Chronic laminitis may perhaps occur in the ox as in the horse, but, as a rule, oxen are slaughtered before the disease can assume this form. In dealing with fat, or even with fairly well-nourished, oxen it would clearly be more economical to slaughter early, and so prevent wasting and the resulting loss from disease.
SAND CRACK.
Sand crack—that is to say, the occurrence of vertical fissures in the wall of the claw—is not absolutely rare in bovines. It is commonest in working oxen drawing heavy loads, though in very exceptional cases it affects animals which have never worked. (Moussu describes one case in a young ox where four sand cracks existed simultaneously.) It may also result from injuries to the coronet. In contrast to the case of the horse, and owing to the different conditions under which the ox performs its work, the disease is commoner in front than in hind feet. In drawing, the ox’s front limbs play the principal part, and the animal pivots, so to speak, on the claws of the front limbs.
The position of the crack may vary. It is commonest on the inner surface of the claw, rare at the toe, and still rarer at the quarter. It is often superficial and complete, extending throughout the entire height of the claw, but not throughout its thickness; sometimes it is complete and profound, the fissure then extending to the podophyllous tissue.
The symptoms are purely local in the case of superficial lesions. When the injury is deep seated, or when it originates in a wound of the coronet, lameness is present. Intense lameness, swelling of the coronet, and blood-stained or purulent discharge point to grave injury and probable complications.
Diagnosis is easy. The prognosis naturally varies with the symptoms. It is favourable when the fissure is merely superficial, but becomes grave when it is deep seated and the animal is exclusively used for heavy draught.
Treatment. When the lesion is superficial and unaccompanied by lameness, no surgical interference is necessary. Rest or very light work is alone required. As soon as lameness appears, rest is obligatory. The application of antiseptic poultices, containing 2½ to 3 per cent. of carbolic acid, creolin, etc., usually alleviates pain in a short time, and facilitates healing in the depth of the fissure.
In exceptional cases, where complications have occurred in consequence of suppuration beneath the fissure, suppuration in the coronary region, or necrosis of the podophyllous tissues, an operation becomes necessary, and is of exactly similar character to that performed under like circumstances in the horse.
Over a space of 1 to 1½ inches on either side of the fissure the horn is thinned “to the blood,” and the subjacent dead tissue removed. The claw is then thoroughly cleansed with some antiseptic solution, the wound freely dusted with equal parts of iodoform, tannin and boric acid, and covered with pads of tow or cotton wool, fixed in position by appropriate bandages. After such operations a long rest is essential for complete recovery, during which, however, the animal may be fattened.
The object of operation is to prevent complications, like chronic suppuration and necrosis, which would endanger the animal’s life, rather than to effect perfect restoration of usefulness for the work previously done.