THE HORSE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1248, 30 January 1896, Page 6

THE HORSE.

TREATMENT FOR CHOKING IN HORSES. A careful examination should be made within the mouth of the horse, taking the ton«ue in one hand and turning up the point after the manner of giving a ball, searching both with hand and eye for the cause of the trouble. The outside, from the base of the tongue, should be felt for deformity, continuing the scrutiny down the neck to where the oesophagus ascends over the trachea. If found within the mouth it may be removed with the hand, or by forceps if within view but out of reach or so fixed that the fingers cannot grasp it during the restless and excited movements of the animal, which make digital interference both difficult and dangerous. If found in the neck portion of the gullet it will be of importance to know what the actual obstruction consists of. For instance, an egg which may have been given to produce a glossy coat, and which tradition holds should be given in its shell, may be firmly seized and quickly broken with the hand, and with a minimum of danger to the tube, the breakage being followed by immediate relief through the passage downwards of the offending body. Veterinarians, with the manipulative skill that is the outcome of long practice, can often succeed in persuading other and more solid bodies than eggs to pass on in the way described. It will be remembered that the circular order of muscular fibres acting in rear of a morsel to be swallowed, follow one another in their rhythmic contractions, and the moment the body is removed from the constricted portion of the gullet the remainder of the tube is ready to carry on the movement. It may require but very little more force to move it than the wearied muscles previously possessed, and only a small amount of force from outside will give the necessary impetus. A hard unrips apple, or a portion of frozen swede, will not yield to such pressure as a rule, and to know what substance one is dealing with is a great advantage to the operator. It may usually bo assumed the impaction i< of some hard material, but a hastily swallowed portion of hay may in s >nie instances be the cause

Where the above described methods fail, or are impracticable, it becomes necessary to use a probang, and we would here protest against the dangerous practice of using cart-whips and broom-handles. The veterinary surgeon should be summoned and informed of the nature of the case in order to provide himself with such instruments as he does not usually carry in his gig ; meanwhile, as first aid, a wineglass or £0 of linseed oil may he poured into the throat; some of it will be retained about the obstruction, though tha major pt-rt may return via the nostrils, and another similar dose may be administered in the interval of waiting for the surgeon. This simple treatment may succeed before his arrival, as <he mass of hay will have been softened, and the tube mollified if the impediment be in the nature of an apple or root. The well-equipped veterinary surgery should contain several probangs, that used for horses being long and pliable, and not so large in circumference as one

end of polished horn is the least likely to cause injury. Passing it down the throat of a horse is often a matter of some difficulty with a frightened and restive animal, and assistants almost as much scared by so unusual an event. A gag is usually prescribed and the probang passed through a centtal orifice, but the writer, with too frequent experience of the subject, prefers to the tongue with the left hand and, with the instrument previously oiled, to push it gently but continuously over the tongue and down to the obstruction while the patientjis held by the ears on either side. If the object yields to the probang it should be pushed right down to the stomach with one movement ami the instrument instantly withdrawn If it be moved but a little some more oil may be passed down the hollow probang and another effort made before the patient becomes too restive. It may be necessary to withdraw the probang and repeat the oil, and success may reward the patient operator a few minutes later.

Where the impaction consists of a hard ragged body capable of wounding the oesophagus, and therefore immovable by means of the probang, operation from the outside is described by some writers on the subject. It is rather a forlorn hope, however, and not infrequently the body is too far down to be seen or felt. When the operation is performed either in the horse, ox or sheep, the animal generally dies afterwards from emphysemar into the tissues of the neck, head and perhaps whole body.

After the successful removal of an obstruction of the kind we have been considering, the animals should be kept without food for about fifteen hours, except perhaps a draught of milk in which an egg or two was beaten up and an ounce of glycerine added as an emollient. Soft moist food only should be allowed for two or three days, to ensure perfect recovery of the injured and exhausted tissues.—From the Field.