Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 4 (of 5)Law, James
Science
Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 4 (of 5)
Law, James
Veterinary medicine
_Sheep and Goat._ Show the same general rigidity of trunk and limbs, the
drawing of the head and neck upward and backward, the elevation of nose
and tail and the firm closure of the jaws. As the disease advances they
may lie on the side with legs straitened and rigid and head and tail
raised toward the back. The occlusion of the eye by the haw is the same
as in the horse.
In _swine_ the spasms begin with the jaws and face, and extend to the
neck, back and limbs with the same general symptoms as in other animals.
Champing of the jaws and profuse frothing at the mouth have been noted
and the protrusion of the haw is characteristic. As in sheep, the animal
may lie on its side with head and limbs rigid and an early death may be
looked for. Convulsions are easily distinguished by their transient
character.
_In dogs_ tetanus is rare. Möller had two cases in 50,000 sick dogs,
Friedberger and Fröhner but one out of 70,000. Cadiot saw two cases in
ten years of the Alfort clinic. Labat had several cases in sheep dogs. A
slight transient trismus has been noticed as common in puppies. When
generalized there is stiffness of the trunk and limbs, abduction of the
members. The spine may be straight and rigid or drawn upward and
backward, and the loins depressed. The haw covers the eye more or less,
the lips are rigid, the jaws clenched, and the skin of the forehead
wrinkled. The ears are stiff and drawn toward each other, or backward.
The reflex excitability is as great as in the horse, the slightest touch
or sudden noise producing violent paroxysms. Inability to bark is a
marked feature. Temperature may be normal or up to 107° F.
_In birds_ it is very rare, in keeping with the insusceptibility to
strychnia, ergot and other tetanizing agents. Dreymann gives one case in
a _turkey_, and Babes’ experimental cases in pigeons and chickens from a
specially virulent bacillus obtained from the horse. The pigeons
suffered much more certainly and severely than the chickens, in which
there was a marked power of resistance. Dreymann’s turkey moved with
stiff limbs and body, had the wings clinging firmly to the body, the
head and neck extended and the bill firmly closed. The haw protruded
over the eye, and there was hurried and oppressed breathing.
_Course._ _Duration._ The course of tetanus varies with the genus
affected, with the individual susceptibility and above all with the
length of the incubation, and severity of the attack. Cases that set in
with great violence after an incubation of two or three days or less are
likely to advance to an early death. An early generalization of the
spasms, with high temperature (104° F), hurried breathing, congestion of
the mucosæ and extreme excitability may end fatally in twenty-four hours
or within a week.
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