Pleuro-Pneumonia affects horses, cattle, etc. but the ravages of this disease among cattle have of late years been of the most fearful character, and few that have been attacked with it have survived under the usual mode of treatment. It appears that as many recover when left to themselves as there are when treated on the Allopathic principle; and hence many farmers allow the cattle attacked with this disease to take their chance of living or dying. It is far otherwise with Homoeopathic treatment, under which the cure is rapid, complete, and lasting, in the great majority of cases.
SYMPTOMS.- Pleuro-Pneumonia sometimes attacks cows suddenly, and resisting all treatment, speedily terminates fatally; sometimes it is ushered in by extreme diarrhoea, followed by great wasting and exhaustion; and at other times it comes on gradually, without any visible departure from health at all corresponding with the serious nature of the disease. If the practised ear be applied to the sides of the chest at this stage of the disease, the respiratory murmur will be heard, but its character will be changed from the sound peculiar to health.
When the lungs are healthy, the respiratory murmur is of a moist but clear sound, not unlike the faint rustling of silk; but instead of this moist silky sound, the murmur will be either harsh and dry, or nothing will be heard but a confused humming noise. The supply of milk, which will be found diminished in quantity, will have a slight yellow tinge. The animal will be dull, and less anxious about her food. The second stage is marked by the cough becoming more frequent and inflicting severer pain during the act; the breathing is attended with great difficulty and pain, the cow is off her food, the milk is suppressed, and the cud is not chewed.
If at this stage proper treatment be not adopted, the disease gains great force; the breathing is much quickened, very laboured, and even agonising; the pulse becomes quicker, more feeble and irregular; and often imperceptible; the extremities are cold, and the skin covered with cold sweat; violent purging comes on, and death ensues, earlier or later, as the disease has been more or less rapid in its course.
CAUSES.- A great and sudden change from heat to cold, or from cold to heat; thus it prevails most at those seasons of the year when the weather is undergoing rapid changes, especially if the weather be damp and chilly; the crowding together of cattle in damp, dark ill-ventilated sheds; high and artificial mode of feeding, and contagion. The disease is considered by some to arise from a peculiar condition of the atmosphere, similar to that which occasions cholera in man.
TREATMENT.- The best remedies are : Aconite, Bryonia, Phosphorus Arsenicum, Ammonium, Causticum, and Sulph.
Aconitum.- The treatment of nearly every case should be commenced by the administration of this remedy, every one, two, or three hours, according to the urgency of the general symptoms. It is especially indicated when the breathing is short, painful, and anxious; the pulse quick and hard, and the mouth dry and hot, with other feverish symptoms.
Bryonia.- This remedy is often required after Aconitum, especially if the latter has only afforded partial relief; in which case it should be administered in alternation every hour; that is, Aconitum one hour, Bryonia the next hour, or more or less frequently, according to the symptoms. Bryonia is especially required if the cough is frequent and occasions severe pain in the chest, which may be inferred from the efforts of the animal to suppress the cough, and from its avoiding movements, lest the pain in the chest should be increased.
Phosphorus, when the respiratory murmur is suppressed or every obscure, the breathing much obstructed and the cough short and frequent, and attended often with a discharge of slimy or bloody phlegm. This is an important remedy in the complaint, and may be administered every first second, or third hour, according to circumstances.
Arsenicum is indicated by extreme debility; typhoid symptoms; wheezing, short, and difficult breathing; offensive discharge from the nostrils; severe purging, and when the disease is epidemic. It may be alternated with Bryonia or Phosphorus according to the symptoms.
Sulphur.- This medicine is required when improvement has set in, especially when the disease is complicated with bronchitis, and attended with a muco-purulent discharge from the nose. It aids recovery and protects from relapses.
PRECAUTIONARY MEANS.- As this complaint is generally quite manageable if the treatment is commenced early, farmers are strongly advised to notice its first symptoms, and at once proceed with the administration of the appropriate remedies. Food must be every sparingly given, and only gradually increased as the beast recovers. It should consist of mashes, oatmeal gruel, linseed tea, and after a few days, a small quantity of good jay. A return of the disease, which generally ends fatally, is likely to result from overloading the animal’s stomach before its perfect recovery. The animal must be separated from others unaffected. Prick in the Foot – Nail in the Fleshy Hoof.
CAUSES.- This injury may arise from a horse’s picking up a nail, a piece of glass, or a sharp stone; or may be caused by shoeing, a nail being sometimes driven in too near the inner border, or too obliquely; or the nail being driven in on the top of an old piece of nail, the latter is forced into the flesh. Often a horse twitches with the foot while the shoe is being put on. Sometimes the lameness is not perceived until a few days after the shoeing.
SYMPTOMS.- Lameness, with heat in the foot, and tenderness on pressure.
If the cause of the mischief is not removed, suppuration takes place, and the pus is discharged from the coronet. This affection may become very obstinate, if neglected.
TREATMENT.- If it is a recent wound, after the nail is pulled out pour a few drops of the tincture of Arnica into the cavity; and if the injury is soon removed, carefully insert another nail. If the wound is of some days’ duration, remove the shoe, and examine each single nail; a little blackish pus will be found attached to the nail that occasioned the wound; or by tapping the border of the hoof with a small hammer, the horse will twitch when the sore spot is touched. Enlarge the wound sufficiently to admit of the escape of the pus, and fill it up with cotton, saturated with Arnica lotion *1, and replace the shoe with a few nails, in order to prevent impurities from getting into the wound. This application may have to be renewed.
When the pus decreases, the swelling abates, and the lameness becomes less, we may conclude that the wound is healing.
If the horse is required for work before the horn has covered the wound, a leather sole and tar dressing must be used.
Arnica and Aconitum may be given internally every three or four hours in alternation, if there be much fever.
Purchasing of Horses.
The examination of horses intended to be purchased should first take place in the stable, where, if an animal is gay and sprightly, we may conclude favourably respecting its health; on the other had, if it is sad and its head hangs down, internal disease may be suspected. Fodder should be placed before it, which it ought to eat with a good appetite, without biting the manager; nor should any morbid-looking slime remain adhering to the crib.
The eyes should be examined in the stable near the door. The eyes must be bright and clear; in the dark the pupil has to dilate, and to contract again in the light. The best way to find this out is by holding the hand over the horse’s eye, and then suddenly removing it, when the sudden action of the bright light will cause the pupil to contract. Otherwise, we may conclude the eye diseased.
AMAUROSIS is a peculiar defect of the sight, which is only known to the experienced. It is a complete loss of sight with immobility and permanent contraction of the pupil, although the eye looks bright and clear. As regards the parts connected with the eye, the lids must be free from ulcerations, the canthia and lachrymal bones must not show any bald spots, and the orbits must be lean. The nostrils should be wide and open, and of a bright red within; the tongue and palate must not be injured; the teeth and gums should be sound.
See introductory chapter on the external remedies, general treatment of sick animals, etc.
After this examination in the stable, the horse should be taken on firm ground, and a careful examination made whether any defects are discoverable as to the due development and proportion of the different parts. The horse should be made to walk and trot, so that the intending buyer may observe the character of its movements, whether they are easy or limping, whether the legs are moved along in proper order, the horse sprightly, and whether any defects in the joints, legs, or fetlocks may be discovered by these means. Immediately after exercise the horse must not draw breath with widely dilated nostrils, or with the sides drawn up, or moved with redoubled quickness; nor must it cough hard or hoarse, as if the air passages were sore, or inflamed, or as if it would suffocate. Such a condition shows that the lungs are diseased, spasmodically irritated, more or less disorganised, and points to an affection termed broken wind.
Quittor
DEFINITION.- This consists in a sinus or sinuses in the foot, having an opening in the coronet between hair and hoof, and generally on the inside.
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."