Even after the ringbone has developed

Even after the ringbone has developed

Even after the ringbone has developed

Treatment. The preventive treatment consists in keeping colts well nourished and in trimming the hoof and shoeing to balance the foot properly and thus prevent an abnormal strain on the ligaments. Even after the ringbone has developed, a cure may sometimes be occasioned by proper shoeing directed toward straightening the axis of the foot as viewed from the side by making the wall of the hoof from the coronet to the toe continuous with the line formed by the front of the pastern. So long as inflammation of the periosteum and ligaments remains, a sharp blister of biniodid of mercury and cantharides may do good if the animal is allowed to rest for four or five weeks. If this fails, some success may be accomplished by point firing in two or three lines over the ringbone. It is necessary to touch the hot iron well into the bone, as superficial firing does little good. When all these measures have failed to remove the lameness, or when the animal is not worth a long and uncertain treatment, a competent veterinarian should be engaged to perform double neurectomy, high or low, of the plantar nerves, or neurectomy of the median nerve as indicated by the seat of the lesion.