THE VETERINARIAN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 770, 3 December 1886, Page 15

THE VETERINARIAN.

DISEASES OF THE STOMACH.

Distention of the stomach .with food may be relieved, as we explained in the last article, by an operation which, although seemingly formidable, is generally unattended with any serious results. Tho operation of cutting into tho rumen or paunch and removing its contents is often performed successfully in a very rough way in sheep suffering from impactment of food in the rumen. Cattle are.less frequently affected to an extent , which demands surgical iuterference ; but the operation when necessary may be performed without any fear as to after consequence, if proper care be taken to provent the escape of any of the contents of the rumen into the abdominal cavity. This danger is best guarded against by introducing a towel, doubled so as to form a sort of shoot, or open shaft through the wound in the stomach, leaving half of it to hang outside down the animal’s flank. The contents of the viscus arc then to be drawn out by the hand, which is carried along the bottom of the channel formed by the folded cloth. When enough of tbe contents have been removed, the end of the towel in the rumen is to be grasped by the hand and rolled up firmly and gradually until it is brought out of the opening in the flank, bringing with it all the particles of food which will adhere to the bottom of the channel along which the contents of tbe stomach have been drawn. In the horse, distention of the stomach cannot be relieved by operation ; indeed, no one has thought of attempting to reach the organ with the idea of catting into it. When the ordinary remedies—purgatives with warm water—fail, there is nothing more to be done ; and in cases where these means do not give relief, a fatal termination wiil most likely occur, either from inflammation and mortification of the stomach and a portion of the intestines, or from rupture of tbe organ —a result which is probably assisted by tbe copious doses of warm water which are often given,> in the hope of softening the conteats of the stomach, and assisting their passage into the intestinal canal. It is, perhaps, an unfortunate but unavoidable alternative. The administration of medicines in the fluid form when the stomach is already too full must do harm, if it fails to effect the desired object. Symptoms of distention of the s'omach in the horse vary a good deal in different cases. Sometimes the brain is principally affected from the pressure of the distending mass interfering with the circulation, and-thus indirectly with the nerve functious. The stomach is largely supplied with nerves from the brain and spinal cord, and it is impossible for disease to exist in the stomach without the nervous system being sympathetically affected.

Cases in which the chief symptoms are drowsiness, partial loss of vision, with signs of abdominal pain, are described as stomach staggers, and these cases are more hopeful than those of the more acute form, in which the animal indicates severe pain by lying down and rising frequently, twisting the tail, looking round to the fiUnk, and often turning up the top lip. Sometimes these cases are mistaken for oommeo gripes ; but an invariable feature of that disease is its intermitten character. The pain occurs in paroxysms, with intervals of relief, while in distention of the stomach, whether the symptoms indioate cerebral derangement or are only suggestive of disorder of the stomach and intestines, they continue, and geuerally become more and more decided, until death occurs or relief is obtained by treatment. A fatal termination may be expected when tbe pain ceaßes or is materially diminished without any improvement in the animal’s aspect. If the dullness remains, with the pulse weak and quick, and the breathing labored, the mere fact of the horse standing quietly in a corner of his box, instead of moving about uneasily or showing pain by more violent action, does not suggest a favorable change, but rather the contrary; and if coldness of the skin follows shortly upon the other symptom, th 6 conclusion will be that mortification has taken place. Rupture of the stomach cannot always be recognised during the life of the animal, but certain symptoms are accepted as justifying a strong suspicion of the accident having occurred., For example, the pain preceding a rupture is usually very severe, and. the horse kicks at the belly, rolls .over, rises suddenly, and again goes through the same movements. If these actions are exchanged for other of a less violent character, as sitting on the haunches with the fore feet advanced and attempt* at vomiting, it may be feared that the walls of tho stomach have giveD way. To test the correctness of this view, it is sometimes suggested that some flujd should bo given as in the event of the stomach being ruptured, the pain will be considerably increased. But if the rupture has really taken place, no good can possibly be done by any treatment, and it seams unnecessary to apply a painful test merely for tbe sake of adding to the means of forming a correct opinion, especially as the doubt will be resolved in a few hours by the death of the animal.

Cattle and sheep suffer occasionally from impactment of food in the third slomach (omasum) and even in healthy animals the ingesta between the leaves of this organ are often dry and hard. But in some cases the stomach becomes enlarged to twice or thrioe its natural size, and the masses of food between the folds of the lining membrane are hard and brittle. That this is due to disease, and not merely to the mechanical action of the organ, is evident from the circumstance that the vessels wh ch traverse the mucous membrane are filled with blood, and patches of congestion are seen here and there in the leaves or folds into which the lining membrane is thrown,and in some instances circular portions of the membrane are in a state of decay.. The pathology of this disease is not well understood, although the symptoms and morbid appearances are perfectly well known in those parts of the oountry in which it is most frequent. In various parts of England the affection is known as ‘ fardel-bound ;’ ia the Isle of Man it ia * drying up ;’ and in Ireland the term * grass staggers.' is applied to it.

Professor Williams holds the opinion that the third stomaoh is not the seat of any special disease, but is secondarily affected when the animal suffers from inflammation of the fourth stomach and inte*tines—in fact, that the disease of the third stomach is merely one of the indications of gaelro-enteritis ; and certainly in the cases which we have met with of-grass staggers, there-'has always been congestion of the-lining membrane of the rest of the division of the stomach, even in the rumen, and, what Is more significant, there have also been.evident blood spots under the lining membrane of the ventricles of the heart, and congestion of the brain and spinal oord, with effusion of fluid. ;S ■ Symptoms indicative of disturbance of the brain are very common in grass staggers, and animals exhibit various signs of derangement, from dulness to violent excitement. Sometimes death takes place in a few animal left in hea'th at night will be found dead in the morning, the state of the ground on which it is lying given evidence of a violent struggle. In other cases tbe sick animal lives for a week or longer, and rapidly falls away in condition. Treatment appears to be of little use, purgatives especially. Linseed oil and castor oil are favorite medicines, under tbe impression that they .act specially on the third stomach; but under, any method of treatment which has been tried, the successful cases have been extremely few.