Special Report on Diseases of the HorseUnited States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Science
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse
United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Horses -- Diseases
Though cruelly excised for alleged "hooks," when itself perfectly
healthy, in the various diseases which lead to retraction of the eye
into its socket, the haw may, like other bodily structures, be itself
the seat of actual disease. The pigmentary, black tumors of white horses
and soft (encephaloid) cancer may attack this part primarily or extend
to it from the eyeball or eyelids; hairs have been found growing from
its surface, and the mucous membrane covering it becomes inflamed in
common with that covering the front of the eye. These inflammations are
but a phase of the inflammation of the external structures of the eye,
and demand no particular notice nor special treatment. The tumors lead
to such irregular enlargement and distortion of the haw that the
condition is not to be confounded with the simple projection of the
healthy structure over the eye when the lids are pushed apart with the
finger and thumb, and the same remark applies to the ulceration, or
caries, of the cartilage. In the latter case, besides the swelling and
distortion of the haw, there is this peculiarity, that in the midst of
the red inflamed mass there appears a white line or mass formed by the
exposed edge of the ulcerating cartilage. The animal having been thrown
and properly fixed, an assistant holds the eyelids apart while the
operator seizes the haw with forceps or hook and carefully dissects it
out with blunt-pointed scissors. The eye is then covered with a cloth,
kept wet with an eyewash, as for external ophthalmia.
OBSTRUCTION OF THE LACRIMAL APPARATUS, OR WATERING EYE.
The escape of tears on the side of the cheek is a symptom of external
inflammation of the eye, but it may also occur from any disease of the
lacrimal apparatus which interferes with the normal progress of the
tears to the nose; hence, in all cases when this symptom is not attended
with special redness or swelling of the eyelids, it is well to examine
the lacrimal apparatus. In some instances the orifice of the lacrimal
duct on the floor of the nasal chamber and close to its anterior outlet
will be found blocked by a portion of dry mucopurulent matter, on the
removal of which tears may begin to escape. This implies an inflammation
of the canal, which may be helped by occasional sponging out of the nose
with warm water, and the application of the same on the face. Another
remedy is to feed warm mashes of wheat bran from a nosebag, so that the
relaxing effects of the water vapor may be secured.
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