Fig. 16.—A drenching tube made from an ordinary tin funnel, a piece of rubber hose, and a piece of brass pipe.
The position on all fours is preferred by some authorities, who believe that more of the remedy is likely to reach the fourth stomach when the animal is dosed standing than when dosed in other positions.
Great care should be used in dosing to prevent the entrance of the liquid into the lungs, and in the preparation and administration of the remedy to avoid getting the solution too strong or the dose too large.
Bluestone, or copper sulphate, has been extensively used in South Africa in the treatment of sheep and cattle for stomach worms and is recommended by the colonial veterinary surgeon of the Cape Colony as the best and safest remedy. To prepare the solution take 1 pound (avoirdupois) of pure bluestone, powder it fine, and dissolve in 9½ gallons of warm water. It is better first to dissolve the bluestone in 2 or 3 quarts of boiling water, then add the remaining quantity of cold water, and mix thoroughly. This solution may be given to cattle in the following-sized doses:
| Calves | 3½ to 4 fluid ounces. |
| Yearlings | 6 fluid ounces. |
| Two-year-olds and over | 12 to 16 fluid ounces. |
In making up the solution only clear blue crystals of bluestone should be used. Bluestone with white patches or crusts should be rejected. It is especially important that the bluestone and water be accurately weighed and measured, and that the size of the dose be graduated according to the age of the animal.
The special value of medicated salts advertised under various trade names as preventives against worms is problematical. Commonly they contain little else than ordinary salt, the other substances being in such small quantity that their therapeutic effect is practically negligible. Definite evidence that they are more efficacious than plain salt is not yet available and their use is not recommended.
THE ENCYSTED STOMACH WORM (OSTERTAGIA OSTERTAGI).
