Manual of veterinary homeopathy

Chill

This term is used to designate a transitory state or condition, which may either terminate in recovery, or in severe inflammatory disease of some important organ or affection, of which the chill is the first stage. When a chill is present it is impossible to say, with certainty, whether or what further derangement will ensue. But it is quite certain an abnormal condition is already present, with the probability that it will develop some disease or inflammation, of which we now have the first or forming stage. Usually the length and violence of the chill is in proportion to the importance of the organ attacked, and the character of the morbid influence.

The direct causes of a chill are: exposing the animal to cold draughts; allowing him to drink freely of cold water, in very hot or during very cold weather; exhausting him with labor and then placing him in a damp stable; washing the legs with cold water, or riding him (while in a state of perspiration), into a stream of cold water.

Symptoms.—The symptoms which are usually observed before the chili proper sets in, are: dullness or want of spirit on entering a stable after a journey; hanging of the head; standing fixedly in one place; taking little or no notice when spoken to; smelling at the food; picking amongst it for a short time and then leaving it altogether. In addition to these, the eye is dull and countenance dejected; the animal grinds his teeth and breathes quicker than usual, while the pulse is rarely or never disturbed at the commencement. Soon the coat will begin to prick and the animal will begin to tremble with considerable violence; his breathing will become more hurried, attended with a harsh blowing sound in the nasal passages; the pulse still retaining its usual slow beat. Sometimes the breathing becomes quick, hurried and loud “panting.” This condition may continue half an hour, or even two hours or more, when the patient will become more quiet, the breathing softer, more tranquil, the skin and extremities warmer, and the pulse rises to fifty or even sixty beats to the minute. From this condition the attack may, under judicious treatment, pass off, and speedy recovery ensue; or, it may pass into a Catarrhal Fever, or Pneumonia, or Bronchitis, or Lymphitis, or Laminitis, or Inflammation of the bowels, or what is quite common, a bad, obstinate cough.

Treatment.—With as little delay as may be, the patient should be comfortably housed and blanketed, and fifteen drops of A.A., should be given. If not better in half an hour, repeat it, and again at intervals of half an hour, until the trembling and respiration have been relieved and the chill has passed off. Then the animal may be safely left under the influence of the same medicine, to be repeated every two or three hours, so long as circumstances seem to require it.

Should any of the diseases above mentioned, or other, have become developed, the treatment must be varied to meet that condition; the particulars of which are to be sought under the respective sections in this Manual. But it will most frequently be found that having met and conquered the enemy at the threshold, but little more remains to be done beyond care and rest, for the entire recovery of the animal.

Cold, Grippe, Catarrh

The nose and air-passages are lined with a delicate membrane, whose office it is to secrete a thin mucous which lubricates the parts. Under the influence of a chill, suppressed perspiration, etc., this membrane becomes irritated, inflamed, and the discharge arrested, or it is thickened, increased, or variously modified.

The symptoms usually are, the horse is not so lively as usual; he eats little or no food; he coughs and sneezes; a watery discharge flows from one or both nostrils, and also from the eyes, which are red and swelled.

In the more severe form, there is a chill, warm skin, quick pulse, frequent and somewhat difficult breathing, sore throat, pain in the throat when pinched, frequent cough, rough coat, bound bowels, red eyes, and red and I dry nose; tears flow freely, and little or no food is eaten—all symptoms indicating a catarrhal fever. As the animal improves, the discharge from the nose becomes white or yellowish, and more profuse.

Where numerous horses are attacked about the same time, the symptoms assume a more severe form, attended with a greater degree of prostration than in cases of common cold, and it then merits the name of Influenza. The symptoms of one year vary from those of another, and during the same season all animals are not handled alike, though the general outline will be the same. The attending fever is of a low grade, comes on suddenly, and soon reaches its height, and lowness of spirits and weakness are predominant. The symptoms are often as follows:

The horse is dull, low-spirited, and easily tired; he yawns and hangs his head; his coat stares; sweats easily, and breathes quickly, when slightly worked or moved. He eats little or nothing. As the disease advances, the skin is sometimes hot and again cold; the mouth and tongue are dry and hot; the white of the eye and nose are red; the bowels bound; urine scanty; the eyelids swelled, partly closed, tears flow down the face and fret the skin. The sides of the nostrils are also fretted by the acrid discharge from them, which is sometimes very profuse. The throat may be so inflamed that swallowing is attended with pain and difficulty—the animal “quids” his food, and splashes the water with his muzzle, being afraid to swallow either fluid or solid food. The throat is painful, hot, and swelled on the outside; the glands are also swelled, hard and painful, and sometimes come to a head. The cough is frequent, sometimes coming on in fits, and breathing is sometimes quite obstructed and difficult. When the disease has lasted some time, the dung is slimy and mixed with blood, and the discharge from the nose is sometimes bloody.

A common cold may terminate in inflammation of the bronchia or lungs, by extending downward, or it may be cured and expend itself merely in the nose and throat. So an Influenza may extend and involve the pulmonary tissue, and is far more grave than is usually supposed.

Treatment.—When the disease commences with a chill, or any considerable degree of fever is present, give fifteen drops of A.A., and repeat it several times, at intervals of one or two hours. Then alternate the Remedy E.E., with the fever medicine, at intervals of two or three hours, until the disease is broken up and the horse is well. In case of Influenza, even with very threatening symptoms, the E.E., and A.A., should be given alternately, say every two hours, in doses of fifteen drops; keeping the animal well covered and in a warm stable. After all the feverish symptoms have disappeared, only the E.E., will be required, and the intervals between the doses may be prolonged as the animal improves. In case the discharge from the nose is profuse or thick and excoriating, or when the sore throat is present, or predominates, C.C., is better than the E.E., and may be given alone, or better, in alternation with A.A.

When the legs become swelled, with scanty urine, H.H., should be interposed, either alone or in alternation with C.C., at the same intervals and doses, and this may be continued to the conclusion of the case, either alone or in alternation with the E.E.

Influenza—Pink Eye—Horse Distemper

This disease is well known among horse dealers, and in the stables of all our large cities. It is not so often found in the open country, but cases occur where green or young horses are taken from pasture and subjected to the closer atmosphere and changed diet of a warm stable. It is generally found among green horses who have been brought from the country to our large cities for sale or use, and quite, a large proportion of all such horses are more or less seriously affected by it. The disease is really a Catarrhal Influenza, whose symptoms are variously modified and only possibly received the now generally accepted name of Pink Eye, from a frequent appearance of the eye in the earlier stages of the malady. The supposed causes have been sufficiently above hinted.

Symptoms.—There is a wide diversity in the symptoms, but the more common manifestations are as follows: The horse is first observed to be dumpish, dull and disinclined to move, or moving clumsily, and looks as if he had been sick; the vessels of the eye are distended, turgid, the inner lid and corners being unnaturally red (whence, probably, the name), the lids become swollen, the animal shrinks from the light and tears trickle over the eyelid, and lumps of purulent matter occasionally gum up or fill the angles. The head seems heavy and hangs down, or he rests it upon the manger. First one hind leg and then the other swells and becomes infiltrated with fluid, extending from the fetlock up and filling the sheath, and often along under the belly with an immense infiltration of fluid. This swelling is considered characteristic, comes on suddenly, affects the whole limb, groin and sheath. The hair from the first looks unhealthy, and has a rough feeling; the ears, nose and limbs are cold or wet, according to the stage of the disease. The appetite is poor from the first, and an attempt to swallow shows that the throat is sore; the fauces will be found inflamed, the tongue is foul, thickly coated, and saliva runs freely, though in some cases the mouth is dry and feverish; the dung is voided in small quantities, as all the functions seem torpid. In some cases the glands of the neck become involved, tenderness and swelling is found on examination, and this swelling may soften and terminate in an abscess under the jaw. There is not unfrequently a cough. After a few days, a discharge from the nose sets in, which is considered a favorable crisis.

Treatment.—The patient should have the benefit of a pure atmosphere—the more elevated, pure and uncontaminated, the better to arrest blood deterioration—and be covered according to the temperature of the stable and season. The limbs may be rubbed and clothed if cold, but not rubbed if they are hot and feverish. In the febrile stage, the natural covering is sufficient. Fat horses need but trifling food, and bran mashes, scalded spout feed, or green food in moderation are best until the turn of the disease.

Give with the first indication of the disease, the A.A., which repeat at intervals of three hours, in doses of fifteen drops. This may be continued one, two or more days, so long as the pulse is quick, mouth hot, or general fever, or swelled, reddish eyes. When, however, the throat is found to be sore, glands under the jaws swelled or tender on pressure, or there is a discharge from the nose, the C.C., is more appropriate, and should be substituted for the A.A., and the same doses given at the same intervals. If, however, there is yet with the above fever and heat, the two remedies may be given alternately—first A.A., then C.C., at intervals of three hours between the doses.

After the legs and sheath have begun to swell, the H.H., is in order, and should be given to rouse into activity the urinary secretion, and so reduce the swelling. Give then the H.H., every three hours, in alternation with the C.C., and so continue until the disease is arrested and the patient is convalescent. Too great care cannot be exercised when the legs are swelled, to let the horse stand, not to move or exercise the patient, as the movement or exercise while the legs are swelled or hot, invariably aggravates the difficulty, and may cause it to extend to the lungs or other important organs. Take the feed away, or keep the feed very low, no grain, only a bran-mash, or pick at a little hay, and let the horse stand, and the swelling will disappear with the use of the medicines mentioned. If from cold or exposure, or an extension of the morbid process, the lungs should become involved and Pneumonia be present, the disease will require to be treated by the A.A., and E.E., as directed for that disease, which see.

Any weakness, or loss of appetite or condition, remaining as a sequel of the disease, will be removed by the use of J.K., giving fifteen drops three times a day.

Cough

Cough is so well known as to require no description. It is in almost all cases a mere symptom of some disease or morbid condition of the air passages, such as a cold, bronchitis, catarrh, or other more serious affection of the chest, upon the cure of which it disappears. In some cases, however, this affection is so slight as to occasion only cough as a symptom of its existence, and the cough may be said to be idiopathic. Continued cough predisposes to inflammation, yet some horses have a slight cough for years without being otherwise unwell. Other coughs are connected with thick wind, broken wind, glanders, worms and indigestion.

Treatment.—For chronic coughs fifteen drops of E.E., morning and night. In complicated or recent cases, the Remedy may be given four times per day. Sometimes the A.A., is more efficient, even when no fever or heat is apparent. For catarrhal coughs, give C.C., either alone or in alternation with A.A.

Heaves, Broken Wind, Thick Wind, Whistles

These are merely varieties of nearly one and the same pathological condition, and the distinctions lead to no practical result in my method of treatment.

Thick Wind is generally the result of an imperfectly cured bronchitis or pneumonia, leaving either the mucous membrane of the bronchia permanently thickened, or some portions of the lung more or less solidified, thus impairing its capacity and diminishing or destroying its elasticity. Hence, the horse when exercised, especially up hill, breathes short, hurriedly, and more laboriously than in health. This causes much distress, the horse expands his nostrils, heaves, pants and breathes with difficulty.

Broken Wind is the result of emphysema of the lungs, that is, the minute air-cells in certain portions of the lungs become dilated, lose their elasticity or power of contraction, and breaking one into another, form variously-sized sacks of air, the entrance to which becomes closed, so that this air remains resident in the lungs and so far destroys its use. Spasm of the air-tubes acts in a similar manner, hence it may come and go, but the former condition is more or less permanent. Spasm, or disease of the midriff, is frequently connected with it. The usual symptoms are: the flanks are slowly drawn up until they have a tucked up appearance, when they suddenly fall down. The act of forcing the air from the lungs is far more difficult, and requires longer time than to inspire or draw it in. There is also a short, weak, wheezing cough, rough, dry coat; greediness for food, yet the animal is thin and looks poor; the belly is swelled with wind; oats often pass unchanged from the bowels.

Treatment.—Some cases of broken and thick wind cannot be cured, as they depend upon organic changes in the structure of the lungs, themselves incurable, yet all can be benefited by the persistent use of the proper remedies, and proper attention to food and work.

In all cases of this disease, of whatever variety, if recent or extensive, give fifteen drops of E.E., noon and at night, and the same of A. A., each morning. In old, long standing cases, give fifteen drops of the A.A., every morning, and the same of E.E., at night, continuing the treatment with perseverance.

Food.—As the animal suffers from want of space in the chest, so the distension of the stomach with an undue quantity of food tends much to increase the difficulty. Hence the most condensed form of food is best, plenty of oats and little hay, but no chaff, straw, or bloating feed, water in moderate quantities, but never to repletion until the day’s work is over. Green food, carrots especially, are always useful. They are readily digested, and are peculiarly beneficial to the respiratory organs. On the contrary, bloating, flatulent, poor feed, will tend to increase, and may even occasion, broken wind. The horse should not be worked soon after a full meal.

Bronchitis

From exposure to wet and cold; sudden changes of weather; turning the horse into a cold, wet place, or bringing him from grass to a warm stable; standing in a draft of cold air, or washing the warm, sweating skin and not drying it afterwards, an inflammation of the bronchial tubes and minute air-cells takes place, meriting the name of Bronchitis.

Symptoms.—The disease generally begins with a slight cough, quick breathing, sore throat, low spirits, dislike of food, slight discharge from the nostrils, pain of the throat when pinched, and some difficulty of swallowing. In some cases, it comes on suddenly with shaking; the legs, ears and muzzle are at one time hot and at another cold; the skin is rough and staring; the head hung down; mouth hot; the animal remains standing, and does not wish to move; pulse is full and quick; the cough short, frequent, and irritating; the breathing quick and difficult; the eyes and nose red, and rattles are heard in the windpipe at the breast. A profuse discharge of matter from the nostrils indicates the period from which improvement commences.

Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of A.A., and E.E., alternately every three hours, beginning with A.A. After a day or two, as the animal improves, the intervals between the doses may be prolonged to four or six hours. Keep the animal well covered and protected until recovery takes place. After the feverish symptoms have disappeared the E.E., may be relied upon.

Stabling and Food.—In all cases of serious disease of the lungs or air-passages, the horse should be placed in a large, roomy stable or stall, into which the fresh air may freely come, but all damp draughts of air excluded; all dung, damp and dirty straw carefully removed; spread clean straw on the floor; blanket him according to the season, the state of the weather, and skin; hand-rub and flannel bandage the legs every night and morning, or oftener if necessary.

For food, bran mashes, gruel, and tempered water only; when recovering, malt or bran mashes, boiled oats, turnips, carrots, and green food, if in season.

Inflammation of the Larynx, Laryngitis

The larynx is the upper portion of the windpipe, and inflammation of it sometimes occurs and is very dangerous. It is not often unmixed, but is generally accompanied with, or is an extension of, cold or bronchitis, and its causes are the same.

It is sometimes a dangerous disease, and may kill by suffocation or degenerate into bronchitis, or pneumonia. It is recognized by the difficulty of respiration, WHICH IS LOUD AND HEARD AT A DISTANCE.

The outside of the throat is hot, painful and swelled; swallowing is sometimes difficult, and the fluid even may return by the nose; the breathing is short and difficult, and when the air is drawn into the lungs, a rough, harsh sound is heard in the larynx; the cough, at first short and hard, becomes more hoarse and feeble, and occurs in fits, especially during an attempt to swallow; the pulse is quick, hard and full, and skin hot. As the disease advances the breathing becomes more difficult, and is attended with a rasping, crowing sound, the neck is straightened and held stiffly, the head raised and larynx drawn towards the breast, the nostrils are widened, the nose lead colored, the eyes red, skin damp with sweat, the pulse becomes weak and irregular, and at last from the increasing narrowness of the windpipe, the horse actually dies for want of breath.

Treatment.—The treatment is by no means difficult or complicated. Give fifteen drops of A.A., every hour, during the violence of the disease, and until the difficult breathing has abated and the animal becomes comparatively easy. Then the intervals may be prolonged to two and then to three hours, or more, until entire relief is obtained. If a cough remains, the E.E. may be given in alternation, with the A.A.

Should the windpipe be very sore to the touch outside, it may be occasionally bathed with Humphreys’ Marvel Witch Hazel with advantage.

Nasal Gleet

This is the term applied to an old, long standing, running from the nose. It arises from a morbid condition of the lining membrane of the nose, and is often the result of a badly treated or neglected cold, especially in old, worn out horses, and is similar to catarrh in the human species. Sometimes a diseased tooth in the upper jaw may give rise to a similar discharge, but this is not a true gleet. An almost incredible quantity of thickened mucous of different colors sometimes passes, if the horse is at grass, almost as green as the food on which he lives; or if he be stabled, white, straw-colored, brown, or even bloody, and sometimes evidently mingled with matter or pus; and either constantly running, or snorted out in masses many times in the day. Sometimes the discharge comes only from one nostril, at other times both nostrils are affected; in some cases the glands under the jaw are enlarged, in other cases no enlargement can be discovered; perhaps after the discharge has been very copious for some time it suddenly stops, and the animal remains free from any discharge for several weeks, when it comes on again as bad as ever; generally speaking, exercise increases the discharge. Horses affected with this disease have been known to continue free from any discharge for six or eight weeks, whilst they have continued to rest; they have been taken to work, and in a day or two the discharge has returned as bad as before.

Symptoms.—The discharge is yellowish or like cream and in some cases greenish. It may be discharged in clots, or of some thickness, constantly flowing, or snorted out in quantities; it may come from both nostrils, but generally only from the left. The glands under the left jaw are often fixed, hard, and painful. The membrane of the nose has a lead color. The discharge may stop for a time, and then come on again, more profuse than before. After continuing a long time, the animal becomes thin and poor, and may finally die.

Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of C.C., three times per day. It will be found quite sufficient to entirely control and finally arrest it in recent cases, and will not fail to benefit even the most inveterate.

Pleurisy, Pneumonia, Inflammation of the Chest

The pleura is the delicate serous membrane, covering the lungs with one surface, and lining the cavity of the chest with the other. Systematic writers treat of the inflammation of this membrane, Pleurisy, and that of the substance of the lungs, Pneumonia, separately. But as this rarely occurs in fact, and leads to no practical result in the treatment, and indeed can be rarely detected before death, I prefer the more practical course of treating them together. An inflammation of the lungs rarely or never remains so, but eventually involves the pleura more or less, and so an inflammation of the pleura always involves more or less extensively, the pulmonary substance.

Causes.—Catarrh, Influenza, Cold, or bronchial irritation may, either of them, terminate in this disease if neglected, or from fresh exposure. A sudden transition from heat to cold; change from a warm stable to a colder one; neglect of the usual blanketing, or even of other comforts; hard and long riding against a cold wind in snowy weather; loitering in an exposed, bleak place, when the horse is fatigued and warm, without covering. It sometimes occurs when horses are suddenly turned out to grass, or when they have been taken up and turned into a very warm stable. Injuries, contusion, rupture, or great violence done to the chest, is quite sure to be followed by Pleurisy.

Symptoms.—For conveniences sake, we will indicate the symptoms of these two branches of the disease separately. Pleurisy invariably commences with shaking all over, followed by a hot, dry mouth, white coated tongue, red nose and eyes, low spirits, want of appetite, anxious look, and hard, quick, wiry pulse. The act of drawing the air into the lungs is short, and stops, or is cut off at a certain point, at which time the pain is felt; the act of forcing the air from the lungs is full and slow. The pain is increased by coughing and taking full breath which the horse will do if suddenly moved or frightened. If the inflamed side is pressed upon, he gives forth a sound like a grunt; the cough is short; the horse remains standing; the skin on the inflamed side is thrown into folds, and twitches are occasionally seen at the same place. The painfulness of the spaces between the ribs when pressed upon, is quite characteristic, and often exists to an intense degree. The horse shrinks from it with a low grunt, and tries to get away. The skin about the sides of the nostrils and at the ends of the mouth is wrinkled. The neck is lengthened, and nose thrust forward; the horse stands in a crouching manner, and seems uneasy, but does not move. As the disease advances, the pulse becomes more frequent, and afterwards smaller, until it can scarcely be felt; the breathing becomes quicker and more painful and catching, when the air is drawn into the lungs. Then by degrees, no catch is seen or grunt heard, the twitches are not observed, cold, clammy sweats break out over the body, the horse appears dull and stupid, and death closes the scene.

The pleura, like all serous membranes, has a strong tendency to effusion, or exudation of fluid, during an inflammatory action, and in the course of the disease, this effusion, consisting of yellowish serum, is exuded, in quantities varying from a few ounces to a bucket full. It occurs in all severe cases, and the fluid either is again absorbed, if in small quantity, or is the immediate cause of death, if in very large quantity, or a lesser amount may remain for a long time, impeding respiration, and forming an empyema or dropsy of the chest. When it exists, the breathing is always labored, and there is œdema or tumid swelling of some external part, generally the abdomen, chest, or point of the breast.

By listening with the ear against the chest, the progress of the effusion may be traced from below upward. Above it will be heard the loud crackling respiration and grating peculiar to the disease; below, the dullness and stillness of the lung enveloped in fluid, the absence of sound, marks the line of the accumulated fluid, its increase and diminution.

In Pneumonia, the symptoms differ from Pleurisy, yet the difference manifests itself in this, that in Pleurisy there is more pain, and in Pneumonia more difficult breathing. Pneumonia is often a consequence of a cold, bronchitis, or the termination of some disease of the air-passages, and may begin with symptoms of a cold—rough coat, want of appetite, low spirits, etc. In other cases, it begins with a shivering chill; the legs, ears and skin are cold; the coat is rough; the nose pale and dry; quick pulse, which afterwards becomes frequent and full; breathing at first quick, then panting and heaving; the skin now becomes hot, except the legs, which remain very cold. This is a characteristic symptom and will never deceive; the nose and eyes are red; mouth hot and dry; the eyes have a yellowish color, and the horse looks uneasy and restless.

As the disease extends, the breathing becomes more difficult, and is attended with heaving of the flanks; the nostrils are much widened; the nose and head held out; the neck lengthened; the forelegs are fixed in one place, and spread apart; the nose and eyes have a dark blueish color; the face looks anxious and disturbed; the legs and ears are very cold; the legs seem fine, and the hair upon them glossy; the cough is more frequent, hard and painful; the horse seems drowsy; there is no appetite; the dung is hard and covered with slime, and the urine high-colored and scanty.

In the last stage, the pulse is small, weak, and can scarcely be felt, the breathing is quicker and more difficult; the breath is very hot; the eyes and nose are lead colored; the skin is cold, and clammy sweat breaks out upon it here and there; the mouth is cold; the tongue is coated; the teeth are ground every now and then, and twitches are occasionally seen. The eyes become more and more heavy, glassy and dim; the strength becomes less and less; the horse leans against the stall or manger, or wanders around; he staggers and falls; tries to rise, but cannot; groans, struggles and dies.

As an improvement takes place, the horse appears more natural, warmth returns to his extremities, his breathing is more free, pulse softer, fuller and less frequent, cough easier, and he lies down quietly, and without uneasiness. These good symptoms rarely or never deceive.

Placing the ear against the ribs, upon various parts of the chest, we may learn with some practice to distinguish the progress of inflammation. In the healthy lung, the air passes in with a slight, rustling murmur, quite characteristic, and which, once heard, will always be recognized. As the lung becomes inflamed, “crepitation” takes place and we hear a sound, slightly cracking, like that made by salt thrown into the fire, or by rubbing the hair between the fingers close to the ear. As by degrees the lung becomes more intensely inflamed, it is more and more impervious to the air, until it becomes “hepatized” or solid, and gives no sound, and no resonance when percussed, or struck upon. These changes are interesting, and afford to the practised ear clear indications of the state and progress of the disease.

Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of A.A., every two hours, for the first twenty-four hours. After that, give the E.E., alternately with the A.A., at intervals of two or three hours between the doses.

Continue this treatment steadily and uniformly by night as well as by day, if the attack is severe, giving no other medicine, and making no deviation. After a day or two, with the remission of the more violent symptoms, the A.A. may be omitted entirely, and only the E.E. given, as also after the disease has turned, and during convalescence. After the horse has commenced to improve, a dose of E.E., every four hours during the day, will be sufficient. The treatment is the same whether symptoms of Pleurisy or Pneumonia predominate.

Stabling and food as under Bronchitis.

We should bear in mind that in all severe cases of this disease, resolution does not take place under four days, and if an improvement takes place in one, two or three days, we should be satisfied. Rare indeed will be the cases that do not terminate favorably under Humphreys’ Homeopathic practice, carefully applied.

Dentition or Difficult Teething

The cutting or shedding of the teeth, and especially of the tushes, is sometimes attended with considerable disorder of the body. The animal either will not eat his food, or he has pain and difficulty in chewing it; the body grows thin; bowels are out of order; humors may break out in the skin, and there may be cough and slight fever present. The gum is hot, painful and swelled.

Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of A.A., three times per day. This soon relieves the feverish irritation, and the tooth usually makes its way quietly to the surface. Nicking the gum directly over the tooth in the form of a cross is sometimes beneficial. If teeth are very slow in coming, showing an evident deficiency of bony deposit, an oyster shell burned to lime, and broken or ground in his feed, will promote the growth and production of bone, and be of service.

Diseased or Irregular Teeth

Sometimes the teeth of a horse present irregularities. Some of the teeth are too long, or become ragged. As a consequence, the tongue or cheeks are wounded, and the horse eats imperfectly, has pain, drops or “quids” his food. Whenever this condition is found, if the difficulty does not mend itself, the long teeth should be extracted if loose, or be filed down, and the points of the ragged teeth smoothed off.

Decayed teeth produce similar symptoms. In addition, a bad smell exudes from the mouth; stringy saliva flows away in large quantities, and the eyes may be inflamed. If allowed to remain, the fang may become diseased, the socket and gum inflame, an abscess form, and a portion of the jaw-bone may die. If in the upper jaw, the matter may burst into the nose and be discharged. It is of bad smell and color, and has been mistaken for nasal gleet and glanders.

Examine carefully with the finger, and by feeling along the jaw, see if there is any swelling or indentation, or if there is any old stub or loosened tooth, a milk tooth that has been pushed one side, or down, or is loose, making the gum inflamed or painful and preventing the animal from properly eating his food. If so, remove the stub or loose tooth, or file off the ragged portion, so that the mouth may become sound and healthy. Sometimes a thick, unhealthy discharge from the nostrils has been mistaken for glanders, when the real difficulty was from diseased teeth.

Treatment.—Draw out the diseased tooth, and give fifteen drops of A.A., each morning, and the same dose of C.C., at night, for several days.

Lampas

Occasionally the bars of the mouth swell and rise to a level with, and even beyond, the teeth, occasioning soreness, pain, and difficulty of eating. It is most common in young horses, in connection with the cutting and shedding of teeth, from congestion and the extension of the inflammation of the gums during this process. It also occurs in old horses; for the growth of teeth in horses continues during life. Derangement of stomach, or worms, is sometimes connected with it.

Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of A.A., two or three times per day. This will soon relieve the irritation and swelling. Should there be any derangement of the digestive organs, a few doses of J.K., given morning and night, will promptly relieve not only the derangement of the stomach, but the Lampas also.

Swelling or soreness of the gums will be promptly relieved by giving fifteen drops of J.K., daily, or even, morning and night.

The searing of the bars with a hot iron, as is sometimes practiced by cruel and ignorant smith’s, cannot be too strongly condemned. It tortures the horse to no purpose, renders the mouth callous, and destroys the delicacy and sensibility of a part upon which all the pleasure of driving and riding consists, while it is totally unnecessary.

Crib-Biting

Much has been written about crib-biting or wind sucking. It has sometimes been regarded as a vicious habit and at other times as connected with indigestion. However, there is much better basis for believing it to be a bad habit than anything else.

Horses that are worked regularly every day rarely develop it; and it is only among horses which are only used occasionally, and which stand for long hours in the stall, that we find it. Also in a stable of the latter kind if one horse starts it the others soon follow his example.

Treatment.—Many things have been tried, but the best results have been obtained by giving the horse plenty of regular work. If there is any disturbance of the digestive organs which has been occasioned by the wind sucking J.K. would be the proper remedy.

Loss of Appetite

Loss of appetite, or diminished appetite, is but a mere symptom of some more general affection. It is a symptom of almost every disease, and especially of every morbid condition of the digestive organs. There are cases, however, in which this seems the most prominent symptom; and the animal appears well in every other respect, save that he does not eat. The teeth should be examined, and, if needful, corrected. We should see also if the throat is sore. In general, loss of appetite will be found connected with a morbid or unhealthy condition of the digestive organs, and will yield to a few doses of J.K., fifteen drops, morning and night. This is also the appropriate remedy for defective appetite or the weakness which often remains after acute disease.

In consequence of over-feeding, bad food, suddenly changing the kind of food, working the horse too soon after eating too much food, or bad and uneven teeth, which prevent the horse from chewing his food well, the following condition presents itself:

Symptoms.—The skin has the condition known as hidebound; the horse sweats easily; he is weak, and cannot work so long or with so much spirit as in health; he is thin and does not fatten; his tongue is foul; mouth slimy; the dung is dry, mixed with undigested oats, or it is slimy or bad smelling; the water is variable, scanty and thick, or clear and abundant, and there is a short, frequent cough. Sometimes he eats very greedily, and at others will eat nothing placed before him, or will take one kind of food and leave another, or he likes dirty straw or his bedding better than the best oats or hay, or, in some instances, his morbid appetite leads him to lick the wall or eat plaster from it.

It is sometimes accompanied by dullness or dizziness (stomach staggers).

Treatment.—Correct the feeding. Give not too much, and only that most acceptable at first. Give J.K., three times per day for a week, then J.K. morning and noon, and I.I., at night.

Colic

This is one of the most common diseases of the horse. The passage of food along the bowels is effected by the alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscular coat of the intestines. Hence it is easy to perceive that flatulent or irritating food, food in too large quantities, large quantities of green food that produce much gas, masses of hard, dry dung, or sudden chill upon the warm skin, all may produce irregular contraction of the intestines, and hence produce pain and colic. Tumors, worms and stones also produce the same result.

Symptoms.—In colic the attack begins suddenly. The animal is uneasy; shifts his position, paws or stamps the ground, kicks his belly with his hind feet, looks frequently at his flanks, groans, falls upon the ground and rolls about violently, or lies on his back, in which posture he remains for a short time, seeming quiet and free from pain. Soon, however, the pain comes on again, even with symptoms of greater intensity than before. He throws himself widely about, careless of the injuries he receives during these moments of agony and tossing. He grinds his teeth, bites the manger, and looks towards his flanks with a wild, anxious expression. If he improves, the paroxysms become less frequent and less violent, and free intervals longer, until entire relief; or if worse, the pain becomes more and more intense, paroxysms more frequent, until there is no free intervals; inflammation results, the ears and legs become cold, pulse small and wiry, and the animal dies from the results of the inflammation.

Many of the symptoms of colic are similar to those of inflammation of the bowels, and as the latter is by far the most formidable disease, we will endeavor to distinguish them, so as to avoid mistake.

The attack of colic is sudden, while that of inflammation is more gradual. In colic, the pulse is rarely quickened, and never so early in the disease, while in inflammation it is very quick and small even from the first.

In colic, the legs and ears are of the natural temperature. In inflammation, they are cold. In colic, there is relief from rubbing the bowels, and from motion. In Inflammation, the bowels are very tender, and motion vastly augments the pain. In colic, there are intervals of rest, while in inflammation there is constant pain. In colic, the strength is scarcely affected, while in inflammation there is great and rapidly increasing weakness.

Attention to these peculiarities will enable one to distinguish between the two diseases, and to avoid error in the treatment.

Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of F.F., on the tongue, and repeat the dose every half, or even quarter of an hour, until relieved, omitting the medicine altogether, or giving it at longer intervals as soon as the amendment is perceived. We have in the F.F., a remedy which rarely fails to arrest this disease.

If, at the commencement or during the progress of the disease, fever and inflammatory symptoms should also exist, then alternate the A.A., with the F.F., at the intervals mentioned.

If the attack has clearly been occasioned by an over-feed, or by bad, heavy, indigestible food, it will be best to alternate the J.K., with F.F., at the intervals directed.

The colic not unfrequently comes from the kidneys, which may be suspected by the horse making frequent attempts at staling, or his passing scanty, thick or bloody urine. In these cases, give fifteen drops of H.H., every half hour, alone or in alternation, with the A.A.

Should there be suspicion that Bots or Worms are an exciting cause, the D.D., may be alternated with F.F., fifteen drops every half hour or hour.

N. B.—In cases of colic the greatest danger and the worst possible fault is injudicious haste and giving too many and improper things. Thousands of horses are killed by the drugs given to cure colic where one dies of the disease itself. Give only Humphreys’ Remedies, and at the intervals as directed, however urgent as the case may appear. Your success and safety are in following the directions implicitly.

Tympanitis, Drum-Belly, or Wind-Colic

This is merely a form of colic characterized by an enormous production of flatulence. The pain is sharper, the animal more furious and violent than in ordinary colic; the belly on both sides is more or less swelled with wind; there are rumbling noises and frequent discharges of wind. It is usually the result of eating or gorging with green, flatulent food.

Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of F.F., every half hour, or even more frequently if the case is very urgent. It will soon be relieved. Afterwards, a few doses of J.K., fifteen drops morning and night, will be of benefit.

There are two varieties of this disease, one in which the external coats of the intestines are inflamed, and attended with constipation, and the other, in which there is irritation of the internal mucous surface of the intestines, and attended with purging.

The most frequent CAUSE is sudden cold upon a warm, perspiring skin, or even a cold drink when very hot; over-fed horses, subjected to long and severe exercise, are most liable to it; stones and hard dung in the bowels; and especially colic badly treated, and drugged with all sorts of medicines, often terminates in Inflammation of the Bowels.

The symptoms of this disease are very like those of colic, only in the latter disease there are intervals of rest, or cessation of pain, and there is little or no alteration of the pulse; whilst in inflammation of the bowels there is no abatement of the pain, but the animal is continually lying down and rolling about, getting up and then dropping down suddenly. The pulse is very much quickened, small and hard; the artery appears like a cord, under the finger; the extremities are cold; the animal frequently turns his head toward the flanks; the abdomen is hard and tender; as the disease advances, the breathing becomes accelerated, the eyes staring and wild, the pulse imperceptible at the jaw; a cold sweat breaks out over the whole body. This state continues for some time, when suddenly the animal appears to get better, he gets up, and stands quietly; the eyes lose their lustre, the extremities become deadly cold, there is a tremulous agitation of the muscles, particularly the fore part of the body; after a short time, he begins to totter and stagger about, and soon falls down headlong, and dies.

Symptoms.—The disease begins, in most cases, with dullness, heavy eyes, staring coat, restlessness and moving about from one place to another; the pulse and breathing are both quickened; no appetite. Some cases begin with colic, others with shivering. The animal paws, kicks, and rolls about in the most violent manner at first; often strains and tries to pass water, but either none or only a few drops come away; the pain is most intense, and does not cease for an instant, and is increased by pressure and moving about; the belly is hot, tucked up, and hard, unless there is wind in the bowels, when it will be more or less swelled; the bowels are very costive, though small, hard, dry masses may be passed, except in cases where the internal surface, or mucous membrane, is the seat of disease, in which case small, purging, bloody stools are frequently passed; the legs and ears are intensely cold; the pulse small and hard; and sweat in the latter stages breaks out all over. Still further on, the pulse becomes smaller and weaker, until it can scarcely be felt; the breathing is quick, irregular, and attended with sighs; the skin is covered with a cold, clammy sweat; the eyes seem to have lost their power of seeing, he becomes very weak; and trembles all over; convulsions come on, and death soon follows.

Consider carefully the distinctions between Colic and inflammation, as given under the article on Colic.

Treatment.—As early as possible, give fifteen drops of A.A., and repeat the doses every half hour. After the animal is somewhat relieved, continue the medicine at longer intervals. If not better in two hours, the F.F., may be alternated with the A.A., at the intervals mentioned. This will be especially indicated if there should be frequent purging small stools, blood-stained or otherwise. After the inflammatory symptoms have subsided, give a dose or two of the J.K.

N. B.—As constipation exists in inflammation of the bowels, many persons suppose it to be the cause of the disease, and resort to the most desperate means to remove it. This is all wrong. Remove the inflammation, and the bowels will then move of themselves, while the balls and cathartics administered during the inflammation will only increase the difficulty.