1. Detachment of the horn or sheath.
2. Laceration:—
(a) Of the horny sheath alone. (b) Of the horny sheath and of the horn core. (c) Of the horn core alone, the horny sheath remaining intact.
3. Fractures:—
(a) Of the terminal half of the horn. (b) Of the lower half. (c) Of the base.
DETACHMENT OF THE HORNS.
When the yoke is badly fitted or padded, it is liable to cause a continual strain or a succession of shocks producing chronic inflammation of the keratogenous membrane. Should the end of the horn then be struck heavily, it is quite possible that the horn will either partially or wholly be detached. In this case it falls away without there necessarily being any important lesion of the horn core.
Such accidents are not infrequently caused by the driver striking the ox on the horn with the yoke in order to keep it quiet while it is being harnessed.
The prognosis of this condition is not grave, except for the fact that working animals cannot be used until the horn is completely regrown.
The treatment simply consists in thoroughly cleansing and disinfecting the horn core and then applying a protective dressing. The bony basis is surrounded with a mass of tow saturated with an antiseptic solution, like 2 per cent. creolin or carbolic acid solution, which is kept in position by a spiral bandage passed around the horn, and secured in a figure of 8 on the opposite horn. Instead of applying such a dressing, some practitioners content themselves with using an antiseptic ointment or even a simple dressing of tar.