GREASE IN HORSES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3098, 30 July 1913, Page 17

GREASE IN HORSES.

DISTINGUISHED FROM FOOT MANGE. Heavy horses with hairy feet are liable to bo affected with foot mango, or the symbiotic parasite which causes irritation about the pasterns, and is too often attributed to grease. Angry stamping of the hind feet in the stable' at night may _ bo duo to incipient grease, but the irritation is not confined to night attacks, is not so violent, and there is not the same disposition to rub and break the feather. Examination with the fingers will enable us to distinguish between the two diseases. With the oncoming of grease the heel feels hot and imparts an offensive smell to the linger: the characteristic smell of grease. There is swelling both of the heel and pastern, and probably still more of the limb, which is absent in the foot mange of the ordinary type. The heels are endowed with oil glands, which in the healthy condition only produce enough of their secretion to prevent friction when the foot is turned back; but when these glands are inflamed the quantity is often very groat, and, in some cases of preasc, a liquid, oily, almost transparent fluid may be seen pouring out of the limb from some inches above the fetlock downwards. There is no mistaking this variety of grease, and for evil odour it is worse than a chrpnic ease with grapes. In others it comes with cracked heels or a common inflammation, and gradually invades the surrounding area. This is the kind that more frequently develops those fungoid bodies known as grapes. - Causes.— It is important to consider the causes, as many of them are preventable, although there is an undoubted hereditary tendency in some families; nor is it at all proved that abundant hair makes for grease, as some suppose. For my own part, I am inclined to the reverse view, and for the reason that a well-feathered heel throws off wet and protects from chill. Cold draughts of air from under the stable door, standing in wet stalls or in deep farmyard manure, watering in ponds, and chilling by snow or molted slush are among the causes of grease. There is, too, a lymphatic temperament, with a disposition to swelled logs from any slight cause, such as standing in the stable for a day or two, or extra beans in preparation for ploughing or other severe work, which predisposes to inflammation or congestion of the glands of the skin, and easily takes on the trouble we call grease. A feeble heart and languid circulation, or diseased liver or kidneys, will contribute to the number or cases of grease, and is not as easily altered as the stable mismanagement which we have already indicated ns causing perhaps the greatest number of victims of this offensive malady. Something can, of course, be done to correct constitutional disease, but in no case should the horscowner roly entirely upon outward applications. Prevent ion.— Treatment should be preventive as well as curative, and for this double purpose the ration should be regulated according to the work, and every horse should spend part of the year at grass. A ball of aloes at least twice a year, when the work on the farm will allow for three days off duty, is a good form of insurance. .So. too, is a mash once a week for stabled horses. It should bo large and “sloppy,” and contain an ounce of nitre and two ounces of sulphur and a tablcspoonful of salt. There is, of course, room for judgment among individual horses, tome profiting by two such mashes weekly, and others needing them but once a fortnight. The owner should bo so well acquainted with each animal as to bo able to give directions in this matter, and not leave it to the carter, nor yet lay down inflexible rules. It may be said that a'! diuretic remedies act favourably in cases of grease. This is loss often stated than the fact that such drugs have been much abused in the past. Wo keep horses in an artificial condition when wo fill them with corn to produce power, and do not measure off precisely the amount of corn and power developed, and it becomes necessary to use eliminants or such things as will energise the emunctories. Theoretically, it is an objectionable thing, but it is the lesser evil which we have so often to choose. Sulphate of magnesia or Epsom salts are not generally recognised as diuretics, except by the veterinary surgeon, yet this drug is the most valuable of all in combating grease from within. Besides a direct effect upon the lymphatics, and the consequent fining of gross gummy legs, repeated small doses act on the liver and kidneys, assisting them in the work of secreting their special products.

Small does, such as a dram, in other alterative powders have the most beneficial effect on horses with filled legs and sluggish livers, but for established grease an ounce may bo given daily in some damped chop. In an acute case three ounces may be added to the bran mash previously advised. As to Outward Applications,— these should never bo employed in a greasy medium; hence we prescribe no ointments. , Liquid preparations are apt to run off if not judiciously employed, and powders do not reach the skin unless rubbed in. A good plan is to set apart a bucket big enough for a horse’s foot to go in up to the affected parts, and in this vessel put a gallon of lotion, made by dissolving two ounces i each of the sulphates of iron, copper, anti | zinc. If a white heel, only the zinc must be } used, and half a pound may be substituted I for the three sulphates. Chloride of zinc I of about 5 per cent, to 10 per cent, strength ' in water is a very effective lotion also. A mixed powder may be used composed of finely triturated red oxide of mercury one dram, burnt alum one ounce, and an ounce each of the sulphates of copper, iron, and zinc, and five ounces of fuller’s earth. Grape cases may be treated by the chloride lotion, or the powder without the fuller’s earth. By such means grease can be either prevented or cured in the usual way, and bad, old-standing cases kept in check. —A Veterinary Surgeon, in Farmer and Stockbreeder.