MILK FEVER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5777, 22 January 1897, Page 3

MILK FEVER.

A lecture on "Experience and Experiments with Milk Fever," was delivered at the annual meeting of the Renfrewshire Agricultural Society by Mr A. Pottie, V.S. It was curious, the lecturer pointed out, that of all the animals in the world which exhibited; almost no symptoms while unwell, perhaps the cow took foremost rank, for she would, chew her cud while a needle was actually piercing her heart, and owing to these characteristics of the cow grave* mistakes were sometimes made through veterinary surgeons having to depend on meagre symptoms. But what was milk fever ? The facts concerning it were that it was attended by a sickness that lasted from twentyfour to forty-eight hours ; it might attack the cow two days before calving or within three days after it, but never at any other time ; that the best milkers of the Ayrshire breed, and in a fat condition, were more liable to the disease than any other; that it was more fatal when it attacked cattle feeding on grass than those feeding on house food ; and that it seldom attacked a cow under five years old, but might attack one at any age afterwards, and that one attack often led to another. Now, his observations of the disease led him to the conclusion that an animal with a full rumen or first stomach seldom recovered, or at any rate was more likely to succumb than an animal with a comparatively empty stomach ; that a cow in this ■ diseasehadalmostno fever orexcessof bodily heat ; its recovery was not dependent on temperature, and that in the great majority of cases the cow did not die from constipation of the bowels. These were perhaps most of the facts or truths that they could produce from observation, and whatever they found as the first cause must in some measure account for these facts. But then came the puzzle. If they examined, say, ten carcases of cows that had died I from this disease, having passed through all its stages, they would find five at least where not a particle of disease could be found in any organ of the body. It was also to be considered that there were three distinct forms of the disease, and that the remedy for one would be injurious to the other, so that great care had to be exercised when dealing with the affected cow. Still there were certain things which one could do in certain case 3. For instance, when they heard a cow grinding her teeth, either before or ■ after calving, they should give her nothing but a drink of water for at least two days, with a small handful of hay or straw. No soft food should be given, for perhaps she was not cudding. Nor should the cow be tempted to eat, for possibly she had a large quantity— perhaps a cwt. of food on her first and second stomachs, enough to serve her for four or five days. If the milk was much less than the cow should give, then the owner required to be specially watchful of it; and if it was showing signs of giddiness then the animal should be kept steady by an assistant. In this connection Mr Pottie instanced other symptoms of the disease and now they should be treated, and dealing^ with the question of medicine he pointed out difficulties that were in the way of successful treatment, the quantity of food in the.cow's stomach being too much for medicine to properly act on. He held that an excellent remedy would be to empty the stomach by pumping off the food. For five years he had endeavoured to construct a pump to accomplish this purpose ; but when he stated that the contents of a cow's stomach were more like a substance which apraip could best work in, they would readily understand the difficulties in the way of a pump acting. By next spring, however, he hoped to have his invention completed, and he had no doubt it would lead to ths& saving, of many cases that were at present regarded as incurable. -