R. L.
KAURA
125
some cases there is a tendency for white scour gradually to merge into calf
pneumonia.
If diarrhœa has not yet commenced and there is only a rise of tempera-
ture, isolate the affected calf, reduce the food and immediately inject sub¬
cutaneously 15 c.c. of the white scour serum available for the purpose,
the injections being given every three hours for the first day. If the
calf is very weak and shows lassitude, a pint of warm water containing one
tea-spoonful of sodium bicarbonate and a drachm of aromatic spirit of ammonia
may be given morning and evening an hour before feed. This will act as a
stimulant and will counteract the over-acidity which is common in such cases.
Salol or sodium salicylate or bismuth subnitrate in half to one drachm dose
may be given three times a day with good results.
When diarrhœa occurs, discontinue the use of milk as an a ticle of diet
at once and substitute barley water at body heat. Sodium bicarbonate may
be added. When barley water is not available, lime water to which a little
wheat flour has been added may be used instead and it may be drenched, if
necessary. The calf should be blanketed and kept in a clean warm place. The
extremities may be hand-rubbed and bandaged. About 30 c.c. of the white
scour serum may be given intravenously.
(iii) Calf pneumonia.—In this disease, which may accompany or follow
white scour, there is fever, nasal discharge, hacking cough and laboured breath-
ing (Plate X, fig. 1). The calf may be unable to rise and may develop dropsy
of the dependent parts. Usually both lungs are found to be affected and on
post-mortem examination they may present a marbled appearance with
thickened interlobular septa. In older calves the condition may become
chronic with abscess formation in the lung (Plate X, fig. 2).
In this disease the calf should be blanketed and kept in a clean, warm
place and its extremities hand-rubbed and bandaged. Preventive inocula-
tions with haemorrhagic septicaemia serum is indicated in such cases, be-
cause generally the organism of this disease is prevalent in those herds where
pneumonic symptoms predominate. Good results are likely to be obtained
from the application of a mild mustard plaster or a stimulating liniment to
the chest wall and from the use of medicated inhalations, e.g. carbolic acid or
eucalyptus, and general stimulants and internal antiseptics such as those
recommended under calf septicaemia.
(iv) Navel-ill.—In this disease, which is mostly congenital, the navel may
be somewhat swollen with a foul-smelling discharge (Plate X, fig. 3). There is
fever, lassitude and weakness and the calf may remain lying down. Infection
from the navel may extend to the liver and also to the various joints and
these may form suitable sites for the propagation of bacteria. The affected
joints become swollen, hot, tense and painful and there is marked lameness.
When the joints have become affected, curative treatment is far from
satisfactory. When synovial sheaths alone are affected, it is comparatively
easy to treat. In the first instance the umbilicus should be carefully examined.
If there is an abscess it should be opened in a place where there are no other
animals and the evacuated pus should be carefully disposed of in order to pre-
vent the spread of infection. The abscess cavity should then be irrigated
with a disinfectant lotion, followed by a dressing consisting of equal parts of