The horse should be given a roomy, comfortable stall that is well bedded, or a clean grass lot. If the attack appears when the animal is in harness, we should stop working it and remove the harness immediately. Work or exercise usually aggravates the case and may cause congestion and inflammation of important body organs. In cold weather the animal should be protected by blankets. If the pain is violent, sedatives may be given. The gaseous disturbances should be relieved by puncturing the wall of the intestine with the trocar and cannula. Rectal injections of cold water may be resorted to. Fluid extract of cannabis indica in quarter ounce doses and repeated in one hour may be given in linseed oil. In all cases it is advisable to drench the animal with one pint of raw linseed oil and two ounces of turpentine. Strychnine, eserine and pilocarpine are the drugs commonly used by the veterinarians in the treatment of acute indigestion. Small and repeated doses of the above drugs are preferred to large doses. This is one of the diseases that requires prompt and skilled attention.
Sharp, uneven or diseased teeth should receive the necessary attention. In old horses, chopped hay or ground feeds should be fed when necessary. Debility resulting from hard work, wrong methods of feeding and intestinal disorders must be corrected before the periodic attacks of indigestion can be relieved. If the presence of intestinal worms is suspected, the necessary treatment for ridding the animal of these parasites should be resorted to.
Bitter or saline tonics should be administered in the feed when necessary. The following formula is useful as a digestive tonic: Sodium bicarbonate and sodium sulfate, one pound of each, powdered gentian one-half pound, and oil meal five pounds. A small handful of this mixture may be given with the feed two or three times daily.
INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES.—The same causes mentioned in inflammation of the stomach and acute indigestion may cause this disease. It is most frequent at times when there are great variations in the temperature. Sudden cold or any influence that chills the surface of the body, or internal cold caused by drinking ice water or eating frozen feed, may cause it. The infectious forms of enteritis are caused by germs and ptomaines in the feed. Drinking filthy water or eating spoiled, mouldy feeds are common causes. In cattle pasturing in low, marshy places, enteritis may be common. The toxic form is caused by irritating poisons, such as caustic acids, alkalies and meat brine.
In the mild form of enteritis the appetite is irregular, the animal acts dull and stupid and may be noticed lying down more than common. Slight abdominal pains occur, especially following a meal. An elevation in the body temperature may be noted and the animal may drink more water than usual. Constipation or a slight diarrhoea may be present. The feces may be soft and foul smelling, coated with mucus, and slightly discolored with blood.
In the severe form of enteritis pressure on the abdomen may cause pain, the respiration and pulse beats are quickened and the body temperature is elevated. The abdominal pain may be severe and the animal is greatly depressed or acts dull. The movement of the intestines is suppressed at first and constipation occurs. Fermentation and the formation of gas may take place. Later the intestinal peristalsis increases and a foul-smelling diarrhoea sets in that is often mixed with blood. In the toxic form there may be marked nervous symptoms. Spasms, convulsions, stupefaction and coma may be manifested.
In the mild form recovery usually occurs within a few days. The more serious forms of the disease do not terminate so favorably. In the toxic form death usually occurs within a few days.
The large majority of cases of enteritis can be prevented by practising the necessary preventive measures. It is very necessary that animals exposed to cold be provided with dry sleeping quarters that are free from draughts. Where a number of animals are fed a heavy grain ration, or fed from the same trough, they should be kept under close observation. This is necessary in order to detect cases of indigestion or overfeeding early, and resort to the necessary lines of treatment, so as to prevent further irritation to the intestinal tract. Live stock should not be forced to drink water that is ice-cold. Low, poorly-drained land is not a safe pasture for cattle and horses. Spoiled roots, grains and silage, mouldy, dirty roughage and decomposed slops should not be fed to live stock.
The treatment consists in withholding all feed and giving the animal comfortable, quiet quarters—warm quarters and protection from the cold, providing the animal with a heavy straw bed, or with blankets if necessary, if the weather is cold. From five to forty grains of calomel may be given, depending upon the size of the animal and the frequency of the dose, two or three times a day. In case the animal is suffering severe pain, morphine given hypodermically may be indicated. In the mild form and at the very beginning of the attack, linseed oil may be administered to the larger animals. The dose is about one quart. The smaller animals may be given castor oil in from one- to four-ounce doses.
When convalescence is reached the animal should be fed very carefully, as the digestive tract is not in condition to digest heavy rations or feeds that ferment readily.