CHAPTER IV.—PART II.

DISEASES OF THE URINARY AND REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEMS

Suppressed or Scanty Urination

This is usually the result of some disease of the kidneys, or a mere symptom of other morbid condition, or it may arise from a paralytic condition of the bladder itself. This condition will generally be promptly relieved by giving a few doses of H. H., twenty drops, at intervals of four, six or twelve hours, according to the urgency of the case.

Inflammation of the Kidneys, Nephritis

This disease has many symptoms in common with cystitis, or inflammation of the bladder, and its treatment scarcely differs. It occasionally occurs in cattle, and may be excited by blows upon the loins, calculi, or small stones formed in the kidneys, or by eating poisonous plants, or the use of strong allopathic medicines.

SYMPTOMS.—The animal brings the fore legs together, bends the back downward, and presses with pain when endeavoring to pass water; the loins are hot, more so than the remainder of the body, sometimes even burning. The rectum is hot, dung scanty and passed with pain. There is a great desire to pass water, but only a few drops escape, which is at first limpid, then thick, and of a deep red color. The gait is stiff, appetite gone, no rumination, but great thirst.

TREATMENT.—Give H. H., a dose of twenty drops, every two, three or four hours, according to the intensity of the disease.

Inflammation of the Bladder, Cystitis

This disease is not so common in cattle as in horses, but may be occasioned by cold or injuries in the region of the loins. It is manifested by the following.—

SYMPTOMS.—The animal constantly keeps the back arched; the walk is stiff, and the animal, when standing, leans against something on one side or the other; frequent effort to pass water, but to little purpose, as only a small quantity, of deep red color, is passed at a time. The bowels are bound, evacuations scanty and passed with pain. There is no appetite or rumination, but intense thirst; the eyes are prominent, and the countenance evinces great distress.

TREATMENT.—The H.H., will be found perfectly appropriate, and may be repeated, in doses of twenty drops, every three or four hours, until entire relief is experienced.

Hematuria—Discharge of Blood with the Urine

The discharge of blood with the urine is more apt to be a symptom of some other disease, such as Inflammation of the Kidneys or Bladder, or Texas Fever, than to be a disease in itself, although it may occur as such.

SYMPTOMS.—Hematuria usually attacks cattle at pasture on low marshy land. At first the quantity of blood is small, but it gradually increases, and it often forms clots which stop up the passages, causing retention of urine and even bursting of the bladder. The animal grows weak and pale, and sometimes drops of blood are seen on the hairs around the opening.

In some cases the animal appears to recover, but in a little while another attack occurs. The disease usually ends fatally, but only after about two years.

TREATMENT.—Although this disease is usually fatal, it is not known to be contagious; therefore we advise making every effort to save the animal. Give H.H., twenty drops every four hours at first, and as the disease mends, night and morning.

Parturition

The natural period of gestation is about nine calendar months, or from 270 to 285 days. For a month or three weeks before the time of calving—or, if poorly in condition, two months—the cow should be allowed to dry; otherwise the unnourished calf will be of little value when it is born. If the cow be milked too long, there is also danger of bringing down the new milk and causing puerperal fever, or inflammation of the udder. On the other hand, a cow should not be fed too high. For some weeks, as the time approaches, the food should be limited in quantity, and be given more frequently, otherwise the rumen will be so distended with food or gas as to press upon the uterus, alter the position of the fetus, and thus render parturition difficult.

Cows, when well attended to, calve very easily and require little assistance. For a few days there is a mucous discharge from the vagina; the animal is restless and uneasy; groans, and breathes more quickly; the udder rapidly enlarges; the abdomen drops. The cow should be allowed to be quiet; it is a cruel and dangerous practice to rouse and drive her about. The restlessness soon increases; the cow keeps getting up and lying down; at last she remains on the ground, and, if all goes well, the calf is soon born. The expulsive pains cause the exit of a considerable quantity of fluid, or of a pouch full of serum. When this pouch bursts, the pains increase and the calf is expelled. If there be any difficulty, the fetus may be drawn forward during a pain. The cord breaks of itself, at some distance from the umbilicus. The _afterbirth_, _cleansing_, or _placenta_, is not always passed at once; it may remain for several hours partly or wholly within the womb, causing some danger of fatal consequences; but manual interference should not be allowed till the action of medicines has been found ineffectual for its removal.

TREATMENT.—The general treatment has been sufficiently indicated in the foregoing. If the labor be tedious, a dose of A.A., will often help. After two hours, another dose might be given; and in some extreme cases, when the pains have nearly ceased, a dose of the G.G.; will often help.

The animal should be kept in a roomy, well-aired place, free from superfluous litter, covered immediately after calving if the least danger be apprehended; fed sparingly for some days, principally on mashes and small quantities of hay.

The udder should be frequently and well stripped of its contents.

Failure to come in Heat—Sterility

Failure to breed in the cow may occur in two different forms—first impotence, in which the cow fails to come in heat, and second, true sterility, in which, although she came in heat and was bred the service proved unfruitful.

The first of these cases may be due to some malformation of the sexual organs in which case it is incurable; but it is more often due to insufficient or over-feed, or lack of exercise, or over-work, or some depressing disease.

TREATMENT.—Correct the exercise and feeding, and give G.G., every night for a week, or, if the case is urgent, a dose morning and night, and then a dose daily until the result is manifest.

TRUE STERILITY may also be caused by malformations and be incurable, but is more often caused by other things such as a catarrhal condition of the vagina—Leucorrhea or to ardent heat, or insufficient food, or debility from disease.

THE TREATMENT for Leucorrhea or a catarrhal condition of the organs, which may be known by a constant or frequent discharge from the vagina, give G.G., each morning and J.K., at night, and continue this for several weeks, or until she is again served.

In addition dissolve one cake of fresh compressed yeast in a pint of tepid water, then after a few hours, add another pint. Then wash the vagina well with soap and water and use the dissolved yeast as a douche, this should be done daily for several days.

Where there is an excess of excitement, too ardent or too frequent, or even constant heat, give at first, H.H., a dose morning and night, for two or three weeks, then a dose or two of G.G., and the result will usually be satisfactory.

Where there is unthriftiness or want of good condition, correct the feeding and give G.G., morning and J.K., at night.

Cleaning after Calving

In some cases, from torpidity of the calf-bed, the afterbirth is retained, which may result in very serious consequences.

A dose of twenty drops of G.G., will soon cause its expulsion and the healthy cleaning of the animal. It may be repeated, at intervals of four hours, if necessary.

Flooding after Calving

Some blood is necessarily lost after calving, and it is only when the amount is excessive or continues some time, or threatens to weaken or destroy the animal, that the term flooding can be applied to it. It may be occasioned by injuries received during the process of delivery, or from the calf-bed not sufficiently contracting from atony or want of vigor or that organ.

The symptoms need not be described; any continuous flowing from the bearing, before or after delivery, and especially after the passage of the cleansing, should receive medication.

TREATMENT.—The cow should be kept quiet and be permitted to lie down, and twenty drops of the G.G., be given every hour, or even every half hour, in urgent cases.

Cold injections, cold, wet cloths, applied to the loins, or cold water poured upon the belly, are not necessary, and are not without danger.

Sore Teats

The teats crack into sores, which become painful, and discharge, the contents mingling with the milk; the pain occasioned during milking renders the cow restive, and soon tends to make her vicious and to keep back her milk; garget, hence, is apt to arise from the milk remaining in the udder and causing irritation.

TREATMENT.—HUMPHREYS’ VETERINARY OIL is sovereign for SORE TEATS. In bad cases, wash the teats carefully with warm water; and after drying with a soft cloth, apply the VETERINARY OIL, which repeat morning and night, simply oiling the sore places or cracks. Give also I.I., morning and night; and after three or four days the J.K., unless indeed the trouble has not been quite cured by the use of the I.I., and the VETERINARY OIL.

Garget, or Inflammation of the Udder

This is most liable to arise after the first calving, and may be traced to exposure to cold and damp, especially if the cow is in good condition, or from not milking the cow clean, so that the milk remains and causes irritation, or, in some cases, the bag may be wounded by lying upon it.

SYMPTOMS.—A portion of the bag becomes hot, painful and swollen; then hard lumps or “cakes” can be felt in the teats, or in one portion of the bag; other parts of it become affected in the same way; the pulse is full, quick and hard; breathing is quickened; the mouth and horns hot; bowels bound, and other symptoms of fever are present. If the disease is allowed to go on, the fever becomes more severe; the cow does not eat or chew the cud; the swelling, previously hard, becomes soft from the formation of matter; the milk becomes mixed with matter, and, in some cases, with blood. If the disease is not arrested or matter is not let out, it will spread, making its way slowly to the skin, through which it at last bursts, leaving deep, long ulcers, which heal with difficulty, and in many cases a portion of the udder is lost, as regards its power to produce milk. If this result is avoided by judicious treatment, some hardness may remain, which requires time to remove.

TREATMENT.—Keep the udder well milked out, and give the A.A., in alternation with C.C., and apply HUMPHREYS’ VETERINARY OIL. This will generally disperse the heat, hardness and inflammation. But should suppuration have come on, and the abscess point showing a soft spot, lance it, and continue C.C., and VETERINARY OIL, morning and night.

Dropping after Calving—Milk Fever—Puerperal Fever

This disease is of frequent occurrence and quite liable to be fatal, unless under proper homeopathic treatment. It is much more prevalent some seasons than others, owing, doubtless, to peculiar atmospheric conditions, and is more malignant some seasons than others.

There are certain causes which predispose to this disease; thus fat; stall-fed cows are more liable to it than poor or lean ones; the complaint is more common in the variable weather of early spring and late fall; a cow once having the disease is more liable to a return than others. The exciting causes are: exposure to cold and wet; driving the cow a long journey too soon; giving too much or too rich food soon after calving.

SYMPTOMS.—This fever usually begins shortly after calving, usually within twenty-four hours; if three or four days pass over, the cow may be considered safe from an attack. The earlier symptoms are: the cow refuses her food or only eats a little of it; she is depressed, hangs her head and looks dull; the horns are hot; the nose, instead of being damp with healthy dew, becomes hot and dry; the urine is scanty; the bowels are confined, or, if moved, the dung is hard and lumpy; the pulse is quicker and fuller than in health; the breathing is quickened and attended with heaving at the flanks.

To these warning symptoms are added, with more or less rapidity, the more formidable ones, which are often first to attract the attention of the owner. The milk is reduced in quantity or entirely stopped; the eyes glisten and look bright and staring; the white of the eye is covered with numerous red streaks, or is of a leaden color; the eye-balls are thrust forward in their sockets, and give the cow a somewhat wild and anxious expression; the hind legs seem weak, and are separated a little from each other; she appears to stand uneasily upon them, resting for a time on one foot and then changing to the other; this paddling and shifting from one leg to another continues as the difficulty of standing increases, until the animal supports herself by leaning against the stall; she does not chew the cud; all discharge from the bearing is stopped; the calf is neglected; the pulse becomes slower than before, and the breathing more difficult; the udder is hard and swelled, and little or no milk can be drawn from it; gradually becoming worse, the weakness in the hind legs increases, so they can no longer support her; she staggers and sways about, falling, at length, heavily on the ground; she struggles, tries to rise again, and may or may not succeed, but in either case soon loses the power of rising, and lies helpless upon the ground. In this stage of the complaint the symptoms vary. In some cases we have the following: The cow tosses her head from side to side, writhes her body and lashes her tail, struggles, stretches out her hind legs, moans and bellows, and seems to suffer great pain. The breathing is also difficult and labored; the skin covered with clammy sweat; the paunch enormously swollen from accumulated gas. Unless this swelling subsides, the breathing becomes more difficult and labored; the pulse more rapid and oppressed, so as scarcely to be counted; the legs very cold; pain is worse; fetid gas rises from the stomach, and death ensues.

In other cases the foregoing symptoms are absent, or exist only in a slight degree; and we have the following: The cow lies stretched out at full length on her side, or her head is brought to the opposite side, with the nose towards the shoulder and the chin on the ground; or the head is twisted directly backward, with the nose held out and the horns upon the shoulder, in the most awkward manner. The eyes are dim and glassy; the pupils are dilated, rounded, and do not contract at the approach of light; the ears drop; the mouth is partly open; the lower jaw drops if the head is raised; she has not the power to hold up her head; she has lost the sense of feeling, and can scarcely swallow, if at all; difficult, rattling breathing; pulse weak, slow and intermittent, or even imperceptible; horns, legs and surface cold and chilly; swelling of the belly increases; udder swelled, hard and sometimes red on the outside; in some cases dung and urine suppressed. All these symptoms become worse by degrees, and unless relieved, death ensues generally within two days from the attack, sometimes in a few hours.

TREATMENT.—The symptoms of this disease appear so suddenly, and run so rapid a course, that if the disease is prevailing, or there is reason from any cause to apprehend it, the cow should be watched about the time of calving, and a dose or two, of fifteen drops, of A.A., should be given soon after. This will act as a preventive, and arrest any premonitions of the disease, and we would counsel its continuance; at least an occasional dose, morning and night, for two or three days. It will favor the early and feverless production of milk.

Should the disease have made its appearance with evident fever, unequal warmth, bloating, suppressed discharge from the bearing, etc., give A.A., a dose of twenty drops, every two or three hours, until the disease is arrested.

Only in the last extremity, with labored breathing, extreme bloating, and entire loss or rapid failure of strength, the I.I., may be alternated with the A.A., at intervals of two hours, in doses of twenty drops, until the system rallies, when the two medicines may be continued at longer intervals.

NURSING AND CARE.—The cow should be placed in a clean, roomy stall, so as to be allowed to rise and to be attended with facility; laid on clean, dry straw, no dung allowed to remain, and be comfortably clothed, according to the season. The milk should be frequently drawn off and the udder hand rubbed. She should be with the fore part of her body higher than the hinder part, or on a level, with her legs under her in a natural position. She must be on her side and supported by bundles of straw, and on no account be allowed to lie out full stretched, in which position she will become worse and surely die. Small quantities of warm gruel are best for food.

There have lately come into vogue “Milk Fever Outfits” by means of which the udder is filled with sterilized air. While there can be no objection to this treatment either alone or in conjunction with the A.A. In our experience the A.A. alone is quite sufficient.

Abortion

Abortion or premature birth may occur from three different causes:

1—ACCIDENTAL ABORTION.—Caused by a blow; strain; slipping on a wet floor, over-strain from pulling a heavy load, etc.

2—ENZOOTIC ABORTION.—Due to some infectious disease of the mother.

3—CONTAGIOUS ABORTION.—A distinct disease which causes the death and expulsion of the fetus or its expulsion in a feeble state prior to the normal period.

SYMPTOMS OF THREATENED ABORTION.—In the first three months of pregnancy, the appearance of a bloody, watery or mucous discharge from the vagina. In the later months, uneasiness, swelling, heat and tenderness about the udder; secretion of milk; and straining as if in labor.

TREATMENT OF THREATENED ABORTION.—Give fifteen drops of G.G., every six hours, and the dose may be repeated two or three or more times should the threatening symptoms continue after the first or even the second dose has expended its action.

This interval should elapse between doses, as too rapid ones may even defeat the object, by over-excitement of the system, while a single dose often arrests an abortion if permitted to expand its action.

After a cow has actually aborted, it is almost impossible to tell whether it occurred from contagious abortion or from some other cause, so the safe thing to do is to act as if it had been contagious abortion.

TREATMENT OF CONTAGIOUS ABORTION.—The fetus and membranes should be burned. The premises occupied by the sick animal should be disinfected as follows: Remove all bedding and dirt possible and spray all available parts of barn with 3% formalin or 5% carbolic acid solution. Apply white wash containing 1 lb. chloride of lime to 3 gallons of whitewash, scatter quicklime on floor and gutters.

The animal which has aborted should receive daily a vaginal irrigation of two gallons of warm water containing 2% lysol until the vaginal discharge stops. The external parts about the vagina, including the hips and tail, should be washed thoroughly with soap and water and then with the lysol solution as above, twice daily. This should also be done to all exposed pregnant animals in the herd, being careful not to use the same cloth, solution, bucket or attendant, for the well animals that was used for the sick one.

Also give G.G., at intervals of six hours.

Falling and Protrusion of the Womb

After a difficult labor, or when manual help has been injudiciously applied, the womb may be everted or turned inside out. The organ then is partly or quite protruded and appears as a deep red mass covered with smooth red bodies (glands).

In order to replace, the cow should stand with the hind feet higher than the fore feet, the hand of the operator should be wrapped with a soft cloth soaked in warm milk and smeared with HUMPHREYS’ VETERINARY OIL, and _gentle pressure_ should be _continuously and carefully_ applied to the mass until it gradually returns to its proper position. Dry or inflamed parts should be washed in warm milk and kept well anointed with the VETERINARY OIL. Give also A.A., at first every three hours, and later alternate G.G., with the A.A., a dose once in six hours.

Where CASES of SIMPLE PROTRUSION OF THE ORGAN occur without retroversion, give A.A., morning and G.G., at night, feeding light easily digested food, which will be effective.