Unlike the true clovers and alfalfa, sweet clover seldom causes bloat; in fact, with the exception of the summer of 1915, only a few authentic cases of bloat have thus far been recorded in sections where large acreages are pastured with cattle and sheep. A number of cases of bloat wore reported in Iowa during the abnormally wet season of 1915. No satisfactory explanation for this comparative freedom from bloating has been offered. It is held by some that the coumarin in the plants prevents bloating, but this has not been established experimentally.
TREATMENT FOR BLOAT.
Cattle.—If the case of bloat is not extreme, it may be sufficient to drive the animals at a walk for a quarter or half an hour. In urgent cases the gas must be allowed to escape without delay, and this is best accomplished by the use of the trocar. In selecting the place for using the trocar, the highest point of the distended flank equally distant from the last rib and the point of the hip must be chosen. Here an incision about three-fourths of an inch long should be made with a knife through the skin, and then the sharp point of the trocar, being directed downward, inward, and slightly forward, is thrust into the paunch. The sheath of the trocar should be left in the paunch as long as any gas continues to issue from it. In the absence of a trocar an incision may be made with a small-bladed knife and a quill used to permit the gas to escape. Care must be taken to see that the quill does not work down out of sight into the incision.
Another remedy consists in tying a large bit, the diameter of a pitchfork handle, in the mouth, so that a piece of rubber tubing may be passed through the mouth to the first stomach to allow the gas to escape.
When the animal is not distressed and the swelling of the flank is not great, or when the most distressing condition has been removed by the use of the trocar, it is best to administer internal medicine. Two ounces of aromatic spirits of ammonia should be given every half hour in a quart of cold water, or half an ounce of chlorid of lime may be dissolved in a pint of tepid water and the dose repeated every half hour until the bloating has subsided.[6]
[6] See "Diseases of Cattle," a special report of the Bureau of Animal Industry.
For acute bloating the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station recommends 1 quart of a 11/2 per cent solution of formalin, followed by placing a wooden block in the animal's mouth and by gentle exercise if the animal can be gotten up.
Sheep.—Gas may be removed quickly from bloated sheep by using a small trocar. The seat of the operation is on the most prominent portion of the left flank.