Symptoms. These do not differ from those of the horse, and resemble, though often in a milder form, the buccal manifestations of aphthous fever. There is the difficulty of mastication and indisposition to take in fibrous aliment, the drivelling of saliva from the mouth, or its accumulation in froth around the lips, the frequent movement of the tongue and jaws, and the congestive redness, papular eruption, vesication, or even erosion of the affected mucous membrane. It is always necessary to guard against confounding the simple stomatitis, and the slighter infected inflammations, from the more violent infections above referred to. The special diagnostic symptoms must be found under the respective headings. The aphthous fever is not to be expected in American herds, but the stomatitis which is associated with ergot in the food is met more particularly in winter and spring, and must not be confounded with the specific disease, on the one hand nor with the simpler forms of buccal inflammation on the other. In the case of ergoted fodder the signs of ergotism in other situations will be found, in the affected animals, such for example as necrotic sloughs and sores around the top of the hoof, sloughing of the hoof or of one or more digits, or of the metatarsus, of the tip of the tail or ear; abortions, convulsions, delirium, lethargy or paralysis. If not seen in the same animals some of these forms may be observed in other members of the herd. Then the buccal lesions are in themselves characteristic: soft, whitish, raised patches of the epithelium (rarely blisters) are followed by desquamation and exposure of the red, vascular surface beneath, and this tends to persist if the ergoted fodder is persisted in.
Treatment. Simple stomatitis of the ox generally tends to spontaneous and early recovery. The simplest astringent and antiseptic treatment is usually sufficient to bring about a healthy action. Borax given in the drinking water, not to exceed four ounces per day, or the same amount mixed with syrup or honey and smeared occasionally on the tongue, or hyposulphite or sulphite of soda, or weak solutions of carbolic acid will usually suffice, after the irritant cause has been removed. Vinegar, or highly diluted mineral acids may be used but are somewhat hurtful to the teeth. Decoctions of blackberry bark or solutions of other vegetable astringents may be used as alternatives. When there is evidence of irritant matters in the stomach or bowels, a saline laxative will be advisable to be followed by vegetable bitters or other tonics. Thorns and other foreign bodies imbedded in the tongue or other part of the mouth must be discovered and removed.
CATARRHAL STOMATITIS IN SHEEP.
The more delicate buccal mucosa in these animals would render them more subject to inflammations, but this is more than counterbalanced by the mode of prehension of aliments, not by the tongue, but by the delicately sensitive lips, and further by the daintiness and care with which these animals select their food. The treatment would not differ materially from that prescribed for the ox.
GENERAL CATARRHAL STOMATITIS IN DOGS.
Causes: burns; spiced food; bones; sepsis; ferments; pin caterpillar; dental and gastric troubles. Symptoms: careful prehension and mastication; congestion; swelling; eruption; erosion; furred tongue; stringy salivation; fœtor; swelling of lips, cheeks, intermaxillary space, and pharynx. Treatment: demulcent foods; antiseptics; derivatives; tonics; care of teeth and gums.
Causes. Hot food is a common cause in hungry dogs. Spiced food in house dogs fed scraps from the table tend to congestion of mouth and stomach alike. Irritation through wounds with bones, especially in old dogs with failing teeth, and in exceptional cases the impaction of a bone between the right and left upper molars are additional causes. Putrid meat must also be recognized as a factor, the septic microbes seizing upon the wounds and spreading from this as an infecting centre. Lactic acid and other irritant products developed through fermentation of particles of food retained about the gums and cheeks soften the epithelium and irritate the sub-epithelial tissue, causing congestion. Megnin draws attention to the fact that the pin caterpillar (bombyx pinivora) found on the stalks of couch grass (Triticum repeus) produces buccal irritation when chewed and swallowed to induce vomiting. As in other animals more or less buccal congestion attends on gastric congestion and inflammation. Dental troubles are often sufficient causes.
Symptoms. The animal becomes dainty with regard to his food, picking up the smaller or softer pieces and rejecting the larger or harder. Mastication is painful and selection is made of moist or soft articles which can be swallowed without chewing or insalivation. The mouth is red and hot, and at times the mucous membrane eroded, or blistered, the lesions concentrating especially on the gums and around the borders of the tongue. The dorsum of the tongue is furred, whitish, yellowish or brownish. Saliva collects in the mouth and escapes in filmy strings from its commissures, and the odor of the mouth becomes increasingly foul. Swelling of the lips, cheeks or intermaxillary space marks the worst cases.
Treatment. Withdraw all irritant and offensive aliments. Give soups, mushes, scraped or pounded lean meat in small quantities, washing out the mouth after each meal with a 20 per cent. solution of permanganate of potash or borax or a two per cent. solution of carbolic acid. Cadeac advises against chlorate of potash on account of its known tendency to bring about hæmoglobinæmia in dogs. A laxative and bitters may be called for in case of gastritis or indigestion, and any morbid condition of the teeth must be attended to. Decayed teeth may be removed. Tartar especially must be cleaned off by the aid of a small wooden or even a steel spud and a hard brush with chalk will be useful. A weak solution of hydrochloric acid is usually employed to loosen the tartar, but this is injurious to the structure of the teeth and had best be avoided if possible. Tincture of myrrh is especially valuable both as a gum-tonic and as a deodorant and antiseptic. This may be rubbed on the irritated gums as often as the mouth is washed.