Common Diseases of Farm Animals

by Robert Alexander Craig

The following exciting causes may be mentioned: Sudden changes in ration; feeding too much green feed or grain; feeding frozen or decomposed feeds; drinking ice-cold water; and violent exercise or work that the animal is not accustomed to, immediately after feeding are the common disease-producing factors.

The symptoms may vary from impaired appetite and slight restlessness to violent, colicky pains. In the large majority of cases the attendant is unable to differentiate between this and other forms of acute indigestion. The characteristic symptoms are attempts at regurgitation and vomiting, assuming a dog-sitting position and finally such nervous symptoms as champing of the jaws, staggering movement and extreme dulness.

The violent form of gastric indigestion frequently ends in death. Rupture of the stomach is not an uncommon complication (Fig. 12).

[Illustration: FIG. 12.—Rupture of stomach of horse.]

The treatment is both preventive and medicinal. This digestive disorder can be prevented. The feeding of the right kind of a ration and in the right way, and avoiding conditions that may interfere with the digestion of the feed, are the general lines of preventive treatment indicated. Such measures are of special importance in the handling of animals that possess an individual predisposition toward this class of disease. In mild attacks the animal should be subjected to a rigid or careful diet during the attack and for a few days later.

It is advisable to place the animal in a comfortable stall that is well bedded with straw and plenty large for it to move about in. If a roomy sick-stall can not be provided, a grass lot or barn floor may be used. If the weather is chilly or cold, the body should be covered with a blanket and roller bandages applied to the limbs.

Bulky drenches should not be given. Stimulants and drugs capable of retarding fermentation are indicated. Sometimes the administration of a sedative is indicated. Treatment should be prompt, as in many cases fermentation of the contents of the stomach occurs and gases form rapidly. From two to four ounces of oil of turpentine may be given in from six to eight ounces of linseed oil.

ACUTE INDIGESTION OF THE STOMACH OF RUMINANTS.—The different forms of acute indigestion are bloating, overloading of the rumen and impaction of the omasum.

TYMPANITES, "BLOATING."—This disorder is usually caused by animals feeding on green feeds, such as clover, alfalfa and green corn, that ferment readily. Stormy, rainy weather seems to favor bloating. The consumption of spoiled feeds such as potatoes and beets may cause it. The drinking of a large quantity of water, especially if cold, chills the wall of the rumen and interferes with its movement. Frozen feeds may act in the same way. Sudden changes in the feed, inflammation of the rumen, and a weak peristaltic movement of the paunch resulting from disease or insufficient nourishment are frequent causes. It may occur in chronic disease. In tuberculosis, bloating sometimes occurs.

The symptoms are as follows: The paunch or rumen occupies the left side of the abdominal cavity, hence the distention of the abdominal wall by the collecting of gas in the rumen occurs principally on that side. The gas forms quickly and the distended wall is highly elastic and resonant. The animal stops eating and ruminating, the back may be arched and the ears droop. In the more severe cases the wall of the abdomen is distended on both sides, the respirations are quickened and labored, the pulse small and quick, the eyes are prominent and the mucous membrane congested. Death results from asphyxia brought on by the distended paunch pushing forward and interfering with the movement of the lungs and the absorption of the poisonous gases.