practical course of treating them together. An inflammation of the lungs rarely or never remains so, but eventually involves the pleura more or less, and so an inflammation of the pleura always involves more or less extensively, the pulmonary substance.
Causes.—Catarrh, Influenza, Cold, or bronchial irritation may, either of them, terminate in this disease if neglected, or from fresh exposure. A sudden transition from heat to cold; change from a warm stable to a colder one; neglect of the usual blanketing, or even of other comforts; hard and long riding against a cold wind in snowy weather; loitering in an exposed, bleak place, when the horse is fatigued and warm, without covering. It sometimes occurs when horses are suddenly turned out to grass, or when they have been taken up and turned into a very warm stable. Injuries, contusion, rupture, or great violence done to the chest, is quite sure to be followed by Pleurisy.
Symptoms.—For conveniences sake, we will indicate the symptoms of these two branches of the disease separately. Pleurisy invariably commences with shaking all over, followed by a hot, dry mouth, white coated tongue, red nose and eyes, low spirits, want of appetite, anxious look, and hard, quick, wiry pulse. The act of drawing the air into the lungs is short, and stops, or is cut off at a certain point, at which time the pain is felt; the act of forcing the air from the lungs is full and slow. The pain is increased by coughing and taking full breath which the horse will do if suddenly moved or frightened. If the inflamed side is pressed upon, he gives forth a sound like a grunt; the cough is short; the horse remains standing; the skin on the inflamed side is thrown into folds, and twitches are occasionally seen at the same place. The painfulness of the spaces between the ribs when pressed upon, is quite characteristic, and often exists to an intense degree. The horse shrinks from it with a low grunt, and tries to get away. The skin about the sides of the nostrils and at the ends of the mouth is wrinkled. The neck is lengthened, and nose thrust forward; the horse stands in a crouching manner, and seems uneasy, but does not move. As the disease advances, the pulse becomes more frequent, and afterwards smaller, until it can scarcely be felt; the breathing becomes quicker and more painful and catching, when the air is drawn into the lungs. Then by degrees, no catch is seen or grunt heard, the twitches are not observed, cold, clammy sweats break out over the body, the horse appears dull and stupid, and death closes the scene.
The pleura, like all serous membranes, has a strong tendency to effusion, or exudation of fluid, during an inflammatory action, and in the course of the disease, this effusion, consisting of yellowish serum, is exuded, in quantities varying from a few ounces to a bucket full. It occurs in all severe cases, and the fluid either is again absorbed, if in small quantity, or is the immediate cause of death, if in very large quantity, or a lesser amount may remain for a long time, impeding respiration, and forming an empyema or dropsy of the chest. When it exists, the breathing is always labored, and there is œdema or tumid swelling of some external part, generally the abdomen, chest, or point of the breast.
By listening with the ear against the chest, the progress of the effusion may be traced from below upward. Above it will be heard the loud crackling respiration and grating peculiar to the disease; below, the dullness and stillness of the lung enveloped in fluid, the absence of sound, marks the line of the accumulated fluid, its increase and diminution.
In Pneumonia, the symptoms differ from Pleurisy, yet the difference manifests itself in this, that in Pleurisy there is more pain, and in Pneumonia more difficult breathing. Pneumonia is often a consequence of a cold, bronchitis, or the termination of some disease of the air-passages, and may begin with symptoms of a cold—rough coat, want of appetite, low spirits, etc. In other cases, it begins with a shivering chill; the legs, ears and skin are cold; the coat is rough; the nose pale and dry; quick pulse, which afterwards becomes frequent and full; breathing at first quick, then panting and heaving; the skin now becomes hot, except the legs, which remain very cold. This is a characteristic symptom and will never deceive; the nose and eyes are red; mouth hot and dry; the eyes have a yellowish color, and the horse looks uneasy and restless.
As the disease extends, the breathing becomes more difficult, and is attended with heaving of the flanks; the nostrils are much widened; the nose and head held out; the neck lengthened; the forelegs are fixed in one place, and spread apart; the nose and eyes have a dark blueish color; the face looks anxious and disturbed; the legs and ears are very cold; the legs seem fine, and the hair upon them glossy; the cough is more frequent, hard and painful; the horse seems drowsy; there is no appetite; the dung is hard and covered with slime, and the urine high-colored and scanty.