_Cattle._--If the case of bloat is not extreme, it may be sufficient to
drive the animals at a walk for a quarter or half an hour. In urgent
cases the gas must be allowed to escape without delay, and this is
best accomplished by the use of the trocar. In selecting the place for
using the trocar, the highest point of the distended flank equally
distant from the last rib and the point of the hip must be chosen.
Here an incision about three-fourths of an inch long should be made
with a knife through the skin, and then the sharp point of the trocar,
being directed downward, inward, and slightly forward, is thrust into
the paunch. The sheath of the trocar should be left in the paunch as
long as any gas continues to issue from it. In the absence of a trocar
an incision may be made with a small-bladed knife and a quill used to
permit the gas to escape. Care must be taken to see that the quill does
not work down out of sight into the incision.
Another remedy consists in tying a large bit, the diameter of a
pitchfork handle, in the mouth, so that a piece of rubber tubing may
be passed through the mouth to the first stomach to allow the gas to
escape.
When the animal is not distressed and the swelling of the flank is not
great, or when the most distressing condition has been removed by the
use of the trocar, it is best to administer internal medicine. Two
ounces of aromatic spirits of ammonia should be given every half hour
in a quart of cold water, or half an ounce of chlorid of lime may be
dissolved in a pint of tepid water and the dose repeated every half
hour until the bloating has subsided.[6]
[6] See "Diseases of Cattle," a special report of the Bureau of Animal
Industry.
For acute bloating the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station
recommends 1 quart of a 1-1/2 per cent solution of formalin, followed
by placing a wooden block in the animal's mouth and by gentle exercise
if the animal can be gotten up.
_Sheep._--Gas may be removed quickly from bloated sheep by using a
small trocar. The seat of the operation is on the most prominent
portion of the left flank.