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
=GASTRITIS.=--A rather uncommon disease in domestic animals and the
result of a disturbance in the stomach, with inflammation following,
caused by irritating substances, usually of a poisonous nature. A common
symptom is nausea and pain like colic. Indeed, the ordinary outward
signs of colic are observed. At first the pulse is strong, which
weakens, and runs rapidly, from 80 to 100 beats a minute. As the disease
progresses the pulse becomes irregular and the animal dull and listless.
Treatment consists of simple agents. If the disturbance is due to some
potassium compound, give oil; if to ammonia, give vinegar; if from
turpentine, give oil and opium, the opium in teaspoonful doses every
couple hours. After recovery, let only easily digested food be provided.
=GID IN SHEEP.=--A disease of the brain due to a worm in the brain
substance. This worm, known as the bladder worm, is a form of the
tape-worm of the dog at an early stage of its existence. The eggs of
this worm, on being swallowed, are hatched in the stomach, from which
they enter into the circulation, finally lodging in the brain and spinal
cord. Those that lodge elsewhere, as in the heart and lungs, grow for a
time and then disappear. The most conspicuous symptom is the staggering,
stupefied condition of the affected animal.
In walking, if a single side is affected, a circle is described. The
feet are raised as if the animal did not see well. In many cases
blindness results. The growth of the worm is somewhat rapid. In about
three weeks after the appearance of the disease a softened condition of
the skull results, which may be found by pressing the fingers over it.
From this it will be observed that there is practically no treatment for
animals affected. Occasionally the skin is accidentally broken over the
point where the worm is encysted, out of which it emerges and the sheep
recovers.
Treatment, therefore, is along the line of this natural recovery. Find
the soft spot by pressing the fingers over the skull, then introduce the
trocar and canula. Withdraw the trocar, apply a syringe to the canula,
and withdraw the contents of the cyst within. Of course, inflammation of
the brain may set in and the sheep die from this, or another worm may be
present and grow, thus causing continued disease. Inasmuch as the
bladder worm of sheep is a stage of the tape-worm of the dog, it follows
that destroying all affected sheep, so as to prevent the dogs from
becoming reinfested from it, is the only really safe and satisfactory
method of warding off the trouble.
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