Abscesses of the lung sometimes form during the course of or subsequent to tuberculosis or other diseases. An animal affected with abscess of the lung usually has a protracted, feeble cough and a general appearance of emaciation and anemia. The pulse is feeble and the breath foul. An offensive discharge from the lungs frequently occurs. Percussion and auscultation aid in making a diagnosis in this condition. The appetite is poor. Such animals go from bad to worse, and their prompt destruction would, as a rule, be to the interest of the owner.
HYDROTHORAX.
Hydrothorax, or dropsy of the chest, is not a disease in itself, but is simply a condition in which an effusion takes place in the chest cavity, and is the result or effect of some disease, mostly pleurisy. It can be easily diagnosed by physical signs. A loss of the respiratory murmur will be noticed on auscultation, and on percussion dullness or flatness on a line as high as the effusion has taken place. When a large amount of effusion is present, tapping with the trocar and cannula is generally resorted to. The proper method of performing this operation will be found under the head of "Pleurisy."
PNEUMOTHORAX.
An accumulation of gas in the pleural sac is known as pneumothorax. The presence of air may result from either an injury of the lung or a wound communicating from the exterior. The indications for treatment are to remove any foreign body that may have penetrated, to exclude the further entrance of the air into the cavity by the closure of the external opening, and to employ antiseptics and adhesive dressings. The air already in the cavity will in most cases be absorbed.
VERMINOUS BRONCHITIS.
This is a disease that sometimes attacks young cattle when pastured in low-lying meadows near rivers subject to flood. It is caused by a small worm, Strongylus micrurus, which lodges in large numbers in the trachea and bronchial tubes, giving rise to considerable irritation of the air passages and inflammation. Sometimes the strongyles lodge in large numbers in the windpipe, forming themselves into a ball, and thus choke the animal to death.
Symptoms.—It is liable to attack a number of animals at once, and the weakest are the first to give way. The animal has a remarkably forcible cough, distressing, and of a special hacking and paroxysmal character. A stringy mucus is sometimes expelled during the spells of coughing. This mucus contains the Strongylus micrurus, which can be detected, or their ova observed, under a low power of the microscope. The attack has a subacute character and is very exhausting. The parasites, by becoming entwined in balls, seriously impede respiration, which is always remarkably labored in this disease.
Treatment.—The affected calves should be placed in a dry stable, protected from dampness, and subjected to fumigations of sulphurous anhydrid or chlorin gas. The liberation of chlorin gas is brought about by the action of sulphuric acid, either on a mixture of chlorid of sodium and black oxid of manganese or on bleaching powder. Sulphurous anhydrid may be procured by burning sulphur. Some practitioners prescribe small doses of spirits of turpentine in linseed oil. The system requires good support, and the diet should therefore be liberal and nutritious. Equal parts of sulphate of iron, gentian, and ginger make an excellent tonic.
Prevention.—Avoid pastures notorious for generating verminous bronchitis.