General [General]
O’ a’ the numerous human dools, Ill har’sts, daft bargains, and cully stools, Or worthy friends rak’d’ i’ the mools, Sad sight to see; The tricks o’ knaves, or fasts o’ fools, Thou bear’st the gree.
There has been a vast deal written and said about Pleuro- Pneumonia as its probable origin, whether it is infectious or contagious or both; some say it is, others say it is not. It has been described and redescribed minutely, so that there are very few agriculturists but what can detect an animal that is attacked with it; they can also tell that most of the animals that have been attacked with it have died, and they have lost all confidence in the usual mode of treatment. It is not at all uncommon to allow cattle attacked with Pleuro-Pneumonia to take their chance to live or die, as it may happen. And it appears that there are about the same number recover when left to themselves as there are when treated according to the usual plan. Homoeopathy shows better results, for the majority of those treated Homoeopathically are cured, radically cured not just patched up for a few weeks to be again attacked and die, but they thoroughly recover in every respect.
Pleuro-pneumonia presents itself to our notice under two forms the one acute, and the other less acute; the symptoms of the acute form are sudden loss of appetite, hurried breathing,
panting, breath hot, every third or fourth respiration accompanied with a grunt, pulse very much accelerated, sometimes small and hard, at other times full and bounding, but always very quick, extremities cold, or one fore and hind leg cold and the other hot, short husky cough, worse when the animal begins to move; if the ear is applied to the chest a sound may be heard something like that produced by agitating a sheet of thin paper; this form of the disease, if not promptly checked, generally ends in death in about eight or ten days.
REMEDIES: Aconite, Bryonia, Phosphorus and Squilla.
Aconite [Acon]
Aconite, must be used without delay, where the fever runs high, pulse accelerated, breathing hurried, dry heat of the skin.
Dose. Ten drops every one or two hours until eight doses are taken, or until the fever is subdued, then proceed with the next remedy.
Phosphorus [Phos]
Phosphorus or Bryonia, may be used in alternation with Aconite, after the more violent symptoms have been subdued and especially if there still remains much difficulty in breathing.
Dose. Six or ten drops every three or four hours.
Squilla [Squil]
Squilla, is indicated when there is foam about the mouth, and the animal breathes through the mouth, and lies with the head extended in a straight line with the body.
Dose. Ten drops every half to one hour, according to the violence of the symptoms.
Premonitory symptoms of Pneumonia in the Ox [Pre
monitory symptoms of Pneumonia in the Ox]
With regard to the less acute form of the disease, the symptoms are very varied, which makes it difficult to lay down any positive treatment; but there are what I shall call premonitory or warning symptoms, which, if attended to, will frequently prevent the disease becoming fully developed; these warning symptoms are a short dry husky cough, worse from motion, an unthrifty appearance of the coat, the animal is sometimes found by himself standing in a dull sleepy attitude; if he is examined at this time, the extremities will be found cold and the pulse quickened; if examined again at the end of an hour or two, the extremities will most likely be found warm, and little or on irregularity will be found in the pulse generally the appetite is not impaired, and the animal chews the cud, but mostly standing up. Well, these are not very alarming symptoms truly, and therefore they are seldom attended to, although this is the very time they ought to be attended to, and medicines administered to arrest the disease.
REMEDIES: Bryonia and Arsenicum.
Bryonia [Bry]
The Bryonia may be given first, a dose night and morning for a week; afterwards give the Arsenicum, a grain of the third trituration twice a day; no alteration need be made in the diet, and if the weather be wild and dry, the animal may be allowed to go with the others as usual.
If when an animal is observed to be in the state described above, and nothing is done to relieve it, other and more alarming symptoms soon show themselves, the appetite becomes impaired, and only a particular kind of food will be eaten, rumination is suspended or only rarely performed; if the patient is a cow, the milk is diminished, and at last wholly fails, the pulse becomes quickened, the breathing accelerated and irregular, the muzzle at times dry, hot and hard, at other times moist, the extremities are alternately hot and cold, but mostly the roots of the ears and horns are hot.
As the disease progresses the breathing becomes slower, more regular and accompanied with a grunting noise, the animal stands with the fore legs far apart, and remains in one position for hours at a time breathing through the mouth, about which a white foam collects; there is sometimes a discharge from the nose but I have frequently seen cases where there has been no discharge at all.
Now with regard to the treatment “ay, there’s the rub,” but the medicines that will be found most useful are Aconite, Bryonia, Phosphorus, Squilla and Arsenicum.
Aconite [Acon]
Aconite is indicated when there are general febrile symptoms; great benefit will often arise from giving Aconite and Bryonia alternately. Phosphorus, may be given when the breathing is accelerated, irregular and hurried; Squilla, is indicated when the breathing is through the mouth, and a grunting sound is heard, foam about the mouth, cough violent. I have seldom known Squilla fail to afford relief when administered under these circumstances. Arsenicum in grain doses of the 3rd trituration may be given if with the other symptoms the animal grinds its teeth, the coat is rough and staring and there is Diarrhoea.
Dose. The same as previously mentioned.
