A CATTLE COMPLAINT

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 288, 21 November 1928, Page 7

A CATTLE COMPLAINT

“FOUL-IN-THE-FOOT.”

The Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture has forwarded the following:— In the caro and management of a dairy herd there are a number of minor ailments of stock which, taken individually, do not seriously interfere with the milk supply, yet in the aggregate may cause a considerable loss to the country. This is the case more particularly when any such ailment is liable to affect several members in a herd. One of these ailments which almost every farmer has had some experience of is “foul-in-the-foot” in cattle. In some seasons this trouble is more frequently seen than in others, and there are also localities more liable to the disease. Although generally mild in character and as a rule fairly easy to treat, the trouble may involve abscess formation in the foot, and extend to the joints, setting up arthritis, and may mean destruction of the animal. It is therefore necessary to be on the look-out for this trouble when one or more of the cows in a herd are showing symptoms of lameless. Lameness itself may be due to a stone wedged between the claws, to an injury from barbed wire, or to a foreign body—nail, glass, or wire in tho foot. When lameness is first noticed a careful examination of the foot is necessary. If no foreign body is found and no apparent wound is present to account for the lameness, the case should be treated as an early case of foul-in-the-foot, usually spoken of as “scald.” EARLY TREATMENT. In these early stages of this trouble it frequently only requires the application of some astringent lotion, as copper sulphate (bluestone)’, to arrest tho progress of the complaint. The blue-stone solution is made up by disolving two ounces of blue-stone to the gallon of water. The foot should be carefully washed and dried. Painting the cleft of the foot with tincture of iodine, using a feather for this purpose, and keeping the foot dry for a few days afterwards, in many cases checks the trouble. A dressing of tar applied and kept in place with tow protects the foot and keeps it clean. The real trouble is caused by the entrance of infective material through wounds or abrasions of the skin in the cleft of the hoof or on the coronet, and this material is always likely to be present in wet pastures, in dirty yards, or tracks, or gateways. Hence foul-in-the-foot is more frequently seen on farms which are low-lying, subject to floods, or having badly drained pastures. The trouble is more rarely met with on sandy soils. In a typical case where tho cleft between the digits has become swollen and inflamed the affected animal is very lame and as a rule unable to follow the other members of the herd. It is as well to isolate such an animal, place her in a handy paddock where the foot can be properly attended to, and, if necessary, milking can be done in the paddock. ADVANCED CASES. If infection has gained entrance nnd the case is a b«d one, with evidence of suppuration, it is well to apply either not fomentations or poultices of bran or linseed kept In place by sacking. The infection is as a rule caused by soil organisms, so that cleanliness is essential to success in the treatment adopted. After a course of poultices so as to bring the suppuration to the surface. it is often advisable to open up the inflamed area with a lance, and here again cleanliness must lie observed. A few more poultices are now applied and the wound allowed to heal.

During the healing process it is well to protect the foot with a dressing of tar to which has been added blue-stone, using one part of bluestone to ten parts of tar. This dressing will prevent the formation of “proud flesh,’’ which is so troublesome a feature in many of these foot complaints. Tho dressing can be kept in place by a pad of tow firmly fixed between the clefts.

In some cases the healing process takes a considerable period, and, speaking generally, a typical case takes up a good deal of time and often exhauts the owner’s patience as well. As any foot trouble is as a rule very painful on account of the pressure of the horny wall on the congested and sensitive tissues lying underneath, the animal loses condition very rapidly and very often fails in her milk supply. For this reason alone any measures which can be taken to treat foul-in-the-foot in the early stages should be adopted. If possible, those predisposing causes, such as insanitary yards and surroundings, should be remedied. If gravel is within reasonable distance, nnd a supply put down at entrances to paddocks, or a concrete yard, with gravel approaches, and attention given to the first animal showing lameness, trouble from lhe above complaint would bo considerably reduced.