Absolute and prolonged rest is always followed by recovery, no internal medication being necessary, though this result is promoted by enveloping the claws in wet compresses or by using cold foot baths, etc.
CONTUSIONS OF THE SOLE.
Contusions of the sole are only seen in animals which work without shoes or in such as are badly shod.
Work on rocky ground, movement over newly metalled roads, and wounds produced by sharp stones, are the principal causes of contusion of the sole. Badly applied shoes, flat or slightly convex on their upper surfaces, may also produce bruising in the region of the sole. The anterior angle of the claw is rarely affected.
Lameness is the first symptom to attract attention. It is slightly marked, unless the bruising has been overlooked until suppuration has set in. It affects only one or two limbs, and is rarely accompanied by general disturbance, such as loss of appetite, fever, exhaustion during work, etc.
Locally the claw or claws affected are abnormally sensitive to percussion of the wall, and particularly to compression of the sole.
The parts are hot to the hand, and thinning the sole with a knife shows little perforations, irregular points and crevices in the horn. One may also find softening, infiltration and hæmorrhage within the horn similar to those of corn in the horse, undermining of the sole over limited areas, and sometimes suppuration, if the animals have been forced to work when lame.
Complications like necrosis of the velvety tissue or of the bone, though comparatively common in the horse, are rare in oxen.
Diagnosis is not difficult provided the history of the case is known. Confusion with laminitis is scarcely possible, for the gait of this lameness and the local symptoms are all different. Examination of the sole will usually dispel any remaining doubt.
Prognosis. The prognosis is favourable. When the horn is simply softened and a blackish liquid transudes, the lesion is trifling; if the discharge is reddish grey the lesion is graver, and implicates all the velvety tissue; finally, separation of the horn from the secreting membrane and the discharge of true pus point to death of the keratogenous tissue or of the bone.