The American Reformed Cattle Doctor Part 12

Water, 2 quarts.

First pour the boiling water on the balm; after standing a few minutes, strain; then add the above ingredients.

JAUNDICE, OR YELLOWS.

THIS disease is well known to every farmer; the yellow appearance of the skin, mouth, eyes, and saliva at once betray its presence. It consists in the absorption of unchanged bile into the circulation, which bile becomes diffused, giving rise to the yellow appearances.

In the treatment of jaundice, we first give a dose of physic, (see APPENDIX,) and a.s.sist its operation by injections of weak lie, made from wood ashes. The animal may roam about in the barn-yard, if the weather will permit; or rub the external surface briskly with a wisp or brush, which will answer the same purpose. The following may be given in one dose, and repeated every day, or every other day, as the symptoms may require:--

Powdered golden seal,(_hydrastus canadensis_), 1 table-spoonful.

" slippery elm, 2 ounces.

Water sufficient to make it of the consistence of gruel.

Should a diarrhoea set in, it ought not to occasion alarm, but may be considered as an effort of nature to rid the system of morbific matter.

It will be prudent, however, to watch the animal, and if the strength and condition fail, then add to the last prescription a small quant.i.ty of powdered gentian and caraway seeds.

There are various forms of disease in the liver, yet the treatment will not differ much from that of the last-named disease. There is no such thing as a medicine for a particular symptom, in one form of disease, that is not equally good for the same symptom in every form. In short, there is no such thing as a specific. Any medicine that will promote the healthy action of the liver in one form of jaundice will be equally good for the same purpose in another form of that disease.

Mr. Youatt states, "There are few diseases to which cattle are so frequently subject, or which are so difficult to treat, as jaundice, or yellows." Hence it is important that the farmer should know how and in what manner the disease may be prevented. And he will succeed best who understands the causes, which often exist in overworking the stomach, with a desire to fatten. Men who raise cattle for the market often attempt to get them in fine condition and flesh, without any regard to the state of the digestive organs, the liver included; for the bile which the latter secretes is absolutely necessary for the perfection of the digestive process. They do not take into consideration the state of the animals' health, the climate, the quality of food, and the quant.i.ty best adapted to the digestive powers; and what is of still greater importance, and too often overlooked, is, that all animals should be fed at regular intervals. Some men suppose that so long as their cattle shall have good food, without any regard to quant.i.ty,--if they eat all day long, and cram their paunch to its utmost capacity,--they must fatten; when, in fact, too much food deranges the whole digestive apparatus. As soon as the paunch and stomach are overloaded, they press on the liver, interfering with the bile-secreting process, producing congestion and disorganization.

Diseases of the liver may be produced by any thing that will for a time suspend the process of rumination: the known sympathy that exists between the stomach and liver explains this fact.

Digestion, like every other vital process, requires a concentration of power to accomplish it: now, if an ox should have a bountiful meal, and then be driven several miles, the process of digestion, during the journey, will be partly suspended. The act of compelling an ox to rise, or annoying him in any way, will immediately suspend rumination, which may result in an acute disease of the liver. In most cases, however, the stomach is primarily affected.

Dealers in cattle often overfeed the animals they are about to dispose of, in order to improve their external appearance, and increase their own profits: the consequence is, that such animals are in a state of plethora, and are liable at any moment to be attacked with congestion of the liver or brain.

Again. If oxen are driven a long journey, and then turned into a pasture abounding in highly nutritious gra.s.ses or clover, to which they are unaccustomed, they fill the paunch to such an extent that it becomes a matter of impossibility on the part of the animal to throw it up for rumination; this ma.s.s of food, being submitted to the combined action of heat and moisture, undergoes fermentation; carbonic acid gas is evolved; the animal is then said to be "blown," "hoven," or "blasted." Post mortem examination, in such cases, reveals a highly-congested state of the liver and spleen.

In fattening cattle, the injury done to the organs of digestion is not always observed in the early stages; for the vital power, which wages a warfare against all encroachments, endeavors to accommodate itself to the increased bulk; yet, by continuing to give an excess of diet, it finally yields up the citadel to the insidious foe. Chemical action then overpowers the vital, and disease is the result.

Thousands of valuable cattle are yearly destroyed by being too well, or, rather, injudiciously fed. Many diseases of the liver and digestive organs result from feeding on unwholesome, innutritious, and hard, indigestible food. Bad water, and suffering the animal to partake too bountifully of cold water when heated and fatigued, are among the direct causes of disease.

DISEASES OF THE MUCOUS SURFACE.

The mucous membrane is a duplicature of the skin, and is folded into the external orifices of the animal, as the mouth, ears, nose, lungs, stomach, intestines, and bladder; but not being so much exposed to the action of external agents, it is not so strong or thick as the skin. It performs, however, nearly the same office as the skin. If the action of one is suppressed, the other immediately commences the performance of its office. Thus a common cold, which collapses the skin, immediately stops insensible perspiration, which recedes to the mucous membrane, producing a discharge from the nose, eyes, bowels, &c. So, when great derangement of the mucous membrane exists, debilitating perspiration succeeds. In the treatment of diseases of the mucous membrane, we endeavor to remove the irritating causes from the organs affected, restore the general tone of the system, and invite action to the external surface.

CATARRH, OR HOOSE.

This disease often arises from exposure to wet or cold weather, and from the food being of a bad quality, or deficient in quant.i.ty. If the animal is enfeebled by poor feed, old age, or any other cause, then there is very little resistance offered against the encroachments of disease: hence young beasts and cows after calving are often the victims.

_Treatment._--It is necessary to attend to this disorder as soon as it makes its appearance; for a common cold, neglected, often lays the foundation of consumption. On the other hand, a little attention in the early stages, and before sympathetic action sets in, would set all right. The first indication to be fulfilled is to invite action to the surface by friction and counter-irritants. The following liniment may be applied to the feet and throat:--

Olive oil, 4 ounces.

Oil of cedar, 1 ounce.

Liquid ammonia, half an ounce.

Rub the mixture in well; then give

Gruel, 1 quart.

Powdered licorice, 1 ounce.

Composition, half a tea-spoonful.

Give this at a dose, and repeat two or three times during the twenty-four hours. A drink of any warm aromatic tea, _such as pennyroyal, hyssop, catnip or aniseed will have a good effect_. The diet should consist of scalded meal, boiled carrots, flaxseed, or any substance that is light and easy of digestion. Should the discharge increase and the eyelids swell, recourse must be had to vapor, which may be raised by pouring vinegar on a hot brick; the latter held, with a pair of tongs, beneath the animal's nose, at the same time covering the head with a blanket. A small quant.i.ty of bayberry bark may occasionally be blown up the nostrils from a quill. It is very important, during the treatment, that the animal be in a warm situation, with a good bed of straw to rest on. If the glands under the jaw enlarge, the following mixture should be rubbed about the throat:--

Neat's foot oil, 4 ounces.

Hot drops, 2 ounces.

Vinegar, 1 gill.

If the disease a.s.sumes a chronic form, and the animal is evidently losing flesh, then give the following:--

Golden seal, powdered, 1 table-spoonful.

Caraway seeds, " 1 "

Divide into three parts; which may be given daily, (in thin gruel,) until the animal is convalescent.

EPIDEMIC CATARRH.

This often prevails at particular seasons, and spreads over whole districts, sometimes destroying a great number of cattle. It is a disorder whose intensity varies considerably, being sometimes attended with a high grade of fever, at other times quickly followed by general debility.

_Treatment._--This requires the same treatment as the last-named disease, but only more thoroughly and perseveringly applied; for every portion of the system seems to be affected, either through sympathetic action or from the absorption of morbid matter. Hence we must aid the vital power to maintain her empire and resist the encroachments on her sanative operations by the use of antiseptics and stimulants. The following is a good example:--

Powdered charcoal, 1 ounce.

" bayberry bark, half an ounce.

" pleurisy root, 1 ounce.

Honey, 1 table-spoonful.

Thin gruel, 1 quart.

MALIGNANT EPIDEMIC, (MURRAIN.)

This disease has been more or less destructive from the time of Pharaoh up to the present period. For information on the origin, progress, and termination of this malignant distemper, the reader is referred to Mr.

Youatt's work on cattle.

_Treatment._--The indications to be fulfilled are, first, to preserve the system from putrescence, which can be done by the use of the following drink:--

Powdered capsic.u.m, 1 tea-spoonful.

" charcoal, 2 ounces.

Lime water, 4 ounces.

Sulphur, 1 tea-spoonful.