sinus is concerned, makes the best possible probe. With a knife, render
it perfectly clean, as well as round or blunt at one end; then, while an
assistant holds up the foot, insert it in the center of the dark fluid. If
it should not at first detect an opening, you must not give up the trial;
the probe must be moved about, and even a smaller one procured. A sinus
does exist; of that you have positive proof; the pipe being found, mix
some powdered corrosive sublimate with three times its bulk of flour;
then wet the probe; dip the probe into the powder and afterward insert it
into the sinus. Do this several times till you feel certain that every
portion of the pipe is brought in contact with the caustic.
The horse, subsequently, will become very dull; the foot will grow very
painful: thus it will continue for two days. About the third day, a white,
curd-like matter is discharged from the orifice. The lameness disappears,
and the spirits are regained.
It is against our inclination to publish such directions; but the author
has knowledge of no gentler or more speedy measure. The better plan for
the gentleman who is tender of his servants' feelings, and infinitely the
cheaper for the person who is regardful of his pocket, is to have every
animal inspected by a qualified veterinary surgeon so soon as it displays
acute lameness. Were such the practice, corn, prick of the foot, or wound
of the coronet need not run on to quittor. That is an affection which
loudly pronounces man to utterly disregard the welfare of his most willing
slave. It always originates in neglect. It always requires time for its
development. It springs from that idle and silly maxim which, when a horse
falls lame, treats the circumstance as though the honest animal were
shamming, and teaches a hard-hearted proprietor to work the poor drudge
sound again.
CANKER.
=Thrush= is a disease that causes a certain liquid to be secreted which
has the property of decomposing the horn. =Canker= is a disease which not
only is attended with a liquid having a like property, but the last-named
affection also causes fungoid horn to be secreted. Canker, therefore,
appears to be an aggravation of thrush; and anybody who has been much
among the animals of the poorer classes may have observed these diseases
lapse into each other: thrush will, through neglect, become canker.
Thrush appears to be the commencement of the disorganization of the food.
Canker is the total perversion of the secreting powers belonging to the
same organ. In thrush, a foul humor having a corruptive property is poured
forth. In canker, something is superadded to this. The horn itself is sent
forth in large quantity as a soft, unhealthy material, totally divested of
elasticity and devoid of all healthy resistance.
Any animal, being exposed to the exciting cause, may exhibit thrush; but,
before canker seems capable of being produced, poor living must have
undermined the constitution. Old horses--pensioners, as they are humanely
termed--when turned out to grass, frequently have canker, which otherwise
should be confined to the animals of poverty, on which bad lodging, no
grooming, stinted food, and hard work produce sad effects. The stable in
which a case of canker occurs is lamentably disgraced. Every attendant
in it ought to be discharged, as the surest evidence of a gross want of
industry is thereby afforded.
A horse, perhaps once the pride of the favorite daughter, may descend to
be the hack of some bawling dust collector. Its wants increase as age
progresses; but with the accumulation of years its hardships augment. It
is sad, very sad, to stand within the shed of some corn-chandler, and
witness, as the day draws in, ragged boys advance and shout out, "Three
pen'orth o' 'ay bunds." Upon those hay-bands it is even more sad to
reflect what creature will be obliged to subsist--probably the darling
once of some aristocratic children! Now, cramped and diseased, it may
receive no other food between this time and the following evening. The
diet being meager, all the rest is on a parallel. The wretched animal is
purchased only for such a space as it may pull through before it passes to
the knackers. Every day of life is looked upon as a clear gain, for the
carcass may be sold for very nigh the price which has been paid for the
living body. The commonest attention is denied; its bed is filth, and its
nightly hay-bands are cast upon the flooring.
What, the humane reader may inquire, can be done to prevent such a state
of things? Something surely might be accomplished. To make men good,
it is first necessary to educate them by communicating knowledge and
also by preventing the commission of wickedness. Were the sanitary laws
enforced in their spirit, no man would keep an animal who had not proper
accommodation for the creature he possessed as a property. A horse or a
donkey consumes much more air than any human being. The air ejected from
the lungs of a quadruped is deprived of all life-sustaining qualities.
The filth of a stable is as corruptive as any cess-pool connected with a
laborer's cottage. The atmosphere which can in the horse engender disease
cannot promote health in the superior animal. Yet how does it happen
that, while sanitary reports are eloquent upon filth and fluent about
cess-pools--while they descant learnedly upon foul abodes, and enter into
all particulars concerning corrupted atmosphere--the close, contaminated
stables in which all costermongers, and some gentlemen, shut up their
drudges when the labor of the day is over, are never alluded to, are
altogether abjured, as though such nuisances had no existence?
Canker, like thrush, is not generally attended with much lameness. It
often astonishes us that, with a foot in such a condition, the animal can
progress so soundly. It invariably commences at the seat of thrush or in
the cleft of the frog. A liquid more abominable than that of thrush, and
rather more abundant, issues from that part. Likewise it frequently exudes
from the commissures, which unite the horny sole to the frog. The horn,
also, becomes not only disorganized, but more ragged than in thrush. It
bulges out at first, and ultimately flakes off, exposing a substance not
much more resistant than orange-peel. The substance is horn in a fungoid
state. Its fibers run from the center to the circumference; and between
the space of each fiber is lodged a clear liquid, which becomes tainted
and dark colored by mingling with the horn that it dissolves and corrupts.
[Illustration: THE PRIMARY ESTABLISHMENT OF CONFIRMED CANKER.
The horn turned back, so as to display the altered state of the
frog, which indicates a severe attack of the disease.
]
[Illustration: THE SECOND STAGE OF CANKER.
Showing the great abundance of fungoid horn secreted around the
margin of the foot. No notice is purposely taken of the frog in this
illustration.
]
The fungus is secreted in quantity, and always is most abundant when
located about the edge of the sole. Here the papillæ are largest, and
here the granulations attain their greatest magnitude. The unresistant
horn of canker becomes somewhat hard upon the surface of the sole, and
large flakes peel off. Cut into, it displays no sensation; and this
is fortunate, inasmuch as it considerably reduces the difficulties
surrounding the treatment of a badly-cankered foot.
Concerning treatment, when the disease is confined to one hind foot, or
even affects both posterior feet, the case may be undertaken with some
degree of confidence. When it has involved one or more of the fore feet,
it is always difficult to eradicate; and, in the majority of cases--being
guided by the age of the animal--a cure had better not be attempted.
When a horse is cankered all round, the disease is apt to seem capricious.
It may be cured in three feet; but it will linger in the fourth, resisting
art's resources. Suddenly measures before tried in vain seem to be endowed
with marvelous efficacy. The diseased member, which hitherto no treatment
could touch, now heals as by its own accord. However, before we can
express the full of our satisfaction, canker once more breaks out again
in one of the feet which had been cured; thus the affection dodges about
till patience is exhausted.
Canker has hitherto been reckoned an intractable disorder. It is mostly
seen in heavy horses, with weak, flat feet. These creatures proverbially
receive but little grooming. They are esteemed only for their labor, and
honored with small attention, which does not decidedly fit them for their
work. Their stables are seldom to be cited as examples of what a horse's
home should be. Their beds are never too clean; and a number of foul
disorders, as thrush, grease, etc., are located among them. Their food is
generally measured by the scale of profit and loss; for few cart-horses,
in the generality of establishments, can boast of any extraordinary care
being lavished on their comfort.
For the treatment of canker, the first thing is to attend to the stable.
See that the building is lofty and well drained; that the ventilation is
perfect, and the bedding unexceptionable. Then inspect the water, the
oats, and the hay. Allow the horse a liberal support, and with each feed
of oats mingle a handful of old beans. These things being arranged, order
the animal into the forge. Cut away every portion of detached horn. When
that is done, pare off carefully so much of the soft, diseased horn as
the knife can readily separate. Then apply a dressing of the following
strength to the diseased parts:--
Chloride of zinc Half an ounce.
Common flour Four ounces.
Mix, and apply dry on the foot.
To the sound parts use--
Chloride of zinc Four grains.
Flour One ounce.
Cover over the sound parts before you begin to dress the fungoid
granulations.
Afterward tack on the shoe. Pad well, so as to obtain all the pressure
possible; and fasten the padding on the foot by means of cross pieces of
iron driven firmly under the shoe. Let the horse be carefully groomed, and
receive four hours' exercise daily.
On the second day remove the padding. Cut off so much of the granulations
as appear to be in a sloughing condition. Repeat the dressing, and
continue examining and redressing the foot every second day. When some
places appear to be in a state of confirmed health, an application of
the following strength should be employed to such parts; but where the
granulations continue to sprout, or the horn appears to be of a doubtful
character, the caustic mixtures of the original strength must be used:--
Chloride of zinc Two grains.
Flour One ounce.
After some time, the dressings may be lengthened to every third day, but
should not be carried to the distance which some practitioners recommend.
When so long a period elapses between each examination, the foul and
irritating discharge, being confined, does more injury than the delay can
possibly produce good.
[Illustration:
THE BOTTOM OF A HORSE'S FOOT WHICH HAS BEEN DRESSED FOR CANKER,
SHOWING HOW THE CROSS PIECES ARE PLACED AND FIXED.
]
[Illustration: AN IMPROVEMENT IN A CANKERED FOOT.
1. That portion of a cankered foot which is advancing toward a
healthy condition.
2. Canker in a mitigated form, but still present.
]
In the plan of treatment here proposed, the chief reliance is placed
on the action of chloride of zinc. It is the peculiar property of that
agent to suppress fungoid granulations. The author has some experience
in the use of this salt. Whenever he gave it to a groom to apply, and
subsequently he found the wound clogged with proud flesh, the man was
accused of having neglected to employ the lotion. The evidence on which
the charge was made never, in a single instance, proved erroneous. To
suppress fungoid granulation is to cure canker.
The application here advised is, moreover, cleanly. It is the most
powerful disinfectant. It does not discolor, like the messes now in
general use. It is more gentle in its action than undiluted sulphuric
acid, etc. etc. It will cause none of those terrible fits of agony, during
which all applications have to be removed, while the foot has to be bathed
and poulticed. Notwithstanding all authors agree that the absence of water
and the presence of pressure are indispensable to the cure of canker, the
frequent dressings will not endanger the life, nor leave the foot in that
condition which entails a deformed hoof upon the horse for the remainder
of its existence.
THRUSH.
Veterinary writers are very fond of splitting hairs about words. =Thrush=,
therefore, in most books, becomes "frush;" notwithstanding, if the reader
should consult any professional authority, or a professor at either of the
colleges, the person so appealed to will decidedly designate the disease
as it is here spelled. The disorder therefore bears, in these pages, the
name it carries in ordinary speech, and all far-fetched distinctions are
discarded.
[Illustration:
THRUSH IN THE FORE FOOT, WITH A THICK CRUST, A CONCAVE SOLE, AND A
SMALL FROG.
]
Thrush is a foul discharge issuing from the cleft of the frog, and
attended with disorganization of the horn. It is derived from two
causes--either internal disease or bad stable management. When internal
disease gives rise to thrush, it is present in the fore foot. The quarters
of the hoof are strong and high; the sole is thick and concave; the frog
small and ragged. When bad stable management provokes the disorder, it
shows itself in the hind foot, which may be of any shape; but the frog is
generally large, while the discharge is more copious than in the former
instance.
It is sad to think that the creature which lives but to toil, and whose
existence is a type of such slavery that its greatest freedom is to
labor, should be begrudged the bed whereon it reposes, or be doomed to
stand in filth which will generate disease. The horse's foot is not very
susceptible to external influences. It is incased in a hard and inorganic,
yet elastic substance. Thus protected, it appears like praising the
ingenuity of man when we say such a body is not proof against his neglect.
The hoof is made to travel through mud and through water; it is created
to canter over sand and over stones. It is capable of all its purposes;
but it only seems not fitted to be soaking days and nights in the filth
of a human lazar-house. The drainage of the stable is too often clogged;
the ventilation bad; the bedding rotten, and more than half composed of
excrement. All that passes through the body, from the inclination of the
flooring, tends toward the hind feet. Over this muck the animal breathes.
In it the creature stands, and on it the victim reposes.
[Illustration: THRUSH IN THE HIND FOOT.]
No wonder the horn rots when implanted in a mass of fermenting filth. The
fleshy, secreting parts, which it is the office of the hoof to protect,
ultimately become affected; they take on a peculiar form of irritation;
from the cleft of the frog a discharge issues; it becomes colored and
offensive through being mixed with the decaying horn; the smell is most
abhorrent; frequently it taints the interior of the place, and to the
educated nose thus makes known its presence.
The first thing is to clear the stable, then to cleanse it thoroughly. Bed
down the stalls with new straw, and attend to the animals themselves. Wash
the feet well with water, in every pint of which is dissolved two scruples
of chloride of zinc. The fetor will thus be destroyed, and the animal
be made approachable. Place some of the fluid, to be used as required,
near the smith, while the man cuts away the diseased frog. All the ragged
parts are to be excised. The knife is to be employed until all the white,
powdery substance is effectually removed.
[Illustration:
AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE ABUNDANCE OF WHITE POWDER INVESTING DECAYED
HORN, AND OFTEN FOUND AFTER THE RAGGED PORTIONS OF A THRUSHY FROG
HAVE BEEN REMOVED.
]
The knife must then be used fearlessly. Every particle of the colorless
investment of the frog must be excised. This is absolutely necessary
toward the cure. It must be accomplished, although the flesh be exposed,
or a large, bulging frog be reduced to the dimensions indicated in the
annexed engraving.
[Illustration]
Then the shoe is to be nailed on, and the horse to be returned to a clean
stall.
The cause being removed, the effect will soon cease. No ointments are
required. A little of the chloride of zinc lotion, three grains to the
ounce of water, may be left in the stable, and the keeper should receive
directions to bathe the frog with this once a day, or oftener if required.
A piece of stick, having a little tow wrapped round one end, should also
be given to the man, so that he may force the fluid between the cleft of
the frog. No greasy dressing need be employed. The ordinary shoe is to
be used. The diseased part is to be left perfectly uncovered, so that it
may be the more exposed to the sweetening effects of pure air, while the
earliest indication of any further necessity for the knife may be readily
perceived. When the stench has disappeared, a little of the liquor of
lead, of its original strength, will perfect the cure; and all that is
requisite to prevent a return of the disorder is a reasonable attention to
the cleanliness of the stable.
At this place, however, the reader may well reflect that, if the filth
of the stable is capable of rotting the resistant and insensitive horn
of the horse's foot, how much more is it likely to affect some of
those delicate structures of which the bulky frame of the animal is
composed! The air in which a man might object to live is altogether
unfit for a horse to inhale. It is true, animals have breathed such an
atmosphere, and continued to exist. So, also, is it true that men have
been scavengers, and have followed that calling on account of what they
esteemed its extraordinary healthfulness. Neither case establishes aught.
The animal is by nature formed for large draughts of pure air. All other
sustenance is as nothing, if the primary necessity of life be withheld.
Tainted atmosphere is the source of more than half the evils horse-flesh
is exposed to. Glanders, farcy, inflammation of the air-passages,
indigestion, bowel complaints,--in fact, all diseases save those of a
local character may spring from such a parent. Let every horse-keeper,
therefore, if from no higher motive, at all events to conserve his
property and to promote his pecuniary interest, be especially careful
about the purity of his stables.
When thrush occurs in the fore feet, it is generally significant of
navicular disease, and is most frequent in horses which step short or
go groggily. The hoof feels hot and hard; a slight moisture bedews the
central parting of the very much diminished frog. No odor may be smelt
when the foot is taken up; but by inserting a piece of tow into the cleft
of the frog, the presence of the characteristic symptom will be made
unpleasantly apparent.
In this case, it is best to remove the ragged thrush and unsound horn,
doing so, if required, even to the exposure of the sensitive frog.
Afterward, simply wash the part with a little of the chloride of zinc and
water, previously recommended. Repeat the cleansing every morning; the
intention being, not to remove the thrush, as the horse mostly goes lame
the instant that is stopped, but merely to correct the pungency of the
morbid discharge, and thus prevent it in some measure from decaying the
horn.
Clay, cow-dung, and other favorite filths, employed for stopping the
horse's feet, if long continued, will produce thrush.
The worst specimen of the affection the author has encountered, was in a
horse which had been turned into a moist straw-yard and neglected. The
thrush generally witnessed in the hind feet may be present in all four;
but the writer knows of no instance in which the thrush peculiar to the
fore feet was also observed in the posterior limbs.
Thrush does not generally provoke lameness. In its more aggravated
forms, however, it interferes with the pace; and the horse having only
incipient thrush is liable to drop suddenly, if the foot be accidentally
placed upon a rolling stone. Now, knowing our roads are made of stones,
and that the bottom of the horse's foot is, in the ordinary manner of
shoeing, entirely unprotected, it is curious to state that this disease is
commonly not esteemed unsoundness. Any thrush, when present, may lead to
acute lameness; then the lameness would be unsoundness; if thrush simply
interferes with the action, although it endanger the safety of the rider,
it is, by the code of veterinary legislation, esteemed no reasonable
objection to the soundness of a horse. In the author's opinion, any animal
should be esteemed unsound which has suffered from loss of or from change
of any structure that ought to be present, or has any affection which
reasonably could subject it to remedial treatment.
OSSIFIED CARTILAGES.
This signifies a conversion into osseous structure of the cartilages
naturally developed upon the wings of the coffin-bone, or the bone of the
foot. Here is a drawing of the largest specimen of this transformation
which the writer ever witnessed. This was borrowed from the museum of T.
W. Gowing, Esq.; and, from the magnitude of the disease, the writer should
imagine the posterior of the pastern must have been in the living animal
somewhat deformed.
[Illustration: OSSIFIED CARTILAGES.
The lateral cartilages of the horse's foot have undergone change and
become bone; being now continuous with the os pedis.
]
In heavy horses, working upon London stones, so certain are the cartilages
to become ossified that several large firms pay no attention to this
defect. They prefer an animal with a confirmed disease to a sound horse,
which will be certain to be ill during the change, and the extent of whose
subsequent alteration no one can predicate. So far these purchasers act
wisely; but, in horses designed for fast work, =ossified cartilages= are
a serious defect. They frequently occasion lameness, and always interfere
with the pleasantness of the rider's seat. When accompanied by ring-bone,
ossified cartilages give rise to the most acute and irremediable lameness.
Ossified cartilages are incurable. No drugs can force Nature to restore
the original structure which has been destroyed. Once let a cartilage
become ossified, and it remains in that condition for the creature's life.
There is little difficulty in ascertaining when this change has taken
place. The hand grasps the foot just above the coronet; the fingers are on
one side, and the thumb upon the other. The cartilages lie at this place,
immediately under the skin. Cartilage is soft, pliable, and semi-elastic.
It yields very readily to pressure. However, when the thumb and fingers
forcibly press the part, if, instead of feeling the substance under them
yield, the hand is sensible only of something as hard as stone, or any way
approaching to such a character, that is proof positive the cartilages
are ossified, or are approaching change. If the horse has recently gone
lame, and the seat of cartilages feels of a mixed nature--partly soft
and partly hard--apply a blister to the coronet, so as to convert that
which is a subacute process into an acute action, and with the cessation
of activity hope to stop the deposit. Repeat the blister if absolutely
necessary; but there is no occasion to subject more than the coronet,
and a couple of inches above that structure, to the operation of the
vesicatory. Indeed, blisters act more effectually upon confined spaces.
This is all that can be accomplished, save by good feeding and liberal
usage: these are essential, because every abnormal change denotes a
deranged system; and this is, in the animal, soonest mended by generous
diet. Perfect rest and two pots of stout per day may even be allowed,
should the pulse be at all feeble.
[Illustration: THE CERTAIN TEST FOR OSSIFIED CARTILAGES.]
ACUTE LAMINITIS, OR FEVER IN THE FEET.
This term implies that the disease is confined to the laminæ; the word
certainly warrants an inference that the other secreting surfaces within
the hoof are not implicated; such a meaning is generally conceived to
be intended. The name, by inducing erroneous opinion, does much injury;
the old appellation of fever in the feet is, therefore, much more
characteristic and altogether more correct.
The entire of the fleshy portion of the foot is involved in this terrible
affliction; any man, who has had an abscess beneath some part where the
cuticle is strong, or who has endured a whitlow, may very distantly
imagine the pain suffered by the horse during fever of the feet. Such
an individual, if his creative powers be very brilliant, may vaguely
conjecture the torture sustained by the quadruped; but no power possibly
can realize to the full the anguish sustained by the animal. Man does not,
like the horse, rest upon his finger's end, and, if he did, the pain he
would then suffer could not be likened to the terrible affliction borne by
the animal, for the following reasons: What is the weight of any man to
that of a quadruped? What is the thickness of his skin or the substance of
his nail to the hardness and stoutness of the horse's hoof? The human skin
is elastic, and the end of the finger permits some swelling of its fleshy
portion; but the secreting membrane of the horse's foot lies between two
materials almost equally unyielding. Bone is within, and horn is without;
the heat soon dries the last and deprives it of its elasticity; the first
is naturally unyielding; thus the secreting substance, largely supplied
with blood, because of inflammation, and acutely endowed with sensation
when swollen and diseased, is compressed between the two bodies as in a
vice. To conceive the amount of anguish and to imagine the violence of the
disorder, we have only to recognize the pathological law, that Nature is
conservative in all her organizations; she protects parts in proportion to
their importance to the welfare of her creatures, and reluctantly allows
injury to be inflicted on any vital organ, though she may even permit
deprivation of those members which are not essential to the animal economy.
A man may lose a leg; he can live, enjoy life, and to a certain extent
effect progression with a wooden substitute. Touch the heart of a man,
however, and being ends. The heart is guarded by the ribs, and so securely
is it protected that, even in battle, the organ is seldom punctured; the
hoof of the horse is almost as important to the animal as is the heart to
the human being. In a free state progression is necessary to the support
of the body; when domesticated, the horse is valued according to its power
to progress.
Yet, the member so important to the creature is, by the nature of
=laminitis=, frequently disorganized, and a valuable quadruped, by the
affliction, may be reduced from the highest price to a knacker's purchase
money.
There is some dispute about the kind of hoof most liable to this disease.
English authors incline toward the weak or slanting hoof. Continental
writers, however, suppose the strong or upright hoof is most exposed to
the affliction. Neither party, however, assert any kind of hoof to be
exempt; therefore, it may be supposed, were all circumstances similar,
every kind of foot would be equally subjected to laminitis.
There is but one cause for =acute laminitis=--man's brutality. Horses
driven far and long over hard, dry roads, frequently exhibit the disease.
Cab and post, as well as gentlemen's horses, after a fine day at Epsom
or at Ascot, not unfrequently display the disorder. Animals which have
to stand and strain the feet for any period, as cavalry horses upon a
long sea voyage, if, upon landing, they are imprudently used without
sufficient rest, will assuredly fail with this incapacitating malady.
Any extraordinary labor may induce laminitis. Hunters, after a hard run,
and racers, subsequently to heats, are liable to be attacked; especially
should the ground be in the state we have before intimated.
Acute laminitis does not immediately declare itself; the pace of the
animal, when its work is drawing to a close, may be remarkable; but this
is attributed to the effects of exhaustion. The creature reaches the
stable; the surface of the body is rubbed over; the manger and the rack
are filled; a fresh bed is quickly shaken down, for, in the opinion of
grooms, quiet does horses extreme good. The animal is left for the night,
under the impression that it has everything one of the race could require.
The next morning the horse is found all of a heap, and the food untouched;
the flesh is quivering; the eyes are glaring; the nostrils are distended,
and the breath is jerking. The flanks are tucked up, the back is roached,
the head is erect, and the mouth is firmly closed; the hind legs are
advanced, to take the bearing from the inflamed fore members; the front
feet are pushed forward, so as to receive the least possible amount of
weight, and that upon the heels; but the feet thus placed are constantly
on the move. Now, one leg is slightly bent; then, that is down and the
other is raised; the horse is, according to a vulgar phrase, "dancing on
hot irons."
The first indications--food untouched, glaring eyes, etc.--represent only
excessive agony; the position of the body is symptomatic. The hind feet
are thrust under the body in order to take the weight from the front, or
the diseased organs; the fore feet are thrust forward and the head held
erect, that the inflamed parts may be as much as possible beyond the
center of gravity. In this attitude the wretched quadruped will stand,
its sides heaving and its flesh creeping with the pain within the hoofs,
and with the fire that burns within the blood. The teeth are occasionally
heard to grind against each other; expressive sounds sometimes issue from
the throat, and partial perspirations burst forth upon the body; it is a
horrible picture of the largest agony!
[Illustration: ACUTE LAMINITIS, OR FEVER IN THE FEET.]
The fore feet are mostly the seat of the disorder; all four may be
involved, but the author has only witnessed the two front affected. The
implication of the others are rather recorded wonders than general facts.
The writer, in his professional experience, has met no one to whom a case
of laminitis involving all four hoofs has been submitted.
Everything concerning laminitis is in confusion. It is not yet
authoritatively ascertained whether horses lie down or stand up--whether
the shoes should be taken off or left on--and what kind of treatment
it is proper to adopt. Any dispute about general facts pronounces both
parties wrong; it assures us that the experience of the disputants is
somewhat limited. The circumstances cannot be very marked where the
recognition is not universal: the treatment can only be not confirmed,
because none attended with conspicuous benefit has been proposed.
Horses do often lie down in laminitis; but they more generally stand. When
down, they should be suffered to remain; and when up, the first thing done
should be the employment of slings. Place the cloth under the belly with
the least possible noise; the man the horse is accustomed to, with orders
to soothe the animal when alarm is excited, should be stationed at the
head. The men who are arranging the slings should pause on the slightest
sign of fear, and only resume their labor when confidence is restored. The
ropes, however, must not be drawn tight and fixed. The ends of the cords
should, by means of two extra pulleys, be carried to some distance from
the animal. To the end of each rope ought to be fastened a stout ring, and
on this, by means of hooks, weights should be suspended. As the weights
are added, the man should caress the sufferer till sufficient counterpoise
be attached to take the principal bearing from the feet without offering
much obstacle to the breathing.
[Illustration: A HORSE IN SLINGS, WITH THE FORE FEET IN HOT WATER, FOR
ACUTE LAMINITIS.]
With regard to the shoes, we should first soften the hoof by allowing
the feet to soak in warm water in which a portion of any alkali has been
dissolved. The slings being applied, the fore feet are to be placed in
a trough of hot, soft water, and allowed to remain there till the hoof
is quite pulpy. Then one foot is to be gently raised and the trough
partially removed. All this must be done very quietly--not a word being
spoken--and all operation suspended at the appearance of the smallest
alarm. The man at the head must not for an instant quit his post.
The foot being released from the water, a sharp-pointed knife is to be
employed and the horn cut, so as to free every nail, till the shoe drops
off; but the iron should not be allowed to clatter on the ground.
[Illustration:
THE MANNER IN WHICH THE NAILS, WHICH FASTEN ON THE SHOE, ARE TO BE
RELEASED FROM THE HORSE'S HOOF DURING ACUTE LAMINITIS.
]
This method is infinitely better than the common practice of taking off
the horse's shoe. The smith removes the shoe by a wrench, using his pliers
for the purpose of gaining extra power. No doubt the metal had much better
remain on than be thus rudely displaced. But, in removing the shoe from
a softened foot, no smith is necessary, and no smith should be employed:
the veterinary surgeon should himself cut out the nails; and no matter if
an hour or two be occupied over each foot. In laminitis there must be no
hurry.
Before the shoes are removed, half a drachm of belladonna and fifteen
grains of digitalis should be placed in the horse's mouth. Both drugs
should be gently introduced, not as a draught or a ball, but in substance,
or in the smallest possible bulk. These medicines should be repeated every
half hour, till the breathing is easier and the pulse somewhat altered in
character. Then some additional weight may be added to the slings; and, by
taking advantage of similar opportunities, the animal may be eventually
lifted almost off the ground without displaying any inclination to resist.
[Illustration:
THE SYRINGE TO BE EMPLOYED TO INJECT BLOOD-WARM WATER INTO THE VEINS
DURING ACUTE LAMINITIS. THE MARK ON THE ROD DENOTES HOW FAR THE
HANDLE IS TO BE PUSHED DOWN. (See _Enteritis_, p. 170.)
]
When the horse is in this position, open the jugular vein with a lancet,
making the least possible flurry. Abstract one quart of blood, which may
be obtained with the greatest ease. Have ready a quart syringe filled with
water; inject one pint into the orifice whence two pints of blood have
been abstracted. The effect will be produced in a few minutes. Copious
purgation and perspiration will ensue, and the fever will be greatly
abated. Clothe the horse well up. Place before him a pail of thin gruel
with a bundle of green-meat, and enough has been done for one day. But
mind and leave two men to watch in the stable throughout the first three
nights.
On the following morning give a dose of ether and laudanum--two ounces of
both in a pint of water. Let the horse take his own time in swallowing: do
not care if half the drink should be lost. In fact, if the attempt to give
the physic should call forth much opposition, abstain from administering
it: quiet is of more importance than medicine. On that account, strict
orders should be given to admit no visitors, and the strictest injunction
concerning silence should be enforced.
The pulse and breathing must be watched; and, as either appear to augment,
the drugs before recommended must be introduced. Should the artery on
either side of the pastern throb, that sign indicates the foot to be
congested. This condition must be relieved. With a lancet open both
pastern veins, which are sure to be in a swollen state, and plunge the
foot up to the fetlock in warm water. A little blood abstracted by this
method does more good than the ample venesections so generally advised,
but which, from their tendency to lower the system, are apt to prepare the
way for the worst terminations to acute laminitis. Our object should be to
conquer the disease without reducing the strength; had the horse ten times
its natural vigor, such an affliction as acute laminitis would more than
exhaust it all. The failure of former practitioners has been chiefly owing
to their inattention to this fact.
While the affection lasts, these measures must be pertinaciously adopted;
the feet, the entire time, must be repeatedly put in warm water, not only
to soften the horn, but because the chief pain is caused by the congested
or swollen condition of the secretive portion of the foot; congestion,
likewise, induces the terminations to be most feared; heat or warmth is
perhaps the best means of relieving loaded vessels. Cover over the water
or blind the horse's eyes while in the slings, because acute disease is
likely to disorder the vision, and a sick, imprisoned animal is too apt to
be startled by the reflection of its own image. The author has had reason
to lament the neglect of such necessary precaution.
The termination to be feared is disorganization--either from the casting
of the hoof or the descent of the coffin-bone from its natural situation.
The first result is preceded by chronic suppuration. A slight division is
observed between hair and horn; and from the opening thus occasioned a
small quantity of unhealthy pus issues, mingled with much bloody serum.
Ultimately the entire hoof loosens and drops off, exposing the fleshy
parts beneath. Now, all these fleshy parts must have been diseased before
they could have separated from their secretion, and such fleshy parts are
not the laminæ only, but all those represented in the engravings on page
373.
The sudden exposure of parts which, during health, are covered and
protected, cannot otherwise than cause an extraordinary effect upon the
body of the sufferer. Persons who have lost a nail seldom have that
substance renewed in all its original integrity. Deformity or an imperfect
secretion is generally retained to mark the deprivation. Nature appears
averse to the restoration of any of her original structures.
[Illustration: THE SENSITIVE LAMINA AND CORONET DIVESTED OF THEIR HORNY
COVERING.]
[Illustration: THE SENSITIVE SOLE--FROG AND BARS DIVESTED OF THEIR HORNY
COVERING.]
Such a catastrophe is denominated sloughing of the hoof. After that has
occurred it is useless to prolong the suffering by permitting the horse
to live. Doubtless in time a sort of new hoof would be produced, but it
would only be a deformity. It would want the toughness and strength of the
original formation.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM.
The new horny covering which invests the foot of the horse after
sloughing of the hoof, as a termination to acute laminitis.
]
Such was the hoof which used to succeed sloughing under the old plan
of treatment; the author is happy to state he has not witnessed such a
misfortune since he has followed the practice which he here recommends.
The suppuration just spoken of was not of the copious kind, but was a
tardy secretion mingled with bloody serum; it is astonishing such a fact
should not have warned veterinary surgeons against following depletive
measures. The effusion, however, of which the writer has next to speak
is entirely the result of weakness. It does appear most strange that
exhausting treatment should have been pursued as with infatuation, despite
of so evident a warning. The parts which in health only secrete horn,
during exhaustion throw out serum, or the thinner portion of the blood.
This separates the coffin-bone from its attachments, while the imposed
weight forces the loosened bone from its natural position. To make this
more clear, diagrams of a natural foot, and of one which has suffered
distortion from acute laminitis, are represented on page 374. In the
natural foot, the pedal bone is situated close to the outer crust; in the
laminitic foot, the bone is forced downward toward the sole, which it
ultimately penetrates. There is an artery running around the lower edge
of the coffin-bone; upon this artery the animal, if suffered to live,
would, after displacement of the coffin-bone, be obliged to tread. The
consequence is that a horse, having a foot thus distorted, cannot by any
possibility take a sound step; it lives in torture and moves in anguish.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM.
A section of the horse's foot, showing the natural and relative
situations of the bones which enter into the formation of the
horse's foot when in a healthy state.
]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM.
A section of the horse's foot after one of the terminations to acute
laminitis, exposing the interior of the hoof when the coffin-bone
has fallen from its original situation.
]
This formation has been too generally spoken of as pumice foot, whereas
that peculiarity is altogether distinct. Pumice foot does not entirely
incapacitate the horse for labor; it is a chronic disease leading to a
very opposite species of distortion, or to a bulging of the sole such as
is here illustrated.
[Illustration: A SECTION OF THE HORSE'S FOOT, ILLUSTRATING THE DISTORTION
WHICH CONSTITUTES PUMICE FOOT.]
[Illustration: THE DEFORMITY WHICH ENSUES UPON DROPPING OF THE
COFFIN-BONE.]
After dropping of the coffin-bone has taken place, it is commonly said
that the hoof, struck upon the spot once occupied by the coffin-bone,
emits a hollow sound; such is not the fact.
The space supposed to be empty is immediately filled by an impure horn--a
soft, transparent substance, which, if the animal be permitted to live,
dries, or diminishes in bulk, and the front of the hoof falls in. The
author once beheld, working in a lime-pit near Reigate, an aged animal
which, some time previous, had suffered dropping of the coffin-bone; the
animal was shod with leather, and had a shoe lifted from the ground by
means of large calkins both before and behind. The hoof, however, was
terribly misshapen; it hardly admits of such a description as would be
readily understood; therefore the hoof is represented from a sketch made
upon the spot.
The other terminations to acute laminitis are metastasis and mortification.
Metastasis is when the fever leaves the feet to fix upon some other and
remote part, as the lungs, bowels, brain, eyes, etc. Or, fever of the
feet is frequently asserted to be caused by the inflammation "dropping"
from those parts into the hoofs; when such changes ensue, the body
being already weakened, the attack is seldom of a very acute type; but,
nevertheless, it may be attended by disorganization, by distortion, or
even by death.
It is a bad symptom should no change be observed in the course of the
disorder before the expiration of the fifth day; some sad ending may
then be expected, but it does not invariably follow. The animal should
be watched night and day; all that can possibly be done to alleviate
its suffering should be put into practice. For that end, the writer has
found nothing equal in its soothing effects to perfect quietude, and good
gruel made with a portion of linseeds and of beans mixed with oatmeal.
But be sure that laminitis has departed from the feet before the slings
are removed; then, even supposing no metastasis to have occurred, do not
suddenly take all support from the horse, but remove a weight every day,
so that the restored parts may become gradually used to their original
functions. On the first sign indicative of a return to the disorder,
restore the full counterpoise and recommence treatment; for acute
laminitis is somewhat treacherous. Very cautiously exercise the invalid
upon a piece of meadow land and, as the health appears restored, gradually
return to the usual method of treatment.
SUBACUTE LAMINITIS.
This is a variety of the former disease; the characteristic differences
between the two are thus stated by the esteemed late William Percival:--
"In neither form is laminitis the disease of the unbroken or unused
horse. Now and then acute laminitis will appear in the four or five year
old horse when newly taken into work; more commonly it is witnessed
incapacitating the horse when at work, and during the middle period of
life. =Subacute laminitis=, on the other hand, is very apt to select
the aged and worked animal. Secondly, acute laminitis is the immediate
effect of labor, hard either from its distressful character or its
endurance. Subacute laminitis, on the contrary, will make its appearance
in the stable where the horse has been for some time living in a state
of idleness or absolute rest. Thirdly, acute laminitis makes its attack
directly or shortly after the application of the exciting cause;
subacute laminitis approaches so gradually that it is often present some
days before its existence is discovered. Fourthly, acute laminitis is
marked by great suffering and accompanied by raging fever; in subacute
laminitis fever is not to be detected, and the mode of progression
alone indicates suffering. Fifthly, acute laminitis may terminate in
metastasis, suppuration, and mortification; in subacute laminitis neither
of these issues is to be dreaded, for, if we do not succeed in producing
resolution, dropping of the coffin-bone is the customary ending to the
disorder."
The above, quoted from memory, presents a graphic contrast and an
admirable portrait of the disorder. It is so eloquent in its brevity that
it leaves nothing to be added; therefore the author will at once proceed
to state his views of the subject.
Subacute laminitis is always first noticed in the manner of progressing.
The master complains that the horse has become slower; that the whip has
lost influence over the body; and that the animal, when progressing,
appears to jolt more than usual. This last observation indicates the kind
of horses to which subacute laminitis is principally confined. Acute
laminitis is almost the property of fast saddle-horses; the subacute
variety more especially belongs to harness-horses. The author has lately
seen specimens of the subacute disease tugging those vehicles which were
once fashionable and which were called "cabriolets." The animal suffering
this disorder endeavors to bring the heels only to the ground. All its
fumbling gait, its supposed sluggishness, and want of appreciation for the
whip are to be attributed to this desire--to take the weight as much as
possible from the seat of agony.
[Illustration: THE MANNER OF PROGRESSING WHEN SUFFERING UNDER SUBACUTE
LAMINITIS.]
The success of treatment, in a great measure, depends upon the disorder
being early detected. Get the horse immediately into slings, as was
directed for acute laminitis, and proceed in the same manner with the
removal of the shoe. Omit all bleeding. If the bowels are costive, allow
a portion of green-meat until the evil is removed; but do not produce
purgation. All medicine of a debilitating character must be withheld.
Give, night and morning, a quart of stout; allow two drinks, each
containing one ounce of ether, in half a pint of water, during the day.
This, with half-drachm doses of belladonna as needed to allay any symptoms
of pain, will constitute the whole of the treatment.
As regards food, it should consist of sound oats previously ground, and a
moderate allowance of crushed, old beans. The water should be whitened,
and all hay strictly withheld. The animal should not be left night or day,
and gentleness should be enjoined upon its attendant. The food, however,
should not be without limit; five feeds of corn are enough for one day, if
the horse will eat so much.
Should dropping of the coffin-bone end the attack, it is only charity to
terminate the existence. In Mr. W. Percival's admirable work the reader
will find described at length a method proposed for restoring the bone to
its original position. The author has seen that plan tried more than once,
but never beheld any good result. The knacker has, in every case, been
called in to finish the unsuccessful experiment.
The horse, however, which recovers from an attack of laminitis, either in
the acute or subacute form, should ever after be shod with leather; and
were this admirable practice universal, probably, by deadening concussion,
it might altogether eradicate the disease. The expense is the objection
to its adoption; but against the cost, the horse proprietor has to ask
himself, What are a few shillings extra, at each shoeing, to secure
immunity from that horrible disorder to which the servant of his pleasure
is exposed?
NAVICULAR DISEASE.
This is the scourge of willing horse-flesh; it is the disease from which
favorite steeds mostly suffer; it is not less fatal in its termination
than vexatious in its course and painful during its existence.
The malignancy of the disorder is expended upon the substances which in
health are without feeling, but which occasion the most acute anguish when
affected by disease--namely, bone, tendon, and synovial membrane. Strictly
confined to these structures, and frequently limited to a space not half
an inch in diameter, the suffering it occasions is such as often provokes
the sacrifice of the life, and invariably renders the animal next to
useless.
It is confined to the interior of the foot, being, as its name implies,
strictly located upon the navicular bone. The navicular bone is a small
bone attached to the posterior portion of the os pedis, and resting upon
the perforans tendon, which is inserted into the inferior surface of the
coffin-bone. A synovial sac is placed between the navicular bone and
superior surface of the tendon, on which the ossoeus structure reposes.
Synovial sacs are only found in places where motion is great and almost
incessant; thus the existence of this formation apprises us that the bone
and tendon, in a healthy state, are designed to move freely upon each
other. They do this while unaffected by disease; the foot, indeed, cannot
be flexed, extended, retracted, or placed upon the ground without this
busy little joint being put into motion. It is, perhaps, as essential a
part--though of small size--as any of the larger structures which enter
into the horse's body.
[Illustration: A DIAGRAM TO EXPLAIN THE SEAT OF NAVICULAR DISEASE.
_a._ The perforans tendon running beneath the bone, and on which the bone
reposes.
_b._ The comparative size and relative situation of the navicular bone.
_c._ The synovial sac which facilitates the motion of the bone on the
tendon; upon the superior surface of this sac navicular disease is alone
exhibited.]
=Navicular disease=, however, affects only the lower surface of the bone;
the upper surface shares another synovial sac, which lubricates the
articulation of the coffin-bone with the lower bone of the pastern. This
upper surface is never affected; the navicular bone may diminish or wither
through disease, still the affection remains confined to its original
situation; disease may lead to fracture of the bone or to rupture of the
perforans tendon, still the superior portion of the navicular bone to the
last exhibits a healthful condition.
This most annoying and terrible disorder springs from two causes. The
first was a very favorite crotchet of the late Professor Coleman, who was
always theorizing to the injury of the animal it was his office to cure.
The disease is now largely distributed through that gentleman's favorite
maxim concerning the absolute necessity that there should be pressure upon
the frog. Every smith thus instructed tried to bring the frog as near
the ground as possible, and the consequence was the spread of navicular
disease. It is true, the frog, in a state of nature, was designed to bear
pressure; but surely it is folly to talk about the natural condition of
the horse when nothing like a wild horse exists. Here was Coleman's error;
he legislated for the most artificial of living creatures, which consumes
only prepared food, and which moves only over laboriously manufactured
roads, as if it had been in an undomesticated condition, gamboling upon
the unfilled earth.
The second cause is, the parsimony of most horse proprietors. Would these
gentlemen have their favorites shod with leather, the smith would be
obliged to slightly raise the frog; while the leather--if good, stout,
sole leather--and the stopping would protect the seat of navicular
disease from injury. With regard to the first cause, it was recognized by
the late W. Percival, one of Coleman's most enthusiastic pupils; and, as
concerns the last, its efficacy as a preventive needs no pleading nor any
reference to establish its merits.
The horse, when attacked, commonly has a good open foot--in fact, before
disease commences, the foot is healthy. An animal in this condition is
being ridden or slowly led out of the stable. In the last case it, being
fresh, may rejoice to feel and sniff the cool air of heaven. It may prance
about, and we may admire its attitudes; but in an instant it becomes dead
lame. So a horse may be mounted by a kind master; the creature may be
going its own pace, when, of a sudden, the movement shall change, and the
rider will be made conscious that his steed is lame.
In either case the foot is examined. It is cool, quite cool; no stone
appears to have injured it--nor is any pebble sticking between the web of
the shoe and the sole. Yet the lameness is acute and does not pass off.
Now, to explain this, let the reader turn to the illustration which was
last presented.
The portion of the foot, immediately under the navicular bone, has been
placed upon a stone; the stone has been forced against the foot by the
immense weight of the horse imposed upon it. The stone, under this
impulse, has bruised the navicular bone. But the fleshy frog and the
perforans tendon would have to be passed before this effect could reach
the bone. Are neither of these also hurt? Doubtless they are. But the
fleshy frog is a highly organized, secretive organ, and probably, by
its innate energy, soon recovers from the effect. The tendon is, on the
contrary, too soft and yielding to retain any harsh impression. The bone
is firm and solid; and thus that which failed to act upon either of the
intervening parts, leaves a lasting injury upon the osseous structure,
which, moreover, is held stationary by the coronary bone, and which is
disposed to display injury, being covered by synovial membrane.
The navicular bone belongs to a peculiar class called "sesimoid, or
floating bones." These are more highly organized than the generality of
osseous structures--in short, quite as much, or rather more, than the
human tooth. Everybody must be acquainted with the anguish occasioned
by unexpectedly biting upon a hard substance. The tooth, however, is
coated with crystalline enamel. The bone is covered by delicate synovial
membrane. The impression is, therefore, more likely to be lasting with the
last than the first.
After the expiration of a week, however, the lameness disappears, and
the proprietor fondly hopes all is over. The animal may work soundly for
months--sometimes it never fails again. Generally, however, after some
period, extending from six to nine months, the lameness reappears. This
time the treatment occupies a longer space; and the subsequent soundness
is of shorter duration. Thus the malady progresses; the period occupied in
curative measures lengthens, while the season of usefulness diminishes;
till, in the end, the horse becomes lame for life.
The worst of it is, that the pain in the lame foot occasions greater
stress to be thrown upon the sound member; the result generally is that
both legs ultimately become affected with the like disease: such is
ordinarily the case. The horse with a tender foot will always bring it
gently to the earth; but this circumstance obliges the animal to cast
the other foot to the ground with heedless impetuosity. The consequence
is, the sound foot is sooner or later forced upon some stone or other
inequality; from the law of sympathy, the disease subsequently makes rapid
strides; for at death both feet are usually found in a similar condition.
[Illustration: A HORSE, WITH NAVICULAR DISEASE, POINTING IN THE STABLE.]
The effect of these repeated attacks is soon shown. The anguish has
been likened to toothache, only it must assuredly be a toothache twenty
times magnified. All people know "there never yet was philosopher who
could withstand the toothache;" but think of the poor horse with twenty
toothaches compressed into one agony! The man can seek a thousand changes
to divert his suffering; the simple horse cannot even drink intoxicating
fluids, and has hitherto not learned to smoke. The suffering, therefore,
continues. And as man strives to spare a decayed tooth by masticating on
the other side of the mouth, the horse endeavors to ease an aching foot
by leaning all its weight upon a sound limb. Thus it learns to point in
the stable or to advance one leg beyond the center of gravity, leaving the
healthy member to support the entire weight of the body.
[Illustration: THE UPRIGHT PASTERN AND HARD, UNYIELDING HOOF, INDICATIVE
OF CONFIRMED NAVICULAR DISEASE.]
A foot thrown out of use decreases in size. Nature has given certain parts
for certain purposes; and if these purposes are avoided, those parts
diminish in bulk. Wear the arm in a sling for any extended period, and the
arm will sensibly grow smaller, or become withered. So the horse's foot,
spared in progression and pointed in the stable, obviously changes its
shape. The quarters draw inward; the heels narrow; the frog hardens and
decreases; the sole thickens and heightens; the crust becomes marked by
rims and grows considerably higher. In fact, the foot, from being an open,
healthy foot, becomes a strong, contracted, or diseased member.
[Illustration: THE TROT, PECULIAR TO NAVICULAR DISEASE, GENERALLY TERMED
GROGGINESS.]
The effect of the disease is speedily shown by the animal progressing
entirely upon the toe, whereby the front of the shoe becomes much worn, as
shown in the following engraving. Indeed, it is not unusual to see shoes
taken from horses having navicular disease with their front edges worn
positively to a cutting sharpness. When the animal is in this stage, the
mode of progression is usually what is termed groggy--that is, the hind
feet, which are never affected, step out as boldly as ever; but the fore
feet are limited in their action. They cannot be advanced far, because
extension causes the perforans tendon to press upon the navicular bone;
the leg cannot be bent, because flexion moves the perforans tendon upon
the navicular bone. The animal, thus doubly disabled, endeavors to make
up by quickened movement for that which it lacks in perfect action. It
dare not bring the heel to the ground or take long steps. It therefore
progresses upon the toes, and indulges in very short but quick movements
of the fore feet; and a horse thus affected may be challenged, though
unseen, by the "_patter, patter! clatter, clatter!_" which it makes.
Navicular disease appears to the author to have been entirely mistaken
as regards its treatment. It is administered to as though it consisted
in violent and acute inflammation, whereas it is caused by a different
process--namely, ulceration. Inflammation excites the whole system, and
occurs in strong bodies: ulceration is a diseased condition peculiar to
the aged and to the weakly. Navicular disease is, so far as the writer's
knowledge extends, unknown in the unbroken animal. It mostly affects the
adult or the aged. It is not inflammatory; for the foot, in the first
instance, exhibits no heat, and, in the after-stages, never becomes more
than warm. Often the warmth is so very slight that practitioners have to
adopt a kind of stratagem to determine which is the more hot of the fore
feet. A pail of water is brought forward, and sufficient to thoroughly wet
both hoofs is thrown over the feet. The parts are then watched; and that
which becomes dry the sooner is reasonably considered the warmer hoof of
the two.
Moreover, the consequences of this disease are absorption, which it takes
years to effect--not deposition, which is accomplished in a few days.
The bone lessens in size, sometimes grows thin, till ultimately it may
fracture; the tendon loses in substance, and its fibers separate, till
at length they may rupture. All internal structures which enter into
the composition of the foot grow less and less, till the hoof becomes
obviously small or contracted; for it is a law of nature that, in the
living creature, the contents should govern the covering: thus the brain
controls the skull, the lungs regulate the chest, etc. etc. The horn
alone increases; but it is a curious fact that Nature always endeavors to
protect the part she allows to suffer from disease: thus in rickets, with
children, the bones of the legs frequently curve; but Nature, true to her
principles, strives, by extra deposition, to strengthen the parts which
threaten to break through weakness.
All tokens declare the navicular disease to be a chronic affection,
attended by symptoms of bodily weakness. The accompanying example of the
disorder, taken from the body of a horse which was killed for incurable
lameness, will illustrate fully this fact.
[Illustration: A MORBID PREPARATION, KINDLY LENT TO THE AUTHOR BY T. W.
GOWING, ESQ.
The diseased surface of the navicular bone exposed, and the affected
tendon turned back upon the lower part of the os pedis.]
In this specimen, the navicular bone occupies its natural situation
between the wings of the os pedis. That portion of the tendon which once
shared and concealed the disease is turned back upon the sole of the
coffin-bone. What does the inspection disclose? Three small holes within
the bone, and a few stains of blood, which denote irritation upon the
tendon. For, as the disease progresses, synovia ceases to be secreted,
the navicular joint becomes dry, and is subject to the most torturing
irritation every time the leg is moved.
That the one presented may not by the reader be supposed an extreme case,
produced to support the writer's opinions, another specimen of the disease
is given; but, on this last occasion, both sides of the navicular bone
shall be exhibited. The upper surface appears perfectly healthy; the lower
surface only displays a large clot of blood, and a small but comparatively
a deep hole.
[Illustration: THE SUPERIOR SURFACE OF THE NAVICULAR BONE.]
[Illustration: THE INFERIOR SURFACE OF THE SAME BONE.]
Supposing the reader to be convinced of the justness of the writer's
views, the treatment which these recommend shall be stated. Ulceration in
any form proves the body to be weak or exhausted. Feed liberally, chiefly
upon crushed oats and old beans. Attend to any little matter in which
the horse's body may be wrong; but do little to the foot beyond, every
other night, soaking it one hour in hot water, for the first fortnight.
Afterward apply flannel bandages to the leg, put tips upon the hoofs,
and wrap the feet up in a sponge boot, having first smeared the horn
with glycerin. This, with a very long rest, is all it is in our power
to accomplish. The rest, however, should be proportioned only to the
proprietor's pocket or to his powers of endurance. In the first instance,
six months' rest in a well-aired stable, and three subsequent months at
slow agricultural employment, will not be thrown away, but will be likely
to prevent future annoyances. After one relapse, the treatment is all but
hopeless. The horse may be again restored to soundness; but the disease,
which has with time gained strength, will be all but certain to reappear.
This, probably, may be the fittest place for stating the writer's reason
for objecting to the treatment generally adopted.
Bleeding from the toe is decidedly objected to, because there never are
any signs of inflammation present, but rather those symptoms which favor
the belief that too little blood circulates within the foot. Blistering
the coronet is more likely to augment the crusts than to reach the
disease; and the tendency of navicular derangement is to thicken the
horn. The same reasoning applies to paring out the foot and placing the
hoof in poultices; it is more likely to act upon, and lead to activity
in, the secreting membrane, which is near the surface, than to operate
beneficially upon a remote joint. Objection is taken to the feet standing
in clay, because the cold produced by evaporation is disposed to drive
blood from the parts, which already have too little.
In extreme cases, neurotomy, or division of the nerve, is the only resort.
For a detailed account of that operation the reader is referred to the
next chapter. It permits the horse to be of some service to the master,
and allows the animal an escape from the agonies of a cruel disease; it
is, however, not final. It conceals the lameness; it rarely cures the
disorder. The internal ravages may still go on; and, though the nerve
of the leg has been properly divided, yet at an uncertain period nerves
generally reunite, and the part which was deprived of sensation may become
once more sensitive to pain. Moreover, no eye can look upon the internal
ravage. Sensation destroyed in a foot tempts the horse to throw even more
than its proportion of weight on a part weakened by disease. The bone has
fractured, or the tendon has ruptured, under too sudden a test of their
integrity.
For the above reasons, neurotomy is always most successful when early
performed. In the primary state of the disorder, a restoration of the foot
to its healthy functions has seemed to banish the affection. Pressure
being given to the neurotomized organ, health has occasionally returned;
and when the time has arrived for the reunion of the nerve, that event has
been signalized by no reappearance of lameness.
But when the disorder has continued so long as to weaken the structures
of the foot, operation is always attended with hazard. The nerve may
be properly divided; the operation shall be admirably performed; still
the parts, weakened by the joint actions of active disease and of long
rest, have become disorganized. Pressure being suddenly restored, the
debilitated structures could not sustain the restoration of that burden
they were originally formed to endure. Rupture or fracture was the result;
and the veterinary surgeon, despite his admirable talent, is disgraced by
being obliged to order the immediate destruction of that animal which it
was intended he should have benefited.
For the above reasons, and because the sound member is always disposed to
exhibit the disorder which incapacitates one foot, never delay adopting
the only chance of certain relief. If from pecuniary motives, or from
better but mistaken feelings, the proprietor hesitates to subject his
dumb companion to the surgeon's knife, never afterward should he repent
of such a resolve. With delay the opportunity of benefit has passed;
the operation, to be successful, should be resorted to upon the second
appearance of acute and decided lameness.