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THE STOMACH OF THE HOG is a type between the carnivora and ruminant. The digestive changes may be divided into four stages. The first period is one of starch conversion; the second period is the same, only more pronounced; the third period, both starch and protein conversion occurs; and the fourth period is taken up mostly with protein digestion.

ACUTE INDIGESTION OF THE STOMACH OF SOLIPEDS.--Diseases of the stomach are less common in solipeds than in ruminants. The simple stomach of the horse and the comparatively unimportant place that it occupies in the digestion of the feed renders it less subject to disease. Only under the most unfavorable conditions for digestion of the feed does this class of disorders occur. Acute indigestion in the form of overloading and fermentation occurs in the stomach .

The violent form of gastric indigestion frequently ends in death. Rupture of the stomach is not an uncommon complication .

It is advisable to place the animal in a comfortable stall that is well bedded with straw and plenty large for it to move about in. If a roomy sick-stall can not be provided, a grass lot or barn floor may be used. If the weather is chilly or cold, the body should be covered with a blanket and roller bandages applied to the limbs.

Bulky drenches should not be given. Stimulants and drugs capable of retarding fermentation are indicated. Sometimes the administration of a sedative is indicated. Treatment should be prompt, as in many cases fermentation of the contents of the stomach occurs and gases form rapidly. From two to four ounces of oil of turpentine may be given in from six to eight ounces of linseed oil.

ACUTE INDIGESTION OF THE STOMACH OF RUMINANTS.--The different forms of acute indigestion are bloating, overloading of the rumen and impaction of the omasum.

TYMPANITES, "BLOATING."--This disorder is usually caused by animals feeding on green feeds, such as clover, alfalfa and green corn, that ferment readily. Stormy, rainy weather seems to favor bloating. The consumption of spoiled feeds such as potatoes and beets may cause it. The drinking of a large quantity of water, especially if cold, chills the wall of the rumen and interferes with its movement. Frozen feeds may act in the same way. Sudden changes in the feed, inflammation of the rumen, and a weak peristaltic movement of the paunch resulting from disease or insufficient nourishment are frequent causes. It may occur in chronic disease. In tuberculosis, bloating sometimes occurs.

As a cathartic for cattle, we may give one quart of linseed and from two to four ounces of turpentine, or one to two pounds of Epsom or Glauber's salts, dissolved in plenty of water. Sheep may be given about one-fourth the dose recommended for cattle.

OVERLOADING THE RUMEN.--This form of indigestion occurs when ruminants have access to feeds that they are not accustomed to. As a result, they eat greedily and the mass of feed in the rumen becomes so heavy that the walls of the organ can not move it about, and digestion is interfered with. This is especially true of succulent feeds. A diseased condition of the animal predisposes it to this disorder. If after eating an excessive amount of dry, innutritions fodder, the animal drinks freely of cold water, acute symptoms of overloading are manifested.

IMPACTION OF THE OMASUM.--This disease may occur as a complication of other forms of acute indigestion and diseases accompanied by an abnormal body temperature. Feeds that are dry and innutritions commonly cause it. Other causes are an excessive quantity of feed, sudden changes in the diet and drinking an insufficient quantity of water.

As in other diseases of the stomach, the appetite is diminished, rumination ceases or occurs at irregular intervals, and the animal is more or less feverish. Bloating and constipation may occur. The animal may lose flesh, is weak, walks stiffly and grunts as though in pain when it moves about in the stall and at each respiration. In the acute form, marked symptoms are sometimes manifested. At first the animal acts drowsy; later violent nervous symptoms may develop.

FOREIGN BODIES IN THE STOMACH OF RUMINANTS.--Foreign bodies such as hair balls and wire are very commonly found in the reticulum. This is because of the habits of this class of animals. Cattle eat their feed hastily and do not pick it over as carefully as does the horse.

DISEASES OF THE INTESTINES

After disengaging itself from the mass of loops lodged in the region of the left flank, the small intestine crosses to the region of the right flank, where it terminates in the first division of the large intestine.

Fermentation and cellulose digestion occur in the caecum and double colon. It is in the floating colon that the faeces are moulded into balls. The faeces are retained in the rectum until defecation takes place.

ACUTE INTESTINAL INDIGESTION OF SOLIPEDS.--Acute indigestion is more common in horses and mules than it is in any of the other domestic animals. Because of the difference in the causes and symptoms manifested, we may divide it into the following forms: spasmodic, flatulent and obstruction colic.

Horses that are greedy feeders and have sharp, uneven, smooth or diseased teeth are unable to masticate the feed properly. This results in unthriftiness caused by imperfect digestion and assimilation of the feed. Such animals usually suffer from a catarrhal or chronic inflammation of the intestine, and may have periodic attacks of acute indigestion or colic.

Worms may irritate the intestinal mucous membrane and interfere with digestion, obstruct the intestine and cause debility and circulatory disturbances. The large round worm may form a tangled mass and completely fill a portion of the double colon.

A large percentage of the cases of acute indigestion terminate fatally. The course of the disease varies from a few hours to several days.

The horse should be given a roomy, comfortable stall that is well bedded, or a clean grass lot. If the attack appears when the animal is in harness, we should stop working it and remove the harness immediately. Work or exercise usually aggravates the case and may cause congestion and inflammation of important body organs. In cold weather the animal should be protected by blankets. If the pain is violent, sedatives may be given. The gaseous disturbances should be relieved by puncturing the wall of the intestine with the trocar and cannula. Rectal injections of cold water may be resorted to. Fluid extract of cannabis indica in quarter ounce doses and repeated in one hour may be given in linseed oil. In all cases it is advisable to drench the animal with one pint of raw linseed oil and two ounces of turpentine. Strychnine, eserine and pilocarpine are the drugs commonly used by the veterinarians in the treatment of acute indigestion. Small and repeated doses of the above drugs are preferred to large doses. This is one of the diseases that requires prompt and skilled attention.

Sharp, uneven or diseased teeth should receive the necessary attention. In old horses, chopped hay or ground feeds should be fed when necessary. Debility resulting from hard work, wrong methods of feeding and intestinal disorders must be corrected before the periodic attacks of indigestion can be relieved. If the presence of intestinal worms is suspected, the necessary treatment for ridding the animal of these parasites should be resorted to.

Bitter or saline tonics should be administered in the feed when necessary. The following formula is useful as a digestive tonic: Sodium bicarbonate and sodium sulfate, one pound of each, powdered gentian one-half pound, and oil meal five pounds. A small handful of this mixture may be given with the feed two or three times daily.

INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES.--The same causes mentioned in inflammation of the stomach and acute indigestion may cause this disease. It is most frequent at times when there are great variations in the temperature. Sudden cold or any influence that chills the surface of the body, or internal cold caused by drinking ice water or eating frozen feed, may cause it. The infectious forms of enteritis are caused by germs and ptomaines in the feed. Drinking filthy water or eating spoiled, mouldy feeds are common causes. In cattle pasturing in low, marshy places, enteritis may be common. The toxic form is caused by irritating poisons, such as caustic acids, alkalies and meat brine.

In the mild form recovery usually occurs within a few days. The more serious forms of the disease do not terminate so favorably. In the toxic form death usually occurs within a few days.

When convalescence is reached the animal should be fed very carefully, as the digestive tract is not in condition to digest heavy rations or feeds that ferment readily.

DIARRHOEA.--Diarrhoea occurs as a symptom of irritation and inflammation of the intestinal mucous membrane. Sudden changes in the feed, the feeding of a succulent green ration, severe exercise when the animal is not in condition for it, and chronic indigestion may cause diarrhoea in the absence of an intestinal inflammation.

Recovery usually occurs when the animal is dieted and rested.

The following formula is quite useful in checking diarrhoea: salol one-half ounce, bismuth subnitrate one ounce, and bicarbonate of soda two ounces. The dose of this mixture is from one to four drachms, depending on the size of the animal, three or four times a day.

WHITE SCOURS OR DIARRHOEA IN YOUNG ANIMALS.--Young animals, when nursing the mother or fed by hand, frequently develop congestion and inflammation of the stomach and intestines. This disorder is characterized by a diarrhoea.

The first milk of the mother is a natural laxative and aids in ridding the intestine of the young of such waste material as collects during fetal life. If this milk is withheld, the intestine becomes irritated, constipation occurs, followed by a diarrhoea or serious symptoms of a nervous character, caused by the poisonous effect of the toxic substances absorbed from the intestine on the nervous system.

Changes in the ration fed the mother, excitement, unusual exercise and disease change the composition of the mother's milk. Such milk is irritating to the stomach and intestines of the young. This irritation does not always develop into a diarrhoea, but may result in a congestion of the stomach.

When the young are raised artificially or by hand, and fed milk from different mothers of the same or different species, or changed from whole to skim milk, acute and chronic digestive disorders that are accompanied by a diarrhoea are common. Feeding calves from filthy pails, allowing them to drink too rapidly and giving them fermented milk are common causes of scours.

White scours caused by irritating germs is a highly infectious disease. The disease-producing germs gain entrance to the body by way of the digestive tract and the umbilical cord.

Insanitary conditions, such as dark, cold, damp, filthy quarters, lower the vitality of young animals, and predispose them to digestive disorders as well as other diseases.

Calves and lambs frequently die of an acute congestion of the fourth stomach. In this disease, the symptoms appear shortly after feeding. It is characterized by colicky pains, convulsions and coma.

The first milk of the mother should not be withheld from the young, especially if the animal is raised by hand. We must also feed it regularly and not too much at any one time. Any change in the milk should be made gradually, and it is usually advisable to reduce the ration slightly when such a change is made, so as not to overwork the digestive organs. Pails and bottles from which the animal feeds should be kept clean.

Colts raised on cow's milk must be fed and cared for carefully. The milk must be sweet and made more digestible by diluting it with one-third water. A little sugar may be added. It is very advisable to add from one-half to one ounce of lime water to each pint of milk fed. Frequent feeding is very necessary at first, and we must not underestimate the quantity of milk necessary to keep the colt in good condition. It should be taught to eat grain as soon as possible.

Because of the irritated condition of the stomach and intestine, the animal suffering from diarrhoea is unable to digest its feed. For this reason it is very important to withhold all feed for at least twelve hours. Water should be provided. The alimentary tract is relieved of the irritating material by giving the animal a physic of castor or linseed oil. The dose varies from one-quarter to one-half ounce for the lamb and from one to four ounces for the colt or calf. It is advisable in most cases to follow this with the following mixture: bicarbonate of soda one ounce, bismuth subnitrate one-half ounce, and salol one-quarter ounce. The dose for the colt and calf is one teaspoonful three times a day. Lambs and pigs may be given from one-fourth to one-half the above dose.

It is usually advisable to give ewes and sows a physic if their young develop a diarrhoea. Mothers that are heavy milkers may be given a physic the second or third day following birth. The ration should be reduced as well during the first week.

DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT OF POULTRY

GENERAL DISCUSSION.--The digestive tract of poultry is composed of the following organs: mouth, gullet, crop, stomach, gizzard and intestines, with the two large glands, the liver and pancreas. The digestion of the feed begins in the crop. Here the feed is held for a short time, mixed with certain fluids and softened. On reaching the stomach it becomes mixed with the digestive fluid secreted by the gastric glands. This second digestive action consists in thoroughly soaking the feed in the gastric juice, making it soft and preparing it for maceration by the heavily muscled gizzard. Following maceration it passes into the intestine. It is here that the digestive action is completed and absorption occurs.

Under the conditions of domestication, poultry are subject to a great variety of intestinal disorders.

If the above manipulations are unsuccessful, an operation is necessary. This consists in making an opening through the skin and the wall of the crop and removing the contents with tweezers. The opening must be closed with sutures. The proper aseptic precautions must be observed.

In inflammation of the crop, the bird should be dieted for at least one day, and one teaspoonful of castor oil given as a laxative.

ACUTE AND CHRONIC INDIGESTION.--The recognition of special forms of indigestion in poultry is difficult. A flock of poultry that is subject to careless and indifferent care may not thrive and a number of the birds develop digestive disorders. This may be indicated by an abnormal or depraved appetite and emaciated condition. Constipation or diarrhoea may occur. In the more severe cases the bird acts dull, the feathers are ruffled and it moves about very little.

WHITE DIARRHOEA OF YOUNG CHICKENS.--White diarrhoea is of the greatest economic importance to the poultryman. The loss of chicks from this disease is greater than the combined loss resulting from all other diseases. It is stated by some authors that not less than fifty per cent of the chickens hatched die from white diarrhoea.

Such a heavy death-rate as is attributed to this disease can not result from improper methods of handling and insanitary conditions. Before it was proven that white diarrhoea was caused by specific germs, a great deal of emphasis was placed on such causes as debilitated breeding stock, improper incubation, poorly ventilated, overcrowded brooders, too high or too low temperatures and filth. Such conditions are important predisposing factors, and may, in isolated cases, result in serious intestinal disorders.

It is very easy to differentiate between the infectious and the non-infectious diarrhoea. In the latter, the percentage of chicks affected is small and the disease responds to treatment more readily than does the infectious form. The death-rate in the latter form is about eighty per cent.

If the disease is known to be present in the flock, the incubators and brooders should be thoroughly disinfected by fumigating them with formaldehyde gas. If dirty, they should first be washed with a water solution of a good disinfectant. For a period of from twenty-four to forty-eight hours after hatching, the chicks should receive no feed. Dr. Kaupp recommends as an intestinal antiseptic, sulfocarbolate thirty grains, bichloride of mercury six grains, and citric acid three grains, dissolved in one gallon of water. This solution should be kept in front of the chicks all the time. A water solution of powdered copper sulfate may be used.

QUESTIONS

DISEASES OF THE LIVER

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