Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-07-21
Prevention of Disease in Animals.

A writer in Practical Farmer
philadelphia, says:
"Thc old adage that 'An ounce of
prevention is worth pound of cure
is emphatically true when applied to
the diseases of domestic animals
AS a class, farmers, who own nearly
all the livestock in the country, are
not acquainted with the methods of
treating the diseases of animals
They do not know what remedies to
give, and the great majority of them
live some distance from skillful
veterinary, so that medical atten-
dance is difficult to be secured
These facts render it very important
that preventive measures should be
understood and applied. l say these
measures are important, because al
most every year an unnumbered null
titude of animals die of disease which
proper preventive measures would
either keep entirely away or else SO
modified that the animals might have
been saved. There can be no doubt
that many of the diseases to which
our animals are subject are not known
where proper care is given, and con-
sequently it may be laid down as a
settled principal, that care is sure
preventive of their approach. Others
may be so modified by careful pre-
ventive measures as to lose their
deadly power; and all diseases, of
whatever type. may be much more
readily managed when common
sense efforts have been put forth for
their prevention.
"Just now, one of the diseases of
which farmers and dairymen ought
to be very watchful and take careful
measures to prevent, is milk fever
This disease annually carries off a
great many COWS and causes a great
loss to their owners, and in almost
all cases an attack could have been
prevented by careful treatment. My
own experience with this disease has
not been very extensive, but l have
seen enough to teach me to be very
careful with my cows at calying
time. In one case l paid veterina.
rian fifteen dollars, besides paying
for the medicines, to cure a COW of
this disease, when all the trouble
was due to my own carelessness. I
let her into an open yard where there
was supply of cold water. She
drank too much and brought on an
attack of milk fever, which came
very near proving fatal, made me a
great deal of trouble and some cx-
pense, and also proved an injury to
the COW for more than a year. If l
had kept her in the barn day or
two longer and warmed the water
which l gave her to drink, she would
probably been well at the time
And in a multitude of cases little
more care in this direction would
prevent sickness of animals and loss
to their owners"
TO which we wish to add, that a
little care and common sense is quite
as much needed in the feeding as in
the watering; more particularly such
COWS as are great feeders and flesh
makers. 1t is best to keep from
them all manner of stimulating food,
and administer such as is of 4 cool
ing and laxative nature, say for about
two or three days before calving,
and continue the same kind of treat
ment for three days after calving.-
We also recommend protection from
cold rains, which oftcntimes get the
advantage over an animal whose vi
tality is greatly depressed, and cir
culation impaired by the labors and
exhaustion of PARTITION. Then again
one more important Item is cleansing
the udder from all its contents from
two to four times every day. If a
tendency to milk fever exists, it may
be an advantage to keep the COW as
free as possible from any fright, such
as the sight OF dogs, or excitement
OF any kind. If care is taken in
these particulars, and the animals
protected from severe weather, not
many caked udders nor milk fever
need be seen.