Acute Inflammation of The Kidneys, or Acute Nephritis.

Inflammations of the kidneys have been differentiated widely, according as they were acute or chronic, parenchymatous or tubal, suppurative or not, with increased or shrunken kidney, etc. In a work like the present, however, utility will be consulted by classing all under acute or chronic inflammation.

Causes. The causes of inflammation of the kidneys are extremely varied. Congestion occurs from the altered and irritant products passed through these organs during recovery from inflammations of other organs and during fevers. This may last only during the existence of its cause, or may persist and become aggravated. Heart disease, throwing the blood pressure back on the veins and kidneys, is another cause. Disease of the ureter or bladder, preventing the escape of urine from the kidney and causing increased fullness and tension in its pelvis and tubes, will determine inflammation. Decomposition of the detained urine in such cases and the production of ammonia and other irritants must also be named. In elimination of bacteria through the kidney, the latter is liable to infection with consequent inflammation. The advance of bacteria upward from the bladder to the kidneys is another cause. The consumption in hay or other fodder of acrid or irritant plants, including fungi, the absorption of cantharidine from a surface blistered by Spanish flies, the reckless administration of diuretics, the presence of stones in the kidney, exposure of the surface to cold and wet, and the infliction of blows or sprains on the loins, may contribute to its production. Liver disorders which throw on the kidneys the work of excreting irritant products, diseases of the lungs and heart from which clots are carried, to be arrested in the small blood vessels of the kidney, and injuries and paralysis of the spinal cord, are additional causes.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

During the course of the disease friction to the limbs is useful

During the course of the disease friction to the limbs is useful

During the course of the disease friction to the limbs is useful, and in the advanced paralytic stage the application of electricity along the line of the affected muscles. When the patient can not stand he must have a thick, soft bed, and should be turned from side to side at least every twelve hours. As soon as he can be made to stand he may be helped up and even supported in a sling.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

The treatment of the mild cases may consist in a laxative

The treatment of the mild cases may consist in a laxative

Treatment. The treatment of the mild cases may consist in a laxative, graduated daily exercise, and a daily dose of saltpeter (1 ounce). Sudden attacks will sometimes promptly subside if taken on the instant and the subject kept still and calmed by a dose of bromid of potassium (4 drams) and sweet spirits of niter (1 ounce). The latter has the advantage of increasing the secretion of the kidneys. Iodid of potassium in one-half ounce doses every four hours has succeeded well in some hands. In severe cases, as a rule, it is desirable to begin treatment by a dose of aloes (4 to 6 drams) with the above-named dose of bromid of potassium, and this latter may be continued at intervals of four or six hours, as may be requisite to calm the nervous excitement. Fomentations with warm water over the loins are always useful in calming the excitable conditions of the spinal cord, muscles, liver, and kidneys, and also in favoring secretion from the two latter. On the second day diuretics may be resorted to, such as saltpeter one-half ounce, and powdered colchicum, one-half dram, to be repeated twice daily. A laxative may be repeated in three or four days should the bowels seem to demand it, and as the nervous excitement disappears any remaining muscular weakness or paralysis may be treated by one-half dram doses of nux vomica twice a day and a stimulating liniment (aqua ammonia and sweet oil in equal proportions) rubbed on the torpid muscles.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Beginning with a short walk and increasing day by day

Beginning with a short walk and increasing day by day

Prevention. The prevention of this serious affection lies in restricting the diet and giving daily exercise when the animal is not at work. A horse that has had one attack should never be left idle for a single day in the stall or barnyard. When a horse has been condemned to absolute repose on good feeding he may have a laxative (one-half to 1 pound Glauber's salt), and have graduated exercise, beginning with a short walk and increasing day by day.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

It may end fatally in a few hours or days

It may end fatally in a few hours or days

It may end fatally in a few hours or days, or a recovery may ensue, which is usually more speedy and perfect if it has set in at an early stage. In the late and tardy recoveries a partial paralysis of the hind limbs may last for months. A frequent sequel of these tardy cases is an extensive wasting of the muscles leading up from the front of the stifle (those supplied by the crural nerve) and a complete inability to stand.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

And paraplegia in experimental animals

And paraplegia in experimental animals

Lignières has found in hemoglobinuria a streptococcus which produced nephritis, bloody urine, and paraplegia in experimental animals, including horses.

Symptoms. In the milder forms this affection may appear as a lameness in one limb, from indefinite cause, succeeding to some sudden exertion and attended by a dusky-brown color of the membranes of the eye and nose and some wincing when the last ribs are struck. The severe forms come on after one or two days of rest on a full ration, when the animal has been taken out and driven one hundred paces or more: The fire and life with which he had left the stable suddenly give place to dullness and oppression, as shown in heaving flanks, dilated nostrils, pinched face, perspiring skin, and trembling body. The muscles of the loins or haunch become swelled and rigid, the subject moves stiffly or unsteadily, crouches behind, the limbs being carried semiflexed, and he soon drops, unable to support himself. When down, the body and limbs are moved convulsively, but there is no power of coordination of movement in the muscles. The pulse and breathing are accelerated, the eyes red with a tinge of brown, and the urine, if passed, is seen to be highly colored, dark brown, red, or black, but it contains neither blood clots nor globules. The color is mainly due to hemoglobin and other imperfectly elaborated constituents of the blood.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Hemoglobinuria (Azoturia, Azotemia, Poisoning by Albuminoids).

Like diabetes, this is rather a disease of the liver and blood-forming functions than of the kidney, but as prominent symptoms are loss of control over the hind limbs and the passage of ropy and dark-colored urine, the vulgar idea is that it is a disorder of the urinary organs. It is a complex affection directly connected with a plethora in the blood of nitrogenized constituents, with extreme nervous and muscular disorder and the excretion of a dense reddish or brownish urine. It is directly connected with high feeding, especially on highly nitrogenized feed (oats, beans, peas, vetches, cottonseed meal), and with a period of idleness in the stall under full rations. The disease is never seen at pasture, rarely under constant daily work, even though the feeding is high, and the attack is usually precipitated by taking the horse from the stable and subjecting it to exercise or work. The poisoning is not present when taken from the stable, as the horse is likely to be noticeably lively and spirited, but he will usually succumb under the first hundred yards or half mile of exercise. It seems as if the aspiratory power of the chest under the sudden exertion and accelerated breathing speedily drew from the gorged liver and abdominal veins (portal) the accumulated store of nitrogenous matter in an imperfectly oxidized or elaborated condition, and as if the blood, surcharged with these materials, were unable to maintain the healthy functions of the nerve centers and muscles. It has been noticed rather more frequently in mares than horses, attributable, perhaps, to the nervous excitement attendant on heat, and to the fact that the unmutilated mare is naturally more excitable than the docile gelding.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

The disease being mainly due to direct injury

The disease being mainly due to direct injury

Treatment. The disease being mainly due to direct injury, treatment will consist, first, in removing such cause whenever possible, and then in applying general and local styptics. Irritants in feed must be avoided, sprains appropriately treated, and stone in bladder or urethra removed. Then give mucilaginous drinks (slippery elm, linseed tea) freely, and styptics (tincture of chlorid of iron 3 drams, acetate of lead one-half dram, tannic acid one-half dram, or oil of turpentine 1 ounce). If the discharge is abundant, apply cold water to the loins and keep the animal perfectly still.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Its condition may furnish some indication as to its source

Its condition may furnish some indication as to its source

The blood may be present in small clots or in more or less intimate admixture with the urine. Its condition may furnish some indication as to its source; thus, if from the kidneys it is more liable to be uniformly diffused through the urine, while as furnished by the bladder or passages clots are more liable to be present. Again, in bleeding from the kidney, minute, cylindrical clots inclosing blood globules and formed in the uriniferous tubes can be detected under the microscope. Precision also may be approximated by observing whether there is coexisting fracture, sprain of the loins, or stone or tumor in the bladder or urethra.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Hematuria (Bloody Urine).

Cause. As seen in the horse, bloody urine is usually the direct result of mechanical injuries, as sprains and fractures of the loins, lacerations of the sublumbar muscles (psoas), irritation caused by stone in the kidney, ureter, bladder, or urethra. It may, however, occur with acute congestion of the kidney, with tumors in its substance, or with papilloma or other diseased growth in the bladder. Acrid diuretic plants present in the feed may also lead to the escape of blood from the kidney. The predisposition to this affection is, however, incomparably less than in the case of the ox or the sheep, the difference being attributed to the greater plasticity of the horse's blood in connection with the larger quantity of fibrin.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Dropsies in the limbs and under the chest and belly

Dropsies in the limbs and under the chest and belly

In advanced diabetes, dropsies in the limbs and under the chest and belly, puffy, swollen eyelids, cataracts, catarrhal inflammation of the lungs, weak, uncertain gait, and drowsiness may be noted.

Treatment is most satisfactory in cases dependent on some curable disease of liver, pancreas, lungs, or brain. Thus, in liver diseases, a run at pasture in warm weather, or in winter a warm, sunny, well-aired stable, with sufficient clothing and laxatives (sulphate of soda, 1 ounce daily) and alkalies (carbonate of potassium, one-fourth ounce) may benefit. To this may be added mild blistering, cupping, or even leeching over the last ribs. Diseases of the brain or pancreas may be treated according to their indications. The diet should be mainly albuminous, such as wheat bran or middlings, peas, beans, vetches, and milk. Indeed, an exclusive milk diet is one of the very best remedial agencies. It may be given as skimmed milk or butter-milk, and in the last case combines an antidiabetic remedy in the lactic acid. Under such an exclusive diet recent and mild cases are often entirely restored, though at the expense of an attack of rheumatism. Codeia, one of the alkaloids of opium, is strongly recommended by Tyson. The dose for the horse would be 10 to 15 grains thrice daily. In cases in which there is manifest irritation of the brain, bromid of potassium, 4 drams, or ergot one-half ounce, may be resorted to. Salicylic acid and salicylate of sodium have proved useful in certain cases; also phosphate of sodium. Bitter tonics (especially nux vomica one-half dram) are useful in improving the digestion and general health.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Frequently present in the horse s urine

Frequently present in the horse s urine

Inosite, or muscle sugar, frequently present in the horse's urine, and even replacing the glucose, is not fermentable. Its presence may be indicated by its sweetness and the absence of fermentation or by Gallois's test. Evaporate the suspected urine at a gentle heat almost to dryness, then add a drop of a solution of mercuric nitrate and evaporate carefully to dryness, when a yellowish residue is left that is changed on further cautious heating to a deep rose color, which disappears on cooling and reappears on heating.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Costiveness or irregularity of the bowels

Costiveness or irregularity of the bowels

Symptoms. The symptoms are ardent thirst and profuse secretion of a pale urine of a high density (1.060 and upward), rapid loss of condition, scurfy, unthrifty skin, costiveness or irregularity of the bowels, indigestion, and the presence, in the urine, of a sweet principle grape sugar or inosite, or both. This may be most promptly detected by touching the tip of the tongue with a drop. Sugar may be detected simply by adding a teaspoonful of liquid yeast to 4 ounces of the urine and keeping it lightly stopped at a temperature of 70° to 80° F. for 12 hours, when the sugar will be found to have been changed into alcohol and carbon dioxid. The loss of density will give indication of the quantity of sugar transformed; thus a density of 1.035 in a urine which was formerly 1.060 would indicate about 15 grains of sugar to the fluid ounce.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Saccharine Diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus, Glycosuria, or Inosuria).

This is primarily a disease of the nervous system or liver rather than of the kidneys, yet, as the most prominent symptom is the sweet urine, it may be treated here.

Causes. Its causes are varied, but resolve themselves largely into disorder of the liver or disorder of the brain. One of the most prominent functions of the liver is the formation of glycogen, a principle allied to grape sugar, and passing into it by further oxidation in the blood. This is a constant function of the liver, but in health the resulting sugar is burned up in the circulation and does not appear in the urine. On the contrary, when the supply of oxygen is defective, as in certain diseases of the lungs, the whole of the sugar does not undergo combustion and the excess is excreted by the kidneys. Also in certain forms of enlarged liver the quantity of sugar produced is more than can be disposed of in the natural way, and it appears in the urine. A temporary sweetness of the urine often occurs after a hearty meal on starchy feed, but this is due altogether to the super-abundant supply of the sugar-forming feed, lasts for a few hours only, and has no pathological significance. In many cases of fatal glycosuria the liver is found to be enlarged, or at least congested, and it is found that the disorder can be produced experimentally by agencies which produce an increased circulation through the liver. Thus Bernard produced glycosuria by pricking the oblong medulla at the base of the brain close to the roots of the pneumogastric nerve, which happens to be also the nerve center (vasomotor) which presides over the contractions of the minute blood vessels. The pricking and irritation of this center leads to congestion of the liver and the excessive production of sugar. Irritation carried to this point through the pneumogastric nerve causes saccharine urine, and, in keeping with this, disease of the pancreas has been found in this malady. The complete removal of the pancreas, however, determines glycosuria, the organ having in health an inhibitive action on sugar production by the liver. The same result follows the reflection of irritation from other sources, as from different ganglia (corpora striata, optic thalami, pons, cerebellum, cerebrum) of the brain. Similarly it is induced by interruption of the nervous control along the vasomotor tracts, as in destruction of the upper or lower cervical sympathetic ganglion, by cutting the nervous branch connecting these two, in injury to the spinal marrow in the interval between the brain and the second or fourth dorsal vertebra, or in disease of the celiac plexus, which directly presides over the liver. Certain chemical poisons also cause saccharine urine, notably woorara, strychnia, morphia, phosphoric acid, alcohol, ether, quinia, chloroform, ammonia, arsenic, and phlorizin.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Treatment consists in stopping the ingestion of the faulty drugs

Treatment consists in stopping the ingestion of the faulty drugs

Treatment consists in stopping the ingestion of the faulty drugs, poisons, or feed, and supplying sound hay and grain free from all taint of heating or mustiness. A liberal supply of boiled flaxseed in the drinking water at once serves to eliminate the poison and to sheathe and protect the irritated kidneys. Tonics like sulphate or phosphate of iron (2 drams morning and evening) and powdered gentian or Peruvian bark (4 drams) help greatly by bracing the system and hastening repair. To these may be added agents calculated to destroy the fungus and eliminate its poisonous products. In that form which depends on musty food nothing acts better than large doses of iodid of potassium (2 drams), while in other cases creosote, carbolic acid (1 dram), or oil of turpentine (4 drams), properly diluted, may be resorted to.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

So great is the quantity passed

So great is the quantity passed

Symptoms. The horse drinks deep at every opportunity and passes urine on every occasion when stopped, the discharge being pale, watery, of a low density, and inodorous; in short, it contains a great excess of water and a deficiency of the solid excretions. So great is the quantity passed, however, that the small amount of solids in any given specimen amounts in 24 hours to far more than the normal a fact in keeping with the rapid wasting of the tissues and extreme emaciation. The flanks become tucked up, the fat disappears, the bones and muscles stand out prominently, the skin becomes tense and hidebound, and the hair erect, scurfy, and deficient in luster. The eye becomes dull and sunken, the spirits are depressed, the animal is weak and sluggish, sweats on the slightest exertion, and can endure little. The subject may survive for months, or may die early of exhaustion. In the slighter cases, or when the cause ceases to operate, a somewhat tardy recovery may be made.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Diuresis (Polyuria, Diabetes Insipidus, or Excessive Secretion of Urine).

This consists in an excessive secretion of a clear, watery urine of a low specific gravity (1.007) with a correspondingly ardent thirst, a rapidly advancing emaciation, and great loss of strength and spirit.

Causes. Its causes may be any agent medicinal, alimentary, or poisonous which unduly stimulates the kidneys; the reckless administration of diuretics, which form such a common constituent of quack horse powders; acrid diuretic plants in grass or hay; new oats still imperfectly cured; an excess of roots or other very watery feed; a full allowance of salt to animals that have become inordinately fond of it; but, above all, feeding on hay, grain, or bran which has not been properly dried and has become musty and permeated by fungi. Thus hay, straw, or oats obtained in wet seasons and heating in the rick or stack is especially injurious. Hence this malady, like coma somnolentum (sleepy staggers), is widespread in wet seasons, and especially in rainy districts.

Source: Diseases of the Horse

Examination of The Urine.

In some cases the changes in the urine are the sole sign of disease. In health the horse's urine is of a deep amber color and has a strong odor. On a feed of grain and hay it may show a uniform transparency, while on a green ration there in an abundant white deposit of carbonate of lime. Of its morbid changes the following are to be looked for: (1) Color: White from deposited salts of lime; brown or red from blood clots or coloring matter; yellow or orange from bile or blood pigment; pale from excess of water; or variously colored from vegetable ingredients (santonin makes it red; rhubarb or senna, brown; tar or carbolic acid, green). (2) Density: The horse's urine may be 1.030 or 1.050, but it may greatly exceed this in diabetes and may sink to 1.007 in diuresis. (3) Chemical reaction, as ascertained by blue litmus or red test papers. The horse on vegetable diet has alkaline urine turning red test papers blue, while in the sucking colt and the horse fed on flesh or on his own tissue (in starvation or abstinence during disease) it is acid, turning blue litmus red. (4) Organic constituents, as when glairy from albumen coagulable by strong nitric acid and boiling, when charged with microscopic casts of the uriniferous tubes, with the eggs or bodies of worms, with sugar, blood, or bile. (5) In its salts, which may crystallize out spontaneously, or on boiling, or on the addition of chemical reagents.

PLATE VIII.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION THROUGH KIDNEY.

PLATE IX.
MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF KIDNEY.

PLATE X.
MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF KIDNEY.

Albuminous urine in the horse is usually glairy, so that it may be drawn out in threads, but its presence can always be tested as follows: If the liquid is opaque, it may be first passed through filter paper; if very dense and already precipitating its salts, it may be diluted with distilled water; add to the suspected liquid acetic acid drop by drop until it reddens the blue litmus paper; then boil gently in a test tube; if a precipitate is thrown down, set the tube aside to cool and then add strong nitric acid. If the precipitate is not dissolved, it is albumen; if dissolved it is probably urate or hippurate of ammonia. Albumen is normally present in advanced gestation; abnormally it is seen in diseases in which there occurs destruction of blood globules (anthrax, low fevers, watery states of the blood, dropsies), in diseases of the heart and liver which prevent the free escape of blood from the veins and throw back venous pressure on the kidneys, in inflammation of the lungs and pleurae, and even tympany (bloating), doubtless from the same cause, and in all congestive or inflammatory diseases of the kidneys, acute or chronic.

Casts of the uriniferous tubes can be seen only by placing the suspected urine under the microscope. They are usually very elastic and mobile, waving about in the liquid when the cover glass is touched, and showing a uniform, clear transparency (waxy) or entangled circular epithelial cells or opaque granules or flattened, red-blood globules or clear, refrangent oil globules. They may be even densely opaque from crystals of earthy salts.

Pus cells may be found in the urine associated with albumen, and are recognized by clearing up, when treated with acetic acid, so that each cell shows two or three nuclei.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

General Symptoms of Disease.

These apply especially to acute inflammations and the irritation caused by stone. The animal moves stiffly on the hind limbs, straddles, and makes frequent attempts to pass urine, which may be in excess, deficient in amount, liable to sudden arrest in spite of the straining, passed in driblets, or entirely suppressed. Again, it may be modified in density or constituents. Difficulty in making a sharp turn, or in lying down and rising with or without groaning, dropping the back when mounted or when pinched on the loins is suggestive of kidney disease, and so to a less extent are swelled legs, dropsy, and diseases of the skin and nervous system. The oiled hand introduced through the rectum may feel the bladder beneath and detect any overdistention, swelling, tenderness, or stone. In ponies the kidneys even may be reached.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

VIII resembles a heart of cards

VIII resembles a heart of cards

The right kidney, weighing 23-1/2 ounces, is shaped like a French bean, and extends from the loins forward to beneath the heads of the last two ribs. The left kidney (Pl. VIII) resembles a heart of cards, and extends from the loins forward beneath the head of the last rib only. Each consists of three distinct parts (a) the external (cortical), or vascular part, in which the blood vessels form elaborate capillary networks within the dilated globular sacs which form the beginnings of the secreting (uriniferous) tubes and on the surface of the sinuous, secreting tubes leading from the sacs inward toward the second, or medullary, part of the organ; (b) the internal (medullary) part, made up in the main of blood vessels, lymphatics, and nerves extending between the notch on the inner border of the kidney to and from the outer vascular portion, in which the secretion of urine is almost exclusively carried on; and (d) a large, saccular reservoir in the center of the kidney, into which all uriniferous tubes pour their secretions and from which the urine is carried away through a tube g (ureter), which passes out of the notch at the inner border of the kidney and which opens by a valve-closed orifice into the roof of the bladder just in front of its neck. The bladder is a dilatable reservoir for the retention of the urine until the discomfort of its presence causes its voluntary discharge. It is kept closed by circular, muscular fibers surrounding its neck or orifice, and is emptied by looped, muscular fibers extending in all directions forward from the neck around the blind anterior end of the sac. From the bladder the urine escapes through a dilatable tube (urethra) which extends from the neck of the bladder backward on the floor of the pelvis, and in the male through the penis to its free end, where it opens through a pink, conical papilla. In the mare the urethra is not more than an inch in length, and is surrounded by the circular, muscular fibers closing the neck of the bladder. Its opening may be found directly in the median line of the floor of the vulva, about 4-1/2 inches from its external opening.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Diseases of the heart and lungs

Diseases of the heart and lungs

Diseases of the heart and lungs, by interfering with the free, onward flow of the blood from the right side of the heart, tend to throw that liquid back on the veins, and this backward pressure of venous blood strongly tends to disorders of the kidneys. Certain poisons taken with the feed and water, notably that found in magnesian limestone and those found in irritant, diuretic plants, are especially injurious to the kidneys, as are also various cryptogams, whether in musty hay or oats. The kidneys may be irritated by feeding green vegetables covered with hoar frost or by furnishing an excess of feed rich in phosphates (wheat bran, beans, peas, vetches, lentils, rape cake, cottonseed cake) or by a privation of water, which entails a concentrated condition and high density of the urine. Exposure in cold rain or snow storms, cold drafts of air, and damp beds are liable to further disorder an already overworked or irritable kidney. Finally, sprains of the back and loins may cause bleeding from the kidneys or inflammation.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Prominent Causes of Urinary Disorders.

A disordered liver contributes to the production under different circumstances of an excess of biliary coloring matter which stains the urine; of an excess of hippuric acid and allied products which, being less soluble than urea (the normal product of tissue change), favor the formation of stone, of taurocholic acid, and other bodies that tend when in excess to destroy the blood globules and to cause irritation of the kidneys by the resulting hemoglobin excreted in the urine, and of glycogen too abundant to be burned up in the system, which induces saccharine urine (diabetes). Any disorder leading to impaired functional activity of the lungs is causative of an excess of hippuric acid and allied bodies, of oxalic acid, of sugar, etc., in the urine, which irritate the kidneys, even if they do not produce solid deposits in the urinary passages. Diseases of the nervous system, and notably of the base of the brain and of the spinal cord, induce various urinary disorders, prominent among which are diabetes, chylous urine, and albuminuria. Certain affections, with imperfect nutrition or destructive waste of the bony tissues, tend to charge the urine with phosphates of lime and magnesia and endanger the formation of stone and gravel. In all extensive inflammations and acute fevers the liquids of the urine are diminished, while the solids (waste products), which should form the urinary secretion, are increased, and the surcharged urine proves irritant to the urinary organs or the retained waste products poison the system at large.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Formerly Professor of Veterinary Science, Etc., in Cornell University. Uses of The Urinary Organs.

The urinary organs constitute the main channel through which are excreted the nitrogenous or albuminoid principles, whether derived directly from the feed or from the muscular and other nitrogenized tissues of the body. They constitute, besides, the channel through which are thrown out most of the poisons, whether taken in by the mouth or skin or developed in connection with faulty or natural digestion, blood-forming, nutrition, or tissue destruction; or, finally, poisons that are developed within the body, as the result of normal cell life or of the life of bacterial or other germs that have entered the body from without. Bacteria themselves largely escape from the body through the kidneys. To a large extent, therefore, these organs are the sanitary scavengers and purifiers of the system, and when their functions are impaired or arrested the retained poisons quickly show their presence in resulting disorders of the skin and connective tissue beneath it, of the nervous system, or other organs. Nor is this influence one-sided. Scarcely an important organ of the body can suffer derangement without entailing a corresponding disorder of the urinary system. Nothing can be more striking than the mutual balance maintained between the liquid secretions of the skin and kidneys during hot and cold weather. In summer, when so much liquid exhales through the skin as sweat, comparatively little urine is passed, whereas in winter, when the skin is inactive, the urine is correspondingly increased. This vicarious action of skin and kidneys is usually kept within the limits of health, but at times the draining off of the water by the skin leaves too little to keep the solids of the urine safely in solution, and these are liable to crystallize out and form stone and gravel. Similarly the passage, in the sweat, of some of the solids that normally leave the body, dissolved in the urine, serves to irritate the skin and produce troublesome eruptions.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Rupture of The Diaphragm.

Post-mortem examinations after colic or severe accident sometimes reveal rupture of the diaphragm. This may take place after death, from the generation of gases in the decomposing carcass, which distend the intestines so that the diaphragm is ruptured by the great pressure against it. The symptoms are intensely difficult respiration and great depression. There is no treatment.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

The jerky motion affects the whole body

The jerky motion affects the whole body

There should be no difficulty in distinguishing this affection from palpitation of the heart. The jerky motion affects the whole body, and is not confined to the region of the heart. If one hand is placed on the body at about the middle of the last rib, while the other hand is placed over the heart behind the left elbow, it will be easily demonstrated that there is no connection between the thumping or jerking of the diaphragm and the beating of the heart. In fact, when the animal is affected with spasms of the diaphragm the beating of the heart is usually much weaker and less perceptible than natural. Thumps is produced by causes similar to those that produce congestion of the lungs and dilatation or palpitation of the heart, and may occur in connection with these conditions. If not relieved, death usually results from congestion or edema of the lungs, as the breathing is interfered with by the inordinate action of this important muscle of inspiration so much that proper aeration of the blood can not take place. The treatment should be as prescribed for congestion of the lungs, and, in addition, antispasmodics, such as 1 ounce of sulphuric ether in warm water or 3 drams of asafetida.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Thumps, or Spasm of The Diaphragm.

"Thumps" is generally thought by the inexperienced to be a palpitation of the heart. While it is true that palpitation of the heart is sometimes called "thumps," it must not be confounded with the affection under consideration.

In the beginning of this article on the diseases of the organs of respiration, the diaphragm was briefly referred to as the principal and essential muscle of respiration. Spasmodic or irregular contractions of it in man are manifested by what is familiarly known as hiccoughs. Thumps in the horse is similar to hiccoughs in man although in all cases the peculiar noise is not made in the throat of the horse.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

The wound should then be closed immediately

The wound should then be closed immediately

It is evident that the treatment of wounds that penetrate the thoracic cavity should be prompt. It should be quickly ascertained whether or not a foreign body remains in the wound; then it should be thoroughly cleaned with a solution of carbolic acid, 1 part in 40 parts of water. The wound should then be closed immediately. If it is an incised wound, it should be closed with sutures or with adhesive plasters; if torn or lacerated, adhesive plaster may be used or a bandage around the chest over the dressing. At all events, air must be prevented from getting into the chest as soon and as effectually as possible. The after treatment of the wound should consist principally in keeping the parts clean with a solution of carbolic acid, and applying fresh dressing as often as required to keep the wound in a healthy condition. Care should be taken that the discharges from the wound have an outlet in the most dependent part. (See Wounds and their treatment, p. 484.) If pleurisy supervenes, it should be treated as advised under that head.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Wounds Penetrating The Walls of The Chest.

A wound penetrating the wall of the chest admits air into the thoracic cavity outside the lung. This condition is known as pneumothorax and may result in collapse of the lung. The wound may be so made that when the walls of the chest are dilating a little air is sucked in, but during the contraction of the wall the contained air presses against the torn part in such manner as entirely to close the wound; thus a small quantity of air gains access with each inspiration, while none is allowed to escape until the lung is pressed into a very small compass and forced into the anterior part of the chest. The same thing may occur from a broken rib inflicting a wound in the lung. In this form the air gains access from the lung, and there may not be even an opening in the walls of the chest. In such cases the air may be absorbed, when a spontaneous cure is the result, but when the symptoms are urgent it is recommended that the air be removed by a trocar and cannula or by an aspirator.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Pleurodynia.

This is a form of rheumatism that affects the intercostal muscles; that is, the muscles between the ribs. The apparent symptoms are very similar to those of pleurisy. The animal is stiff and not inclined to turn round; the ribs are kept in a fixed state as much as possible. If the head is pulled round suddenly, or the affected side struck with the hand, or if the spaces between the ribs are pressed with the fingers, the animal will flinch and perhaps emit a grunt or groan expressive of much pain. It is distinguished from pleurisy by the absence of fever, cough, the friction sound, the effusion into the chest, and by the existence of rheumatism in other parts. The treatment for this affection is the same as for rheumatism affecting other parts.

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Chronic Cough.

A chronic cough may succeed the acute disease of the respiratory organs, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, laryngitis, etc. It accompanies chronic roaring, chronic bronchitis, broken wind; it may succeed influenza. As previously stated, cough is but a symptom and not a disease in itself. Chronic cough is occasionally associated with diseases other than those of the organs of respiration. It may be a symptom of chronic indigestion or of worms. In such cases it is caused by a reflex nervous irritation. The proper treatment in all cases of chronic cough is to ascertain the nature of the disease of which it is a symptom, and then cure the disease if possible and the cough will cease.

The treatment of the affections will be found under their appropriate heads, to which the reader is referred.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Arsenic is efficacious in palliating the symptoms

Arsenic is efficacious in palliating the symptoms

Arsenic is efficacious in palliating the symptoms. It is best administered in the form of a solution of arsenic, as Fowler's solution or as the white powdered arsenious acid. Of the former the dose is 1 ounce to the drinking water three times daily; of the latter one may give 3 grains in each feed. These quantities may be cautiously increased as the animal becomes accustomed to the drug. If the bowels do not act regularly, a pint of raw linseed oil may be given once or twice a month, or a handful of Glauber's salt may be given in the feed twice daily, so long as necessary. It must, however, be borne in mind that all medicinal treatment is of secondary consideration; careful attention paid to the diet is of greatest importance. Broken-winded animals should not be used for breeding purposes. A predisposition to the disease may be inherited.

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When the disease is established there is no cure for it

When the disease is established there is no cure for it

Treatment. When the disease is established there is no cure for it. Proper attention paid to the diet will relieve the distressing symptoms to a certain extent, but they will undoubtedly reappear in their intensity the first time the animal overloads the stomach or is allowed food of bad quality. Clover hay or bulky feed which contains but little nutriment have much to do with the cause of the disease, and therefore should be entirely omitted when the animal is affected, as well as before. It has been asserted that the disease is unknown where clover hay is never used. The diet should be confined to feed of the best quality and in the smallest quantity. The bad effect of moldy or dusty hay, fodder, or feed of any kind can not be overestimated. A small quantity of the best hay once a day is sufficient. This should be cut and dampened. The animal should invariably be watered before feeding; never directly after a meal. The animal should not be worked immediately after a meal. Exertion, when the stomach is full, invariably aggravates the symptoms. Turning on pasture gives relief. Carrots, potatoes, or turnips chopped and mixed with oats or corn are a good diet. Half a pint to a pint of thick, dark molasses with each feed is useful.

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When the veterinarian is examining a horse for soundness

When the veterinarian is examining a horse for soundness

Certain individuals become very expert in managing a horse affected with heaves in suppressing the symptoms for a short time. They take advantage of the fact that the breathing is much easier when the stomach and intestines are empty. They also resort to the use of medicines that have a depressing effect. When the veterinarian is examining a horse for soundness, and he suspects that the animal has been "fixed," he usually gives the horse as much water as he will drink and then has him ridden or driven rapidly up a hill or on a heavy road. This will bring out the characteristic breathing of heaves if the horse is so afflicted, but will not cause the symptoms of heaves in a healthy horse. All broken-winded horses have the cough peculiar to the affection, but it is not regular. A considerable time may elapse before it is heard and then it may come on in paroxysms, especially when first brought out of the stable into the cold air, or when excited by work, or after a drink of cold water. The cough is usually the first symptom of the disease.

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Indigestion is often present in these cases

Indigestion is often present in these cases

As before remarked, indigestion is often present in these cases. The animal may have a depraved appetite, as shown by a desire to eat dirt and soiled bedding, which he often devours in preference to the clean feed in the trough or manger. The stomach is liable to be overloaded with indigestible feed. The abdomen may assume that form called "potbellied." The animal frequently passes wind of a very offensive odor. When first put to work dung is passed frequently; the bowels are often loose. The animal can not stand much work, as the muscular system is soft. Round-chested horses are said to be predisposed to the disease, and it is certain that in cases of long standing the chest usually becomes rounder than natural.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Almost every experienced horseman is able to detect heaves

Almost every experienced horseman is able to detect heaves

Symptoms. Almost every experienced horseman is able to detect heaves. The peculiar movement of the flanks and abdomen point out the ailment at once. In recent cases, however, the affected animal does not always exhibit the characteristic breathing unless exerted to a certain extent. The cough which accompanies this disease is peculiar to it. It is difficult to describe, but the sound is short and something like a grunt. When air is inspired that is, taken in it appears to be done in the same manner as in health; it may possibly be done a little quicker than natural, but not enough to attract any notice. It is when the act of expiration (or expelling the air from the lungs) is performed that the great change in the breathing is perceptible. It must be remembered that the lungs have lost much of their elasticity, and in consequence of their power of contracting on account of the degeneration of the walls of the air cells, and also on account of the paralysis of muscular tissue before mentioned. The air passes into them freely, but the power to expel it is lost to a great extent by the lungs; therefore the abdominal muscles are brought into play. These muscles, especially in the region of the flank, are seen to contract, then pause for a moment, then complete the act of contracting, thus making a double bellowslike movement at each expiration, a sort of jerky motion with every breath. The double expiratory movement may also be detected by allowing the that the expiratory current is not continuous, but is broken into two jets. When the animal is exerted a wheezing noise accompanies the breathing. This noise may be heard to a less extent when the animal is at rest if the ear is applied to the chest.

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In itself broken wind is not a fatal disease

In itself broken wind is not a fatal disease

In itself broken wind is not a fatal disease, but death is generally caused by an affection closely connected with it. After death, if the organs are examined, the lesions found depend much upon the length of time broken wind has affected the animal. In recent cases very few changes are noticeable, but in animals that have been broken-winded for a long time the changes are well-marked. The lungs are paler than natural, and of much less weight in proportion to the volume, as evidenced by floating them in water. The walls of the small bronchial tubes and the membrane of the larger tubes are thickened. The right side of the heart is enlarged and its cavities dilated. The stomach is enlarged and its walls stretched. The important change found in the lungs is a condition technically called pulmonary emphysema. This is of two varieties: First, what is termed "vesicular emphysema," which consists of an enlargement of the capacity of the air cells (air vesicles) by dilation of their walls. The second form is called interlobular, or interstitial, emphysema, and follows the first. In this variety the air finds its way into the lung tissue between the air cells or the tissue between the small lobules.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Feeding on clover hay or damaged hay or straw

Feeding on clover hay or damaged hay or straw

Heaves is usually associated with disorder of the function of digestion or to an error in the choice of feed. Feeding on clover hay or damaged hay or straw, too bulky and innutritious feed, and keeping the horse in a dusty atmosphere or a badly ventilated stable produce or predispose to heaves. Horses brought from a high to a low level are predisposed.

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Heaves, Broken Wind, or Asthma.

Much confusion exists in the popular mind in regard to the nature of heaves. Many horsemen loosely apply the term to all ailments where the breathing is difficult or noisy. Scientific veterinarians are well acquainted with the phenomena and locality of the affection, but there is a great diversity of opinion as regards the exact cause. Asthma is generally thought to be caused by spasm of the small circular muscles that surround the bronchial tubes. The continued existence of this affection of the muscles leads to a paralysis of them, and the forced breathing to emphysema, which always accompanies heaves.

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Tuberculosis of The Lungs.

Pulmonary consumption or tuberculosis has been recognized in the horse in a number of instances. The symptoms are as of chronic pneumonia or pleurisy. There is no treatment for the disease.

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Hemoptysis, or Bleeding From The Lungs.

Bleeding from the lungs may occur during the course of congestion of the lungs, bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, purpura hemorrhagica, or glanders. An accident or exertion may cause a rupture of a vessel. Plethora and hypertrophy of the heart predispose to it. Following the rupture of a vessel the blood may escape into the lung tissue and cause a serious attack of pneumonia, or it may fill up the bronchial tubes and prove fatal by suffocating the animal. When the hemorrhage is from the lung it is accompanied with coughing; the blood is frothy, of a bright red color, and comes from both nostrils; whereas when the bleeding is merely from a rupture of a vessel in some part of the head (heretofore described as bleeding from the nose) the blood is most likely to issue from one nostril only, and the discharge is not accompanied with coughing. The ear may be placed against the windpipe along its course, and if the blood is from the lungs a gurgling or rattling sound will be heard. When it occurs in connection with another disease it seldom requires special treatment. When caused by accident or overexertion the animal should be kept quiet. If the hemorrhage is profuse and continues for several hours, 1 dram of the acetate of lead dissolved in a pint of water may be given as a drench, or 1 ounce of the tincture of the perchlorid of iron, diluted with a pint of water, may be given instead of the lead. It is rare that the hemorrhage is so profuse as to require internal remedies. But hemorrhage into the lung may occur and cause death by suffocation without the least manifestation of it by the discharge of blood from the nose.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Gangrene, or mortification, means the death of the part affected.

Mortification.

Gangrene, or mortification, means the death of the part affected. Occasionally, owing to the intensity of the inflammation or bad treatment, pneumonia and pleuropneumonia terminate in mortification, which is soon followed by the death of the animal. Perhaps the most common cause of this complication is the presence of a foreign body in the lung, as food particles or medicine. Rough drenching or drenching through the nostrils may cause this serious condition.

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Suppuration And Abscess in The Lung.

There are instances, and especially when the surroundings of the patient have been bad or the disease is of an especially severe type, when pneumonia terminates in an abscess in the lung. Sometimes, when the inflammation has been extreme, suppuration in a large portion of the lung takes place. Impure air, the result of improper ventilation, is among the most frequent causes of this termination. The symptoms of suppuration in the lung are chronic pneumonia, a solidified area of lung tissue, continued low fever, and, in some cases, offensive smell of the breath, and the discharge of the matter from the nostrils.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Broncho-pleuropneumonia.

This is the term or terms applied when bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia all exist at once. It is impossible for one who is not an expert to diagnose the state with certainty. The apparent symptoms are the same as when the animal is affected with pleuropneumonia.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Pleuropneumonia.

This is the state in which an animal is affected with pleurisy and pneumonia combined, which is not infrequently the case. At the beginning of the attack only one of the affections may be present, but the other soon follows. It has already been stated that the pleura is closely adherent to the lung. The pleura on this account is frequently more or less affected by the spreading of the inflammation from the lung tissue. There is a combination of the symptoms of both diseases, but to the ordinary observer the symptoms of pleurisy are the most obvious. The course of treatment to be pursued differs in no manner from that given for the affections when they occur independently. The symptoms will be the guide as to the advisability of giving oil and laudanum for the pain if the pleurisy is very severe. It should not be resorted to unless it is necessary to allay the pain.

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We have described here bronchitis

We have described here bronchitis

We have described here bronchitis, pneumonia, and pleurisy mainly as they occur as independent diseases, but it should be remembered that they merge into each other and may occur together at one time. While it is true that much more might have been said in regard to the different stages and types of the affections, and also in regard to the treatment of each stage and each particular type, the plan adopted of advising plain, conservative treatment is considered the wisest on account of simplifying as much as possible a subject of which the reader is supposed to know very little.

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The puncture is made in the lower part of the chest

The puncture is made in the lower part of the chest

Hydrothorax is sometimes difficult to overcome by means of the use of medicines alone, when the operation of tapping the chest is performed to allow an escape for the accumulated fluid. The operation is performed with a combined instrument called the trocar and cannula. The puncture is made in the lower part of the chest, in the space between the eighth and ninth ribs. Wounding of the intercostal artery is avoided by inserting the instrument as near as possible to the anterior edge of the rib. If the operation is of benefit, it is only so when performed before the strength is lowered beyond recovery. The operation merely receives a passing notice here, as it is not presumed that the nonprofessional will attempt it, although in the hands of the expert it is attended with little danger or difficulty.

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Causing the animal to lie down or paw

Causing the animal to lie down or paw

In the beginning of the attack, if the pain is severe, causing the animal to lie down or paw, morphin may be given by the mouth in 5-grain doses, or the fluid extract of Cannabis indica may be used in doses of 2 to 4 drams.

If the case is not progressing favorable in ten or twelve days after the beginning of the attack, convalescence is delayed by the fluid in the chest failing to be absorbed. The animal becomes dull and weak and evinces little or no desire for feed. The breathing becomes still more rapid and difficult. An effort must now be made to excite the absorption of the effusion. An application of liniment or mild blister should be rubbed over the lower part of both sides and the bottom of the chest. The following drench may be given three times a day, for seven or eight days, if it is necessary and appears to benefit: Tincture of the perchlorid of iron, 1 ounce; tincture of gentian, 2 ounces; water, 1 pint. Also give 1 dram of iodid of potassium, dissolved in the drinking water, an hour before feeding every night and morning for a week or two.

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If the patient becomes debilitated

If the patient becomes debilitated

If the patient becomes debilitated, the stimulants as prescribed for pneumonia should be used according to the same directions. The same attention should be given to the diet. If the animal will partake of the bran mashes, scalded oats, and grass, it is the best; but if he refuses the laxative diet, then he should be tried with different kinds of feed and allowed whichever kind he desires.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

When pain is manifested by restlessness

When pain is manifested by restlessness

During the first few days, when pain is manifested by restlessness, apply hot packs to the sides diligently. After four or five days, when the symptoms show that the acute stage has somewhat subsided, mustard may be applied as recommended for pneumonia. From the beginning the following drench may be given every six hours, if the horse takes it kindly: Solution of the acetate of ammonia, 3 ounces; spirits of nitrous ether, 1 ounce; bicarbonate of potassium, 3 drams; water, 1 pint.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

It is oftener confined to the right side

It is oftener confined to the right side

Pleurisy may affect only a small area of one side or it may affect both sides. It is oftener confined to the right side.

Treatment. The instructions in regard to the general management of bronchitis and pneumonia must be adhered to in the treatment of pleurisy. Comfortable quarters, pure air, warm clothing to the body and bandages to the legs, a plentiful supply of pure cold water, the laxative feed, etc., in this case are equally necessary and efficacious. The hot applications applied to the chest, as directed in the treatment of pneumonia, are very beneficial in pleurisy, and should be kept up while the symptoms show the animal to be in pain.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

And the subsidence of the pain

And the subsidence of the pain

Within two or three days the urgent symptoms may abate owing to the exudation of the fluid, and the subsidence of the pain. The fluid may now undergo absorption, and the case may terminate favorably within a week or 10 days.

If the quantity of the effusion is large its own volume retards the process of absorption to a great extent, and consequently convalescence is delayed. In severe cases the pulse becomes more frequent, the breathing more hurried and labored, the flanks work like bellows, the nostrils flap, the eyes stare wildly, the countenance expresses much anxiety, and general signs of dissolution are plain. After a time swellings appear under the chest and abdomen and down the legs. The accumulation in the chest is called hydrothorax, or dropsy of the chest. When this fluid contains pus the case usually proves fatal. The condition of pus within the cavity is called empyema.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Percussion is of valuable service in this affection

Percussion is of valuable service in this affection

Percussion is of valuable service in this affection. After effusion occurs the sound produced by percussing over the lower part of the chest is dull. By striking different parts one may come to a spot of greater or less extent where the blows cause much pain to be evinced. The animal may grunt or groan every time it is struck. Another method of detecting the affected part is to press the fingers between the ribs, each space in succession, beginning behind the elbow, until a place where the pressure causes more flinching than at any other part is reached. Auscultation is also useful. In the first stage, when the surfaces are dry and rough, one may hear, immediately under the ear, a distinct sound very much like that produced by rubbing two pieces of coarse paper together. No such friction sound occurs when the membrane is healthy, as the natural moisture, heretofore mentioned, prevents the friction. In many cases this friction is so pronounced that it may be felt by placing the hand over the affected part. When the dry stage is succeeded by the exudation of fluid this friction sound disappears. After the effusion into the cavity takes place sometimes there is heard a tinkling or metallic sound, due to dropping of the exudate from above into the collected fluid in the bottom of the cavity, as the collected fluid more of less separates the lung from the chest walls.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

But this is usually overlooked

But this is usually overlooked

Symptoms. When the disease exists as an independent affection it is ushered in by a chill, but this is usually overlooked. About the first thing noticed is the disinclination of the animal to move or turn around. When made to do so he grunts or groans with pain. He stands stiff; the ribs are fixed that is, they move very little in the act of breathing but the abdomen works more than natural; both the fore feet and elbows may be turned out; during the onset of the attack the animal may be restless and act as if he had a slight colic; he may even lie down, but does not remain long down, for when he finds no relief he soon gets up. After effusion begins these signs of restlessness disappear. Every movement of the chest causes pain; therefore the cough is peculiar; it is short and suppressed and comes as near being no cough as the animal can make it in his desire to suppress it. The breathing is hurried, the mouth is hot, the temperature being elevated from 102° or 103° to 105° F. Symptoms that usually accompany fever are present, such as costiveness, scanty, dark-colored urine, etc. The pulse is frequent, perhaps 70 or more a minute, and is hard and wiry. The legs and ears are cold.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

The quantity of this accumulation may amount to several gallons

The quantity of this accumulation may amount to several gallons

The first lesion of pleurisy is overfilling of the blood vessels that ramify in this membrane and dryness of the surface. This is followed by the formation of a coating of coagulated fibrin on the diseased pleura and the transudation of serum which collects in the chest. This serum may contain flakes of fibrin and it may be straw colored or red from an admixture of blood. The quantity of this accumulation may amount to several gallons.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Inflammation of this membrane is called pleurisy

Inflammation of this membrane is called pleurisy

Inflammation of this membrane is called pleurisy. Being so closely united with the lung, it can not always escape participation in the disease when the latter is inflamed. Pleurisy may be due to the same predisposing and exciting causes as mentioned in the beginning of this work as general causes for diseases of the organs of respiration, such as exposure to sudden changes of temperature, confinement in damp stables, etc. It may be caused also by wounds that penetrate the chest, for it must be remembered that such wounds must necessarily pierce the pleura. A fractured rib may involve the pleura. The inflammation following such wounds may be circumscribed; that is, confined to a small area surrounding the wound, or it may spread from the wound and involve a large portion of the pleura. The pleura may be involved secondarily when the heart or its membrane is the primary seat of the disease. It may occur in conjunction with bronchitis, influenza, and other diseases. Diseased growths that interfere with the pleura may induce pleurisy. The most frequent cause of pleurisy is an extension of inflammation from adjacent diseased lung. It is a common complication of pneumonia. Pleurisy will be described here as an independent affection, although it should be remembered that it is very often associated with the foregoing diseases.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Pleurisy.

The thoracic cavity is divided into two lateral compartments, each containing one lung and a part of the heart. Each lung has its separate pleural membrane, or covering. The pleura is the thin, glistening membrane that covers the lung and also completely covers the internal walls of the chest. It is very thin, and to the ordinary observer appears to be part of the lung, which, in fact, it is for all practical purposes. The smooth, shiny surface of the lung, as well as the smooth, shiny surface so familiar on the rib, is the pleura. In health this surface is always moist. A fluid is thrown off by the pleura, which causes the surface to be constantly moist. This is to prevent the effects of friction between the lungs and the walls of the chest and other contiguous parts which come in contact. It must be remembered that the lungs are dilating each time a breath is taken in, and contracting each time a breath of air is expelled. It may be readily seen that if it were not for the moistened state of the surface of the pleura the continual dilatation and contraction and the consequent rubbing of the parts against each other would cause serious friction.

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Mix well together and divide into sixteen powders

Mix well together and divide into sixteen powders

When the symptoms have abated and nothing remains of the disease except the cough and a white discharge from the nostrils, all other medicines should be discontinued and a course of tonic treatment pursued. Give the following mixture: Reduced iron, 3 ounces; powdered gentian, 8 ounces; mix well together and divide into sixteen powders. Give a powder every night and morning mixed with bran and oats, if the animal will eat it, or shaken with about a pint of flaxseed tea and administered as a drench.

If the cough remains after the horse is apparently well, give 1 dram of iodid of potassium dissolved in a bucketful of drinking water one hour before each meal for two or three weeks if necessary. Do not put the animal to work too soon after recovery. Allow ample time to regain strength. This disease is prone to become chronic and may run into an incurable case of thick wind.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

If the animal retains an appetite

If the animal retains an appetite

If the animal retains an appetite, a soft diet is preferable, such as scalded oats, bran mashes, and grass, if in season. If he refuses cooked feed, allow in small quantities anything he will eat. Hay, cob corn, oats, bread, apples, and carrots may be tried in turn. Some horses will drink sweet milk when they refuse all other kinds of feed, and especially is this the case if the drinking water is withheld for a while. One or 2 gallons at a time, four or five times a day, will support life. Bear in mind that when the disease is established recovery can not occur in less than two or three weeks, and more time may be necessary. Good nursing and patience are required.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

As advised for cold in the head

As advised for cold in the head

Compel the animal to inhale steam from a bucketful of boiling water containing a tablespoonful of oil of turpentine and spirits of camphor, as advised for cold in the head. In serious cases the steam should be inhaled every hour, and in any case the oftener it is done the greater will be the beneficial results. Three times a day administer an electuary containing acetate of potash (2 drams), with licorice and molasses or honey. It is well to keep a bucketful of cold water before the animal all the time. If the horse is prostrated and has no appetite, give the following drench: Spirits of nitrous ether, 2 ounces; rectified spirits, 3 ounces; water, 1 pint. Repeat the dose every four or five hours if it appears to benefit. When the horse is hard to drench, give the following: Pulverized carbonate of ammonia, 3 drams; linseed meal and molasses sufficient to make the whole into a stiff mass; wrap it with a small piece of tissue paper and give as a ball. This ball may be repeated every four or five hours. When giving the ball care should be taken to prevent its breaking in the mouth, as in case of such accident it will make the mouth sore and prevent the animal from eating. If the bowels are constipated, give enemas of warm water. Do not give purgative medicines. Do not bleed the animal.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

The matter of first importance is to insure pure air to breathe

The matter of first importance is to insure pure air to breathe

Treatment. The matter of first importance is to insure pure air to breathe, and next to make the patient's quarters as comfortable as possible. A well-ventilated box stall serves best for all purposes. Cover the body with a blanket, light or heavy, as the season of the year demands. Hand-rub the legs until they are warm, then wrap them in cotton and apply flannel or Derby bandages from the hoofs to the knees and hocks. If the legs can not be made warm with hand rubbing alone, apply dry mustard. Rub in thoroughly and then put the bandages on; also rub mustard paste well over the side of the chest, covering the space beginning immediately behind the shoulder blade and running back about eighteen inches, and from the median line beneath the breast to within ten inches of the ridge of the backbone. Repeat the application to the side of the chest about three days after the first one is applied.

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Is one of the most fatal diseases

Is one of the most fatal diseases

Bronchitis, affecting the smaller tubes, is one of the most fatal diseases, while that of the larger tubes is never very serious. It must be stated, however, that it is an exceedingly difficult matter for a nonexpert to discriminate between the two forms, and, further, it may as well be said here that he will have difficulty in discriminating between bronchitis and pneumonia.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

The appetite is partially or wholly lost

The appetite is partially or wholly lost

Symptoms. The animal appears dull; the appetite is partially or wholly lost; the head hangs; the breathing is quickened; the cough, at first dry, and having somewhat the character of a "barking cough," is succeeded in a few days by a moist, rattling cough; the mouth is hot; the visible membranes in the nose are red; the pulse is frequent, and during the first stage is hard and quick, but as the disease advances becomes smaller and more frequent. There is a discharge from the nostrils that is at first whitish, but later becomes creamy or frothy, still later it is sometimes tinged with blood, and occasionally it may be of a brownish or rusty color. By auscultation, or placing the ear to the sides of the chest, unnatural sounds can now be heard. The air passing through the diseased tubes causes a wheezing sound when the small tubes are affected, and a hoarse, cooing, or snoring sound when the larger tubes are involved. After one or two days the dry stage of the disease is succeeded by a moist state of the membrane. The ear now detects a different sounds caused by the bursting of the bubbles as the air passes through the fluid, which is the exudate of inflammation and the augmented mucous secretions of the membrane. The mucus may be secreted in great abundance, which, by blocking up the tubes, may cause a collapse of a large extent of breathing surface. Usually the mucus is expectorated; that is, discharged through the nose. The matter is coughed up, and when it reaches the larynx much of it may be swallowed, and some is discharged from the nostrils. The horse can not spit, like the human being, nor does the matter coughed up gain access to the mouth. If in serious cases all the symptoms become aggravated, the breathing is labored, short, and quick, it usually indicates that the inflammation has reached the breathing cells and that catarrhal pneumonia is established. In this case the ribs rise and fall much more than natural. This fact alone is enough to exclude the idea that the animal may be affected with pleurisy, because in that disease the ribs are as nearly fixed as it is in the power of the animal to do so, and the breathing is accomplished to a great extent by aid of the abdominal muscles. The horse persists in standing throughout the attack. He prefers to stand with head to a door or window to gain all the fresh air possible, but if not tied may occasionally wander listlessly about the stall. The bowels most likely are constipated; the dung is covered with slimy mucus. The urine is decreased in quantity and darker in color than usual. The animal shows more or less thirst; in some cases the mouth is full of saliva. The discharge from the nose increases in quantity as the disease advances and inflammation subsides. This is rather a good symptom, as it shows that one stage has passed. The discharge then gradually decreases, the cough becomes less rasping, but of more frequent occurrence, until it gradually disappears with the return of health.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Bronchitis And Broncho-pneumonia.

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes. When this inflammation extends to the air sacs at the termini of the smallest branches of the bronchial tubes, the disease is broncho-pneumonia. Bronchitis affecting the larger tubes is less serious than when the smaller are involved. The disease may be either acute or chronic. The causes are generally much the same as for other diseases of the respiratory organs, noticed in the beginning of this article. The special causes are these: The inhalation of irritating gases and smoke and fluids or solids gaining access to the parts. Bronchitis is occasionally associated with influenza and other specific fevers. It also supervenes on common cold or sore throat.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

Guttural Pouches.

These two sacs are situated above the throat, and communicate with the pharynx, as well as with the cavity of the tympanum of the ear. They are peculiar to solipeds. Normally, they contain air. Their function is unknown.

One or both guttural pouches may contain pus. The symptoms are as follows: Swelling on the side below the ear and an intermittent discharge of matter from one or both nostrils, especially when the head is depressed.

The swelling is soft, and, if pressed upon, matter will escape from the nose if the head is depressed. As before mentioned, these pouches communicate with the pharynx, and through this small opening matter may escape. A recovery is probable if the animal is turned out to graze, or if he is fed from the ground, as the dependent position of the head favors the escape of matter from the pouches. In addition to this, give the tonics recommended for nasal gleet. If this treatment fails, an operation must be performed, which should not be attempted by any one unacquainted with the anatomy of the part.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

The windpipe is not subject to any special disease

The windpipe is not subject to any special disease

The windpipe is not subject to any special disease, but is more or less affected during laryngitis (sore throat), influenza, bronchitis, etc., and requires no special treatment. The membrane may be left in a thickened condition after these attacks. One or more of the rings may be accidentally fractured, or the tube may be distorted or malformed as the result of violent injury. After the operation of tracheotomy it is not uncommon to find a tumor or malformation as a result, or sequel, of the operation. In passing over this section attention is merely called to these defects, as they require no particular attention in the way of treatment. It may be stated, however, that any one of the before-mentioned conditions may constitute one of the causes of noisy respiration described as "thick wind."

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

The Windpipe.

The windpipe, or trachea as it is technically called, is the flexible tube that extends from, the larynx, which it succeeds at the throat, to above the base of the heart in the chest, where it terminates by dividing into the right and left bronchi the tubes going to the right and left lung, respectively. The windpipe is composed of about fifty incomplete rings of cartilage united by ligaments. A muscular layer is situated on the superior surface of the rings. Internally the tube is lined with a continuation of the mucous membrane that lines the entire respiratory tract, which here has very little sensibility in contrast to that lining the larynx, which is endowed with exquisite sensitiveness.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse

If the horse becomes very much debilitated

If the horse becomes very much debilitated

If the horse becomes very much debilitated, stimulants of a more pronounced character are required. The following drench is useful: Rectified spirits, 3 ounces; spirits of nitrous ether, 2 ounces; water, 1 pint. This may be repeated every four or five hours if it seems to benefit; or 6 ounces of good whisky diluted with a pint of water may be given as often, instead of the foregoing.

During the period of convalescence good nutritive feed should be allowed in a moderate quantity. Tonic medicines should be substituted for those used during the fever. The same medicines advised for the convalescing period of bronchitis are equally efficient in this case, especially the iodid of potash; likewise, the same general instructions apply here.

The chief causes of death in pneumonia are heart failure from exhaustion, suffocation, or blood poisoning from death (gangrene) of lung tissue. The greater the area of lung tissue diseased the greater the danger; hence double pneumonia is more fatal than pneumonia of one lung.

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Therefore they would only confuse

Therefore they would only confuse

There are many valuable medicines used for the different stages and different types of pneumonia, but in the opinion of the writer it is useless to refer to them here, as this work is intended for the use of those who are not sufficiently acquainted with the disease to recognize its various types and stages; therefore they would only confuse. If you can administer a ball or capsule, or have anyone at hand who is capable of doing it, a dram of sulphate of quinin in a capsule, or made into a ball, with sufficient linseed meal and molasses, given every three hours during the height of the fever, will do good in many cases. The ball of carbonate of ammonia, as advised in the treatment of bronchitis, may be tried if the animal is hard to drench. The heart should be kept strong by administering digitalis in doses of 2 drams of the tincture every three hours, or strychnia 1 grain, made into a pill with licorice powder, three times daily.

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A diet consisting principally of bran mashes

A diet consisting principally of bran mashes

A diet consisting principally of bran mashes, scalded oats, and, when in season, grass or corn fodder is preferable if the animal retains an appetite; but if no desire is evinced for feed of this particular description, then the animal must be allowed to eat anything that will be taken spontaneously. Hay tea, made by pouring boiling water over good hay in a large bucket and allowing it to stand until cool, then straining off the liquid, will sometimes create a desire for feed. The animal may be allowed to drink as much of it as he desires. Corn on the cob is often eaten when everything else is refused. Bread may be tried; also apples or carrots. If the animal can be persuaded to drink milk, it may be supported by it for days. Three or four gallons of sweet milk may be given during the day, in which may be stirred three or four fresh eggs to each gallon. Some horses will drink milk, while others will refuse to touch it. It should be borne in mind that all feed must be taken by the horse as he desires it; none should be forced down him. If he will not eat, you will only have to wait until a desire is shown for feed. All kinds may be offered, first one thing and then another, but feed should not be allowed to remain long in trough or manger; the very fact of its constantly being before him will cause him to loathe it. When the animal has no appetite for anything the stomach is not in a proper state to digest food, and if it is poured or drenched into him it will only cause indigestion and aggravate the case. It is a good practice to do nothing when there is nothing to be done that will benefit. This refers to medicine as well as feed. Nothing is well done that is overdone.

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This drug is one of the most active poisons

This drug is one of the most active poisons

Another and oftentimes fatal mistake made by the nonprofessional is the indiscriminate and reckless use of aconite. This drug is one of the most active poisons, and should not be handled by anyone who does not thoroughly understand its action and uses. It is only less active than prussic acid in its poisonous effects. It is a common opinion, often expressed by nonprofessionals, that aconite is a stimulant. Nothing could be more erroneous; in fact, it is just the reverse. It is one of the most powerful sedatives used in the practice of medicine. In fatal doses it kills by paralyzing the very muscles used in breathing; it weakens the action of the heart, and should not be used. Do not give purgative medicines. If constipation exists, overcome it by an allowance of laxative diet, such as scalded oats, bran, and linseed mashes; also, grass, if in season. If the costiveness is not relieved by the laxative diet, give an enema of about a quart of warm water three or four times a day.

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The quarters should be the best that can be provided

The quarters should be the best that can be provided

Treatment. The comfort and surroundings of the patient must be attended to first. The quarters should be the best that can be provided. Pure air is essential. Avoid placing the animal in a stall where he may be exposed to drafts of cold air and sudden changes of temperature. It is much better for the animal if the air is cold and pure than if it is warm and foul. It is better to make the animal comfortable with warm clothing than to make the stable warm by shutting off the ventilation. From the start the animal should have an unlimited supply of fresh, cold drinking water. Blanket the body. Rub the legs until they are warm and then put bandages on them from the hoofs up to the knees and hocks. If warmth can not be reestablished in the legs by hand rubbing alone, apply dry, ground mustard and rub well in. The bandages should be removed once or twice every day, the legs well rubbed, and the bandages replaced. Much harm is often done by clipping off hair and rubbing in powerful blistering compounds. They do positive injury and retard recovery, and should not be allowed. Much benefit may be derived from hot application to the sides of the chest if the facilities are at hand to apply them. If the weather is not too cold, and if the animal is in a comfortable stable, the following method may be tried: Have a tub of hot water handy to the stable door; soak a woolen blanket in the water, then quickly wring as much water as possible out of it and wrap it around the chest. See that it fits closely to the skin; do not allow it to sag so that air may get between it and the skin. Now wrap a dry blanket over the wet hot one and hold in place with three girths. The hot blanket should be renewed every half hour, and while it is off being wetted and wrung the dry one should remain over the wet part of the chest to prevent reaction. The hot applications should be kept up for three or four hours, and when stopped the skin should be quickly rubbed as dry as possible, an application of alcohol rubbed over the wet part, and a dry blanket snugly fitted over the animal. If the hot applications appear to benefit, they may be tried on three or four consecutive days. Unless every facility and circumstance favors the application of heat in the foregoing manner, it should not be attempted. If the weather is very cold or any of the details are omitted, more harm than good may result. Mustard may be applied by making a paste with a pound of freshly ground mustard mixed with warm water. This is to be spread evenly over the sides back of the shoulder blades and down to the median line below the chest. Care should be taken to avoid rubbing the mustard upon the thin skin immediately back of the elbow. The mustard-covered area should be covered with a paper and this with a blanket passed up from below and fastened over the back. The blanket and paper should be removed in from one to two hours. When pneumonia follows another disease, the system is always more of less debilitated and requires the careful use of stimulants from the beginning. To weaken the animal still further by bleeding him is one of the most effectual methods of retarding recovery, even if it does not hasten a fatal termination.

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The breathing becomes still more rapid and difficult

The breathing becomes still more rapid and difficult

When a fatal termination is approaching all the symptoms become intensified. The breathing becomes still more rapid and difficult; the flanks heave; the animal stares wildly about as if seeking aid to drive off the feeling of suffocation; the body is bathed with sweat; the horse staggers, but quickly recovers his balance; he may now, for the first time during the attack, lie down; he does so, however, in the hope of relief, which he fails to find, and with difficulty struggles to his feet; he pants; the nostrils flap; he staggers and sways from side to side and backward and forward, but still tries to retain the standing position, even by propping himself against the stall. It is no use, as after an exhausting fight for breath he goes down; the limbs stretch out and become rigid. In fatal cases death usually occurs in from 10 to 20 days after the beginning of the attack. On the other hand, when the disease is terminating favorably the signs are obvious. The fever abates and the animal gradually improves in appetite; he takes more notice of things around him; his spirits improve; he has a general appearance of returning health, and he lies down and rests. In the majority of cases pneumonia, if properly treated, terminates in recovery.

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By auscultation important information may be gained

By auscultation important information may be gained

By auscultation important information may be gained. When the ear is placed against the chest of a healthy horse, the respiratory murmur is heard more or less distinctly, according to the part of the chest that is beneath the ear. In the very first stage of pneumonia this murmur is louder and hoarser; also, there is a fine, crackling sound something similar to that produced when salt is thrown in a fire. After the affected part becomes solid there is an absence of sound over that particular part. After absorption begins one may again hear sounds that are of a more or less moist character and resemble bubbling or gurgling, which gradually change until the natural sound is heard announcing return to health.

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When affected with pneumonia a horse does not lie down

When affected with pneumonia a horse does not lie down

The animal prefers to have the head where the freshest air can be obtained. When affected with pneumonia a horse does not lie down, but persists in standing from the beginning of the attack. If pneumonia is complicated with pleurisy, however, the horse may appear restless and lie down for a few moments to gain relief from the pleuritic pains, but he soon rises. In pneumonia the breathing is rapid and difficult, but when the pneumonia is complicated with pleurisy the ribs are kept as still as possible and the breathing is abdominal; that is, the abdominal muscles are now made to do as much of the work as they can perform. If pleurisy is not present there is little pain. To the ordinary observer the animal may not appear dangerously ill, as he does not show the seriousness of the ailment by violence, as in colic, but a careful observer will discover at a glance that the trouble is something more serious than a cold. By percussion it will be shown that some portions of the chest are less resonant than in health, indicating exclusion of air. If the air is wholly excluded the percussion is quite dull, like that elicited by percussion over the thigh.

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Which in many cases is seen neither by the owner nor the attendant

Which in many cases is seen neither by the owner nor the attendant

Symptoms. Pneumonia, when a primary disease, is ushered in by a chill, more or less prolonged, which in many cases is seen neither by the owner nor the attendant, but is overlooked. The breathing becomes accelerated, and the animal hangs its head and has a very dull appearance. The mouth is hot and has a sticky feeling to the touch; the heat conveyed to the finger in the mouth demonstrates a fever; if the thermometer is placed in the rectum the temperature will be found to have risen to 103° F. or higher. The pulse is frequent, beating from fifty or sixty to eighty or more a minute. There is usually a dry cough from the beginning, which, however, changes in character as the disease advances; for instance, it may become moist, or if pleurisy sets in, the cough will be peculiar to the latter affection; that is, cut short in the endeavor to suppress it. In some cases the discharge from the nostrils is tinged with blood, while in other cases it has the appearance of muco-pus. The appetite is lost to a greater or less extent, but the desire for water is increased, particularly during the onset of the fever. The membrane within the nostrils is red and at first dry, but sooner or later becomes moist. The legs are cold. The bowels are more or less constipated, and what dung is passed is usually covered with a slimy mucus. The urine is passed in smaller quantities than usual and is of a darker color.

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But in many instances it is from neglect

But in many instances it is from neglect

Pneumonia may be directly induced by any of the influences named as general causes for diseases of the organs of respiration, but in many instances it is from neglect. A common cold or sore throat may be followed by pneumonia if neglected or improperly treated. An animal may be debilitated by a cold, and when in this weakened state may be compelled to undergo exertion beyond his strength; or he may be kept in a badly ventilated stable, where the foul gases are shut in and the pure air is shut out; or the stable may be so open that parts of the body are exposed to drafts of cold air. An animal is predisposed to pneumonia when debilitated by any constitutional disease, and especially during convalescence if exposed to any of the exciting causes. Foreign bodies, such as feed accidentally getting into the lungs by way of the windpipe, as well as the inhalation of irritating gases and smoke, ofttimes produce fatal attacks of inflammation of the lung and bronchial tubes. Pneumonia is frequently seen in connection with other diseases, such as influenza, purpura hemorrhagica, strangles, glanders, etc. Pneumonia and pleurisy are most common during cold, damp weather, and especially during the prevalence of the cold north or northeasterly winds. Wounds puncturing the thoracic cavity may cause pneumonia.

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The favorable termination of pneumonia is in resolution that is

The favorable termination of pneumonia is in resolution that is

The favorable termination of pneumonia is in resolution that is, a restoration to health. This is gradually brought about by the exuded material contained in the air cells and lung tissues being broken down and softened and absorbed or expectorated through the nostrils. The blood vessels return to their natural state, and the blood circulates in them as before. In the cases that do not terminate so happily the lung may become gangrenous (or mortified), an abscess may form, or the disease may be merged into the chronic variety.

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The pleura covering the affected parts may be more or less inflamed

The pleura covering the affected parts may be more or less inflamed

The pleura covering the affected parts may be more or less inflamed. A continuance of the foregoing phenomena is marked by a further escape of the constituents of the blood, and a change in the membrane of the cells, which becomes swollen. The exudate that fills the air cells and minute bronchial branches undergoes disintegration and softening when healing commences.

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The first stage of the disease consists of congestion

The first stage of the disease consists of congestion

The inflammation usually begins in the lower part of the lung and extends upward. The first stage of the disease consists of congestion, or engorgement, of the blood vessels, followed by leakage of serum containing fibrin from the blood vessels into the air passages. The fluids thus escaping into the air cells and in the minute branches of the little bronchial tubes become coagulated.

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Pneumonia, or Lung Fever.

Pneumonia is inflammation of the lungs. The chief varieties of pneumonia are catarrhal later discussed in connection with bronchitis, under the name of broncho-pneumonia and the fibrinous or croupous variety. The latter form receives its names from the fact that the air spaces are choked with coagulated fibrin thrown out from the blood. This causes the diseased portions of the lungs to become as firm as liver, in which condition they are said to be hepatized. As air is excluded by the inflammatory product, the diseased lung will not float in water.

Fonte: Diseases of the Horse