In treatment I have no confidence, having tried everything that could
be tried and completely failed. I would, however, recommend that
neither hay nor straw be given to animals labouring under the disease.
I lost a valuable bull, after he was recovering, from this cause. He
was allowed to eat too freely of hay, which he could not masticate; and
when opened after death, an ordinary bucketful of hay was found in his
stomach, as dry as when it was eaten. I have come to the conclusion
that no animal should be allowed hay or straw while unable properly to
masticate its food. It is well ascertained that when the poison is
lying dormant in an animal, it will infect the other cattle before it
is visible in itself. As a confirmation of this fact, I had a sale of
breeding stock after the Dumfries show, on Thursday, 30th August 1860.
The cattle seemed to be in perfect health on the day of the sale; about
three-fourths of them were removed on Friday. The day following--viz.,
Saturday--a cow was taken ill. I entertained fears that it might turn
out pleuro-pneumonia; and circulars were sent to the parties who had
removed their cattle. The buyers isolated the cattle bought at the sale
from their own stock. Two of the beasts that had been removed died,
other two took the complaint and recovered; but fortunately it did not
spread amongst the buyers other stock. The cow first taken ill
recovered, and another that was left over took the disease and
recovered. But, further, a bull was withdrawn from the sale and sent
home to Tillyfour from Dorsell the night of the sale, to all appearance
in perfect health, though he afterwards died of the disease. He was
watered at a watering-place on the roadside, where a crofter's cattle
watered daily. The crofter's cattle went down in the disease, and one
of them died. Many were the weary days and restless nights I endured
when the disease got fairly developed through two of my largest
steadings. It is in such cases that the value of a clear-headed
veterinary surgeon is appreciated. I would not be well away from one
steading, when a messenger would meet me with intelligence of some
disaster at the other. I had many beasts being fed on other farms as
well as those on my own--not fewer than 400 one way or other. I have
said how much I am indebted in such emergencies to the advice and
counsel of a clear-headed veterinary surgeon. The disease was in the
midst of my breeding stock, and two or three had succumbed to it. Mr
Sorely and I were brooding over this state of matters, when I asked him
whether he could do anything to save the herd. He said, "I will think
over it till to-morrow." He came on the morrow, and seven successive
evenings, and administered to each animal a drench, and he would trust
no one but himself to do it. I believe there were three changes of
medicine; not one animal which got the medicine took the disease,
although they had been standing in the midst of it. There was one
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account