Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 2 (of 5)Law, James
Science
Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 2 (of 5)
Law, James
Veterinary medicine
In the cases attended by diuresis, the weakness is extreme, emaciation
advancing rapidly, but the other symptoms of nervous depression are less
marked, the poisons being apparently eliminated by the kidneys (see
_diuresis_).
In the =Vertiginous form= the disease may set in with more or less
hyperthermia, anorexia, a dislike particularly of the spoiled fodder,
yellowness of the visible mucosæ, slow breathing, small accelerated
pulse, costiveness, tympany, colics more or less intense, tenderness of
the belly, and sooner or later marked nervous disorder. This may be in
the form of stupor, the head resting in the manger, the senses are
manifestly clouded, the animal walks unsteadily, staggers, steps
heavily, striking the feet against obstacles, and stumbling. At the end
of a variable number of hours (2 to 6 or 8 after feeding) nervous
excitability and vertigo may supervene. He may push the head against the
wall, the jaws clenched, grinding the teeth, the eyes fixed, pupils
dilated, facial muscles contracted, respirations hurried, heart
palpitating and the skin perspiring. He may continue in this position,
moving his feet as if walking, or he may rear plunging his feet into the
manger or fall back over, and rising push anew against any object he may
come in contact with. Coulbaux speaks of rabiform symptoms such as
attempts to bite but any such deliberate purpose is rare.
There may follow complete amaurosis, insensibility to pricking of the
skin, and even paralysis or coma. Hyperæsthesia may also be temporarily
present.
_Course._ Remissions and exacerbations usually alternate, the duration
of the former furnishing some criterion by which to establish a
favorable prognosis. Death may take place in 24 hours or it may be
delayed for several days. Recovery is usually heralded by the resumption
of defecation and urination, and the return of appetite. It is liable to
be at first only partial, some of the senses remaining dull, or a
general stupor persisting.
_Diagnosis._ In all such forms of poisoning there is the history of
the ingestion of the toxic matters, and in any suspicious looking
cases a careful examination of the food should be made. From
meningo-encephalitis the presence of the abdominal disorder will serve
to identify and to incriminate the food.
_Lesions._ These vary much with the poison. There is always, however,
inflammation of the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, usually with
ecchymosis, and infiltration of the submucosa. The contents of the
bowels are imperfectly digested, the mesenteric glands congested and
enlarged, the liver congested and softened, and the brain and its
meninges hyperæmic or infiltrated. The leucine and tyrosine present in
the urine during the acute attack is said to disappear when improvement
sets in (Pellagi, Azzaroli).
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