BROKEN WIND.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17976, 22 March 1930, Page 10 (Supplement)

BROKEN WIND.

IN HORSES. The diseased condition known as broken wind is fortunately not very prevalent in Australia, but it does occur in some localities fairly frequently. The term “broken wind’’ denotes a chronic condition of difficulty of -breathing, in which the act of expiration is always longer than of inspiration. • The difficulty of breathing in broken wind is almost always due to emphysema of the lungs, which consists of a dilated condition of the lungs owing to an excess of air in the cells in the cellular tissue that surrounds the lobules.

This continued dilation prevents the lungs from becoming exhausted of air to their full extent at the end of the act of expiration, which causes the amount of air taken in to be less than it would be were the lungs capable of being properly emptied. In any case a certain amount of residual air always remains in the lungs. When the distension occurs in the air\cells —in which case, by the breaking down of their walls the cells of the affected lobule tend to run into each other—the chief cause seems to be violent expiratory efforts made in the act of coughing. As a full condition of the stomach and intestines greatly interferes with the action of the lungs it is not surprising that violent work when the animal is “blown out” with food, and especially

when his condition is not good, should be followed by broken wind. Symptoms of Broken Wind. When breathing while the animal is at rest air is taken into the lungs In a more or less normal manner, but : s expelled from them by two distinct efforts, the muscles of the abdomen forcibly aiding the completion of the act of expiration, as is made apparent by the heaving of the flanks, the ribs being little used for breathing by a broken-winded horse. When a healthy animal is at rest there is only one effort made In expelling air from the lungs, for healthy, natural expiration is a passive act of elastic recoil. When a broken-winded horse is exercised the difficulty of breathing increases out of , all proportion to the amount and nature of the work, and the length of the act of expiration is longer than that of inspiration, which is exactly the opposite of what it should be if the horse were healthy. At the commencement of brokenwind there is a spasmodic cough, which is more or less intermittent. 1 Later it becomes a single, weak, short, suppressed cough, as if the animal had not the power in his chest to give a full one. The difficulty of breathing is constant and increases in proportion to the amount of food in the stomach. The digestion and general health of broken-winded horses are usually much out of order. Broken wind may come on suddenly. The disease is generaUy supposed to be brought on by putting the animal to hard work when his stomach and intestines are distended with food, or when he is suffering from diseases of the lungs, or by neglect of such diseases. The consumption of unsuitable food, which is often regarded as the exciting cause, has in all probability only a predisposing influence. No one has been able to produce the condition experimentally by feeding. In all cases there is usually some history of a cold, 1 which never seemed to leave of become entirely absent. As in many 1 cases horses with colds are left to grow better or worse it is no winder that permanent disease often follows such treatment.

The predisposing influence of heredity is said to be well marked in this

disease. Moral: Don’t breed from broken-winded mares. Treatment of broken wind is not possible, as the disease is incurable. The condition, though incurable, can be improved by careful attention to feeding, etc. Feed and water in small I amounts at a time. Give freshly-cut green stuff, such as lucerne, instead of dry hay. Bruise the copn and damp it, or, better still, mix through it, say, a pound of boiled linseed or a quarter of a pint of linseed oil. Attend to the horse’s general health. Keep him short of feed and water before working. Do not withhold water when at work, as total deprivation of water at such times is almost as bad as giving it in excess. Damp forage is recommended, Damped hay, green food, and, above all, forage wet with molasses and water. For medicine, give an ounce of liquor arsenicalis daily in the food for a fortnight. Do not continue this for a longer period, but it may be ; again given for a similar period after , an interval of ten days.