Grass-Ill in Cattle

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THE VETERINARY JOUR r AL

in front of the inguin al ring incision, for a bout t\ in ches. The left arm was introduced into t he a bdomen through this incision, and the intestines were fin ally go t into the a bdomin a l cav ity by trac tion with the left hand from t he inside a nd by careful as ista nce from th e outside by t he right. The internal ring was sutured with "continuous ,. sutures, as also was the parietal pe ri toneum a nd ot her structures. except the skin of the in cision fur t her forward . Very strong a nd thick silk was used . Two rows of sutures were put into th e scrotum of the interrupted type, as well as in th e skin of the abdominal wall II1 Cl SlOn .

Careful dieting was ordered, and no furt her treatment adopted other tha n giving an aperient and taking ou t the superficial sutures . .'\. qua nti ty of blood was passed with the feeces for a few days. It was a fortnight before the bullock reall y showed definite signs of recovery, but he has been norm al now for seve ral wee ks. The most interesting feature in this case, a nd the reason for rep orting it , is the fact that a lapa rotom y t hrough the inferiOl' a bdomin al wa ll is possible in a bovine of th e age of this subj ect.

Grass .. Ill in Cattle. By WM. T. HEWETSON, M.R. C.Y.S., Brampton , Cumberland. GENERAL.-Grass-ill in cattle m ay be defi ned as an acute or subac u te disease, affecting p rincipally young cattle from ] 2 m onths to three years old, characterised by partial or comple te paralysis of the intestinal tract, by constipation a nd by great prostra ti on. It frequently occurs among Irish cattle in th e ea rl y spring shortly after they a re released from quara ntine. I ri sh ca ttle may be predisposed to t he complai nt since t heir li vers are often affec ted with cirrhosis; it also occurs in Shorthorns, b ut seldom in Gall oway cattle. T be disease is met wi th in t he earl y spring when the weather is cold a nd wet , a nd when the wind is from t he east or north. The a nimals a re more sub ject wh en t hey a re out of their hair and exposed to the above conditions wi th li t tle or no sl1E'lter. Generally speaking, the symptoms in cattle a rc som ewh a t simila r to t ho e observed in the same d isease in the horse a nn acute and sub-acute form s a re recognised . SYMPToMs.-·Ac utc fo rm. The animal appears fuller th an normal, look dull a nd is listless. There is little or no appetite, rumination is suspended , and saliva drops from t he mouth . The re is evidence of consti pation , a nd on in troducing t he fi ngers into the rectum, this organ is found to be empty and dry. At this time, howev er, a small ba ll of mucous m a ~; be pa5sed . Th e tempera ture varies from sub-

GRASS- ILL 11\ CATTLE

7!')

normal to as high as 105 0 F ., but the extremities are often foum} to be colo. To an ordinary ohserve r th e pati ent may not at first appear to be seriously ill , since the breathing at the outset is practically normal, there is no grunt ano th e eye is full and bright. Later on a moan develops with each breath, the eye sinks in the orbit , a nd the ' ~ xtre miti es a nd insidl) of the mouth becomp- deathly colo. Grinding of the teeth and muscular tremors are frequently observed at this stage. Shonld th e subject be a mi lk row, the first symptom will be a ~reat decrease in th e mi lk yield. The acute form oft en proves fatal as th e bowels a re generally completely paralyseo , purgatives and stimulants have no effect , a nd consequently the a nim al dies from a uto-intoxication within a few days. If th e bowels respond to medicine, as th ey orcasionally 00, with ca reful and diligent treatment , a cure may be effected. SUR-ACUTE F OH ~L --In this form the animal is not found to be so full , but on th e contrary is tu ckeo up in the fl anks . It may be fo und ly ing or s tanding off by itself , is dull , listless, and the ey!:'s may be half closed, ex cept wh en th e attention is attracted, when the eye a ppears bright ann full. Thl) internal temperatu re varil)s, and m ay be as high as ]06 0 F. So does the ex ternal t emperature. Someti mes th e animal feels comfortable all ove r, but a t other times the legs a nd ears a re cold. Th is variat ion continues throughout the course of the disease. Saliva drops continually from commissures of the mouth , despite the fact that examin a tion reveals nothing abnormal in the m outh. Grinding of th e teeth a nd rigors of the hip muscles a re common symptoms. Th e breathing may hi' n ormal or somewhat catch y. The fceres a re pas<;ed less frequently and in small amounts, a rt' abnorm ally liquid and often con tain mucus. Tn other cases the mucus is passf'd in la rge quantiti es either mixed with the fa:ces or as p ure slim e, a nd it may contain st reaks of blood . Staggers, delirium , (' oma or paralysis o f the limbs are not met with in this disease. POST-MORTEM.- The lesions found immediately aft e r death resemble yew poisoning. Th e contents of the rumen are soft and moist, as also th e con tents of the third stomach. Th ere is no evidence of drying, t he inges ta b etween the folds being moist. The fourth s tomach contains liquid . The mucous membran e of th e rumen is readi ly stripped off leaving a congested surface ben eath . A considerable amount of mucous membrane is found adhering, or mixed with the rumen contents, a nd there are often strips of mucous m embra ne h anging like ribbons to the wall of the rumen. There is congestion of th e mucous surface o f the fourth stomach, and th ere may b e petechial hcemorrhages. The congestion is continued for some distance into the small bowel.

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THE VETERINARY JOURNAL

Macroscopically the glands do not appear to be involved . All the other organs appear to be healthy. TREAT1IIDIT.- The animal must be placed in a comfortable loosebox , and hedded with moss litter or "awdllst, and on no account with straw or bedding it can eat. It must be covered with suitable clothing, and it is important t hat the clothing he properly tied or sewn on, to prevent it slipping off. The primary object is to purge the animal. and practitionels will no doubt differ in their method s to accomplish th is. It has heen found that , particula rly in regard to choice of medicines, dosage, etc. , no precise rnl es can be laid down a all cases cannot be treC1ted alike. In the fi rst place a moderate dose of magnesium sulphate or sodium sulph. a nd ginger or gentian , swr.etened with treacle is administered. Thi is followed bv ammonium carbonate 3 i, soda bicarbonate 3 i, and pu lv. nux vomica 3i, given in a quart of water twice daily . As the bowels act irregularly it is necessary to give treacle twice a day, one, two or three pounds being used. according to th e size of the animal, and the condition of th e bowels. The animal must not be purged drastically , but it is e sential that the bowels are moved regul arly throughout the cou rse of th e disease . If th e animal is in a very bad state wh en first ohserved , it may succumb to the fir"t dose of medicine, being due probably , to th e medicine causi ng the liquid ingesta to be driven from th e rumen into th e abomasum and ~ maJl bowel, resulting in absorpt.ion and death from a1lto-i ntoxication. On the oth er hand , if the animal can tand th e first dose of med.i cin e, there is good hopes for its recovery. Linseed oil can be substituted for treacle, but it has the effect of destroying the appetite in animals that were previously taking soft food. Further, linseed oil has not the laxative effect on ruminant such as treacle possesses. During the course of treatment the a nimal at tim es will appear lightl y tympanitic , an effect which may be due to the treacle giyen. Hyposulphite of soda has been tri ed , but it does not appear to give any better results than soda bi carbonate. If mucus is passed in large quantities and especiall y if the animal is inclined to be purged, magnesium silicate (white bole) can be giYen with benefit. This it; used once per day until th e diarrha::a cea es . Some ca es benefit hy giving an occasional dose of a disinfectant , and other cases, particularly in the later stages, benefi t from a few da ily doses of ni tro-hydrochloric acid dil. Should the patien t pass blood in the freces, lins ed oil and chlorodyne is given twice daily until th e dysentery stops. Thus, it will be evident that all cases cannot be treated exactly alike, but all must to a large extent, be treated med icinally according to the symptoms manifest .

RAILROAD DISEASE

8]

As REGARDS DIET.-Every patient must receive liquid or semiliquid food only. All grass and dry food must be withheld strictly until alJ the symp toms of the disease have passed, such as dribbling of saliva ann temperature changes, and until the f;eces are normal in consistency and free from mucus. It is very important that the patient is not allowed to eat grass too soon. If grass is given, all the sym ptoms of the di ease will reappear, and the animal will be worse than at the commencement. It generally takes about three weeks to bring about recove ry ; sometimes a week or two longer. When returning th e animal to grass feed, allow only a small quantity the first time, and >\atch closely for 2,1 hours before giving more. If there are no ill effects, bring it on to its normal diet gradually. The food given during treatment consists of scalded bran, boiled linseed or linseed meal, calf meal, milk or any cooked or easily cligested food. DISCUSsION.- In my opinion the disease is caused by a poison generated in the stomachs by the ingesta being retained too long, ami to paralysis caused by the extreme cold to which the animal has become exposed when out of its hair. The cold under these conditions may also have an adverse effect on the whole glandular system of the animal and so alter or change the glandular secretions to such an extent that they do not function p roperly in the prot;ess of cligestion. Consequently, a chemical or biochemical poison is able to form in the s tomachs and intestinE's, whi ch upon absorption, gives rise to the trouble. Thus, it may be, that th e sequence of events is materially assisted by the partial paralysis of the intestinal tract, since it results in retention of the ingesta which undergo decomposition. The clinical picture ce rtainly sugges ts that a poisonous substance has been absorbed, probably from the stomach and intestines, as witnessed by the high fever, the sickly appearance and the degree of prostration. If the above reasoning is correct, it is obvious that rational treatment must b(' directed to the elimination of the poison from the system a nd from th e alimentary tract, and the success which the treatment has met enables one to think that the foregoing hypoth esis is correct.

Railroad Disease. By W. R. DAVIS, M.R.C.V.S. FIVE cows out of a mob of cattle delivered during the night at a large freezing works in New Zealand (the train runs into the works) were discovered on the following morning to be ill, and one cow was lying dead in the ven. Two of the patients were lying on the side, tympanitic, skin cold , unconscious, the cheeks puffed out at each expiration . These were immediately slaughtered. Of the other