Catarrh of the Udder.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 122, 14 January 1909, Page 3

Catarrh of the Udder.

Catarrh of the adder, which interferes with milk secretion, and produces slimy ropes instead of milk, is like a common cold or catarrh of the membranes of the air passages. All membranes are subject to catarrh, both acute and chronic. All membranes which have access to the outer air can suffer from catarrh. The pipes and canals among the glandular substance which makes milk are all subject _to the influence of atmospheric air which enters a the time of milking or of suckling. So also at the other end of the animal. The mucous membrane of the alimentary canal and of the genital pasages may all be subject to catarrh, bffimw they are all of the same character, although having very different offices. Catarrh of the mucous membrane of the udder and the gland substance itself may be either accidental or contagious (infective), or the milk ■apply way be influenced bv the condition described as catarrh affecting the alimentary or genital tracts. The reader who bus followed what has been said above will see what a very wide range of causes there are for Interrupted milk supply or alteration in its constituent element-. .So many of the cases of suspended or only temporarily reduced milk supply, in the writer's cxp<ri<nrr-, are due to indigestion of a kind which produces no sufficiently prominent symptom:* to attract the ntt'-ntion of the ordinary cowman. A change r >' d:et and H'imc of those rruik m.Vxirs or milk "drivers," Americans rail them, produce the desired effort. This indeed is the explanation of the success of many old farrier* and unqualified veterinary practitioners, v. hodiscovered for themselves thf value of the advice Riven to the locum tenens as to what should he his line of treatment in the absence of the principal "Purge them first, purge them next, and purge them last, and then you'll get on all right." So we see querists often advised in such cases to give a bold dose of aloes and salts as a preliminary measure. In most udder troubles it is a good procedure. It clears out the fermented ingests which is eliminating gases, stimulates the liver and pancreas to do their best, diverts the blood from the udder to the bowels, lowers arterial pressure and reduces temperature.