The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-16
SICK cows AT FAIRHAvEN.
impaction OF the Rumen, and How 1t
May Re Relieved.


FAIRHAvES, Aug. I, 1891.
To THE EDITOR: What is the trouble with
our cows? have lost two, and know OF others
oylng with the same symptoms. We get all
SORTS Oh names for the trouble. Some say II 10
spienie fever. We don't know what 1t is. First
we notice swelling on the left side. The
breathing Is very hard, and the nostrils are ex-
panded as Ii they had been running race.
Iney moan all the time, and belch considerable,
roth dropping from the mouth. They are
greatly excited They lose their cud of the
second days illness, and have no action on the
bowels TO amount to anything. The eyes get
red, and they are inclined to fight, and they die
in from six to ten days.
FRANCIS E. MOORE and many others.
From the symptoms given your cows
had impaction of the rumen, which is
form of indigestion frequently accompany
ing other diseases. consisting of an un-
natural distension of the first stomach by
food, and by the gases it gives off in the
process of fermentation, or by gases
evolved from the walls of the organ. 1t is
caused in health by overlooking with damp
grasses, especially green clover. Almost
any food in excessive quantities may pro-
duce it. The real symptoms of impaction
of the stomach are swelling on the lett
side, which appears while the animal
is feeding. or soon afterwards. The
breathing Is difficult and very painful,
becoming more so as the gas is generated
and the swelling increases, which Is mani
tested by the general appearance of the
animal There Is expansion of the nos
trils and moaning only during expiration;
excessive flow of saliva from the lips, and
general uneasiness. The cud is lost, the
bowels are constipated, and where the
swelling is great there will be a promi-
nence and wildness of the eyes, which is
characteristic of obstruction to the en-
trance of air into the lungs. Unless re-
lieved early death ends the trouble in
from four to ten days, through suffocation,
from laceration of the stomach or from
blood poisoning from the gases.
In severe cases, where the swelling is
due to gases, the proper course is to plunge
a trochar into the stomach and allow the
gas to escape through the canula. The
operation is to be performed on the most
prominent part of the swelling. In the
first stages you can generally relieve the
animal with the following:
EPSON salts, one-half pound: croton oil.
twenty-drops; linseed oil raw, one pint.
In cases where the swelling is due to
overlooking and the stomach is found to
be crammed with solid matter, which is
easily recognized by its doughy feel and
solid sound on percussion, the stomach
must be emptied before any medicines will
take effect, in the following manner:
Plunge sharp bistoury into the rumen,
beginning midway between the last rib
and the spine of the haunch bone and
from four to six inches from the backbone,
cutting downward until the opening is
large enough to admit the hand; then
stitch the skin and stomach togetheriat the
lower part of the cut, so that
the contents of the stomach may
not be dropped into the cavity OF the alb
domen. Remove the contents of the stom-
ach with the hand, wash the edges of the
wound made in the stomach with water
(blood warrn) one quart, carbolic acid pure
one-haif ounce, sew the wound up, turning
the edges inward, sew up the wound on
the external surface in the usual manner
and apply a stiff pitch plaster over it.
Feed the animal small quantities of sloppy
food for few days and all will be wen in
a very short while.
SAMUEL BURDETT, V. g.,
1,514 Third street, Seattle.