Prevention. Precautions against overcrowding on board ship in hot seasons, and the maintenance of cleanliness are prime considerations. In commissariat herds close crowding must be avoided, feeding should be done at different points for six or eight cattle at each, the yards should be frequently changed, or carefully cleared of manure and sprinkled with a solution of 3 per cent. sulphuric acid. In case an animal is attacked it should at once be removed and killed, and its offal and the yard where it has been, disinfected. Food and drinking water should be specially wholesome.
Treatment. Mild cases may be successfully treated by the use of mucilaginous draughts, (boiled flaxseed, mallow, slippery elm, gum arabic) with antiseptics (salicylic acid or salicylate of soda 2 to 3 drs., salol 1 dr., creosote 1 dr., sulphate or chloride of iron 1 dr.) every three hours.
In the more severe cases the most varied treatment has been resorted to. Formerly opiates and astringents were largely employed, practically shutting up the poison in the intestine. Ipecacuan in large and frequently repeated doses had the advantage of soliciting the action of both liver and bowels, but however useful, it has gradually declined in public confidence.
An eliminating and antiseptic treatment has at present the most general acceptance. Seven grains of calomel has been given every two hours for two or three days in succession. Still more recently 2 to 4 ozs. sulphate of soda every three hours with hot water and antiseptics (salicylates, sulphites, salol, boric acid, creolin, naphthol) have been substituted. Even more important is the washing out of the large intestine by antiseptic enemata. These should be very copious and frequently repeated so as not only to render the contents of the rectum and colon antiseptic but to secure the discharge of the offensive matters as they are produced. The agents may be glycerine, carbolic acid, creolin, sulphate of iron, nitrate of silver, salicylic or boric acid. If the animal can be made to stand on an inclined plane with its hind parts elevated it will favor the penetration and retention of the liquid. Perfect rest is a most important accessory.
In case of recovery the return to ordinary diet should be gradual.
CATARRHAL ENTERITIS IN SHEEP AND GOAT.
Causes: Symptoms: Moping apart, inappetence, tympany, hard masses in rumen, constipation, colics, straining, stretching, fever, no rumbling nor defecation, diarrhœa, critical, or exhaustive. Treatment: Laxative, antiseptic, counter-irritant, demulcent antiseptic injections, in diarrhœa antiseptics, carminatives, bitters, diet, well boiled farinas.
Causes. These are unknown apart from those given for the ox.
Symptoms. Moping alone in place of following the flock, inappetence, suspended rumination, tympany, hard masses in the rumen, cold ears, horns and limbs, obstinate constipation, weary movements of the hind limbs, lying down and rising, looking at the flanks, and tenderness of the right side of the abdomen, frequent straining, stretching, hyperthermia, rapid pulse, and suppression of movement and rumbling in the bowels are prominent symptoms. The constipation may be followed by diarrhœa, which may presage recovery or hasten death, the symptoms of improvement or aggravation indicating which. The diarrhœa may be simply serous or mucopurulent and inoffensive or it may be black, bloodstained and fœtid. It may cause extensive losses, with pathological changes as in the ox.
Treatment in the early stages with inactive bowels, must be laxative and antiseptic, sodic sulphate 4 ounces with 1 drachm chloral hydrate in a quart of warm water will serve to largely expel offensive ingesta and bacterial ferments and pave the way for recovery. A counter-irritant of aqua ammonia to the abdomen, under the wool, will have a good effect, and soapy or mucilaginous and antiseptic injections are desirable.