The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-09-04
A VETERINARY SURGEON TALKS.
A Fatal Disease Amongst the Calves of
Karnes County, Tex.

Fatal Disease Amongst the Calves of
Karnes County, Tex.
In the Texas Farm and Ranch
Journal of August 10 I find a COM
munication in which Mr.. A. l..
Cochran, Houston, states that the
stockmen of Karnes county are losing
good many young calves. The dis
ease is first indicated by limp in one
of the hind legs when the calf is about
four days old, and the limping grows
worse in few days, when the animal
would walk on three legs; the hook
Joint would swell up and the feeling
would indicate the presence of pus.
The calf becomes soon entirely dis
abled and dies when it is fifteen to
twenty days old. Mr.. Cochran asks
the Journal for advice, and its vet
Urinary editor of Dallas says in answer
that the disease being entirely I'M
known to him he would ask some of
the readers to give information in re-
gard to it.
will try to give the stockmen of
Xarnes county the desired information,
so far as my personal knowledge goes.
From the meagre description received
| would take the disease to be what
the French authors call the acute
arthritis of young animals. 1t affects
calves and lambs, but more especially
the colts in the large breeding coun.
tries in Europe. 1t has been occa-
sionally met with in the Eastern AMI
Western States on this continent.
The symptoms appear suddenly at
the age of one or two weeks on one or
several joints generally on the hind
legs), intense fever with great suffer-
ing sets in.
The young animal ceases to drink,
lays down and on account of its ten
der age will lose strength rapidly.
The affected joint will swell and fill
up with synevia, or joint oil, cause
great pain, open in eight or ten days
and form suppurative arthritis, which
generally causes death in short time
from pain and exhaustion. Very sell
dom recovery takes place, and then
the affected limb will remain perma-
nent cripple with a stiff or enchyDsed
joint.
The arthritis might have purely
rheumatic or a scrophulous character,
and in both cases the disease is due to
hereditary influence. The above
description answers that of acute
rheumatism, while in scrophulous
arthritis the bones around the af-
fected joint become swollen from the
formation of tubercular deposits OF
fistulas in its internal tissues. These
cases can always be directly traced to
long continued in breeding.
The regular acute arthritis is said
to be often caused by defective milk
coming from mothers that are
or have been suffering from rheuma
.tism, pleuro-pneumonia or tubercu
losis, colts whose danes had the cpl
zootic, influenza, pneumonia. pleurasy
distemper or chronic pericarditis are
predisposed to the disease. But in
most cases, it is impossible to find out
the real cause OF its appearances even
with careful investigation of food
water, locality, stabling and above al
the healthy character OF the producers
on both sides. Some pretend thai
those youngsters who did not drink
the first milk from the mother, failed
to purge and are predisposed to theil
complaint.
Treatment-Change Immediately
the milk when the calf or colt is no
ticed to SO lame and give internally
mineral salts, say three-fourth ounces
of EPSON or glauber salt in a day; OF
if need be, two or three times three
ounces in twenty-four hours to keeI
up purgation taking however good
care to avoid superpurgation. Agains
the fever, give internally aconites anC
apply to the affected parts cooling
bandages to prevent suppuration o
the joint, place the patient on goot
| dry bedding in cool, dry, well shell
tered place and nurse him well. GIVE
good milk from another animal AMI
add whisky, eggs, pepsine or beeftea
} Preventative ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
good care in selecting your producers
make a complete change of bulls anC
. reject all diseased cows; feed the cow
3 light while in advanced pregnancy.
t d. ]. P. Klench, Veterinary Surgeon
. d, - Marks stable, Austin.
! [San Antonio papers please copy.