Symptoms.
The horse suddenly slacks his pace, perhaps lays or falls down as if he were shot. In the stable he paws the floor with his fore feet, lays down and rolls, starts up instantly and throws himself down again with greater violence, looks wistfully at his flanks, and makes many fruitless efforts to void his urine. Here the symptoms are similar to other colics, but the true character of the disease soon develops itself.—It is in one of the large intestines, and the belly swells all round, but mostly on the right flanks and as the disease progresses the pain becomes more intense, and the horse more violent. The treatment is quite different from other colics.
Remedy No. 1.
Take 1 ounce of the chlorate of lime and ½ pint of warm water, put it into a bottle and shake well, so as to dissolve, then give it as a drench which will devour the gas, and cause the swelling to subside. If in fifteen minutes after this has been given, the pain does not seem to have been alleviated, take 4 ounces of spirits of Pimento, and 1 ounce of Laudanum, mix it with ½ pint of warm water and give it also as a drench. If you have no pimento and it is not convenient to get it, take 2½ ounces of peppermint, and 1 ounce of laudanum, and should you not have laudanum, take a larger quantity of peppermint with ½ pint of warm water, and give it as a drench. In this disease no time should be lost, as it very often runs its course in from 1 to 2 hours. If the first should not give relief in 15 or 20 minutes, repeat it until it does. Rubbing the belly with a smooth rail or pole will greatly facilitate the action of the medicine. Should you not have any of the above remedies on hand or convenient, use from 1 to 2 ounces of golden tincture as the case may require.
Remedy No. 2.
In the first place take 2 ounces of the essence of peppermint, mixed with ½ pint of warm water and give it to him as a drench, then take a bat of common raw cotton and set fire to it, holding it close to the nostrils of the horse, so that he can freely inhale the smoke arising therefrom; continue this until you see that the horse is relieved. The quantity of cotton used is from 4 to 5 bats, as the necessity of the case may require.
This is a simple and safe remedy, and numbers who have tried it say that they have never known it to fail. I saw a horse that had suffered from the colic for nearly three hours, being puffed up almost to bursting, and in half an hour after this operation had been performed on him, he was completely cured.
SPASMODIC COLIC.
This is a disease to which horses generally are subject, and in consequence of improper treatment, it often proves fatal. It is produced by improper riding, feeding, watering, and may arise from a want of proper action in the bowels, which occasions constriction of the intestines and a confinement of the air.