The Farmer's Veterinarian: A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Farm StockBurkett, Charles William
Science
The Farmer's Veterinarian: A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Farm Stock
Burkett, Charles William
Veterinary medicine
The first and most important thing in the treatment of sprains is rest,
as sprains are a long time in making a complete recovery. In the early
stages, that is, before swelling has taken place, applications of cold
water should be used, applications of hot water, or hot packs of water,
1,000 parts, and bichloride of mercury 1 part, are very good. This will
relieve the pain and reduce the swelling. Applications of liniments are
also very good. Should there be great heat and soreness in the part, it
is well to use cold applications. Never blister in the early stages. A
blister may be used after the swelling has gone down, and the part has
become cold, from two to four weeks after the injury occurred. This
should be followed by rest for some time after all lameness has
disappeared.
=STAGGERS.=--Staggers in horses is an affection of the brain showing
itself usually in one of two forms--sleepy or stomach staggers and blind
or mad staggers. In the first form the stomach is at fault. Sudden
change of feed, moldy or dirty food heavy work or fast driving right
after a heavy meal or severe exposure is liable to cause indigestion in
the stomach and this is reflected to the brain, causing the animal to
act dull or sleepy, sometimes showing symptoms of serious colic, with
gas forming from the fermentation of the food, frequently resulting in
death.
Blind or mad staggers is an inflammation of the brain and may affect any
of the lower animals. In the beginning of this form the symptoms closely
resemble those in the stomach form, but as the inflammation progresses
the animal becomes blind and violent and may roll, paw, kick, wander
around in a circle, usually going only one way, either to the left or
right, or it may walk or run in a straight line as near as possible for
hours at a time--paying no attention to injuries received in its
travels. In either case the animal may be drenched once daily with a
quart of raw linseed oil or a pound of Glauber salts, dissolved in
water, which sometimes gives relief.
=Staggers in Sheep= is mostly caused by the young stage of a tapeworm
which infests sheep dogs. The dog eats the infected brain of the sheep
and the sheep eats the egg of the tapeworm after it has passed through
the dog. After the egg hatches in the stomach of the sheep the young
worm passes through the bowels and other organs or tissues or circulates
through the blood and reaches the brain, where it develops and causes an
inflammation, resulting in disease. It is most common in young animals,
rarely occurring in sheep after their second year.
Prevention is about the only practical way of handling this trouble. The
grounds should be thoroughly drained, allowing the animals only pure,
fresh water to drink. It may be necessary to change pastures for a year
or two. The brains of all sheep killed and the heads of all dying with
the disease should be burned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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