Causes: as in horse, tuberculosis, in sheep distomatosis, chills when
heated and fatigued. Symptoms: pot-belly, fluctuating on percussion,
gives flat sound, debility, pallid mucosæ, sunken eyes, superficial
dropsies on belly, in limbs, and under jaw, in distomatosis, great
emaciation, weakness, paperskin, ova of distoma in fæces. Diagnosis:
from ruptured bladder by passage of urine, and perhaps by sex, and
absence of urinous odor in liquid, from hydrometra by fluctuation over
whole belly. Lesions: those of solipeds, also tubercles or enlarged
gall ducts with distomata. Treatment: as for solipeds. Tuberculosis
demands separation or destruction, distomatosis, prevention.
_Causes._ These are in the main those which operate in the horse and
need not be repeated. In cattle, however, the affection is to a large
extent the result of abdominal tuberculosis, while in sheep it is a
constant result of advanced distomatosis. Gellé says it is common in
working oxen, which are turned out, hot and perspiring, to pass the
night in cold and wet.
_Symptoms._ The belly is enlarged and pendent, bulging out back of the
ribs, with fluctuation and dullness on percussion. The animal is in very
low condition, the mucosæ pale or yellowish white, the eyes dull and
sunken, panting and palpitations may be roused on the least exertion,
and swellings often appear along the lower aspect of the body and
between the branches of the lower jaw. In distomatosis it is common to
find dropsy of the chest, pallor and attenuation of the skin, complete
absence of the subcutaneous fat (paperskin), and great emaciation and
weakness. Ova of the distoma can be found in the fæces. (See
distomatosis). By turning the sheep on its back or setting it up on its
croup the percussion dullness will be made to shift, always to the
dependent part of the abdomen.
_Diagnosis._ From rupture of the bladder it is distinguished, by its
occurrence in females as well as males, by the absence of fever, and of
the complete suppression of urine and emptiness and tenderness of the
bladder which characterize the latter. Liquid drawn from the abdomen has
no urinous odor. From hydrometra, pyometra, and hydramnios it is
distinguished by the fact that the water accumulates in the lower part
of the abdomen, and is not confined to the womb. On rectal exploration
the outline of the empty womb is made out.
_Lesions._ Besides the lesions described for solipeds, one finds in
cattle, tuberculosis of the liver, spleen, and lymph glands, and
extensive clusters of tubercles on the peritoneum. In sheep the white
branching lines on the back of the liver may indicate the distension of
gall ducts infested by distomata.
_Treatment_ does not differ from that recommended for solipeds. In
tuberculous cases, sanitary considerations demand the destruction of the
animal and disinfection of the carcass. In distomatosis treatment must
be preventive, as the distomata are difficult to reach with vermifuges.