Common Diseases of Farm Animals | Page 8

mouth, in the feed or as a drench; by injecting
into the tissues beneath the skin or hypodermically; by rubbing into the
skin; by the air passages and the lungs; and by injecting into the
rectum.
If the animal is not too sick to eat and the drug does not possess an
unpleasant taste, it may be given with the feed. If soluble, it may be
given with the drinking water, or in any case, it may be mixed with
ground feed if this method is to be preferred. In all cases the medicine
must be well mixed with the feed. This is especially important if there
are a number of animals to be treated, as there is more certainty of each
animal getting the proper dose and the danger of overdosing is avoided.
If the young animal is nursing the mother, we can take advantage of
certain drugs being eliminated in the mother's milk and administer the
drug to the mother.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--A good kind of a dose syringe.]
DRENCHES.--In the larger animals a bulky drench is sometimes
difficult to administer, and we should, in all cases, count on a portion
being wasted.
Horses are sometimes difficult to drench, and it may be advisable to
confine the horse in some way. Small drenches can readily be given
with a syringe (Fig. 6) or a small bottle. In giving bulky drenches it is
most convenient to use a long-necked, heavy glass bottle. The horse
should be backed into a narrow stall and the head elevated by placing a
loop in the end of a small rope over the upper jaw, passing the rope
back of the nose piece on the halter and throwing it over a beam, and
raising the head until the mouth is slightly higher than the throat. If the
horse refuses to swallow, a tablespoonful of clean water may be
dropped into the nostril. This forces it to swallow. A drench should
never be given through the nose, as it may pass into the air passages

and cause a fatal inflammation of the lungs.
Cattle can be easily drenched by taking hold of the nostrils with the
fingers, or snapping a bull ring into the partition between the nostrils
and elevating the head.
Sheep may be drenched either in the standing position, or when thrown
on the haunches and held between the knees. Care should be exercised
in giving irritating drenches to sheep, especially if the drench be bulky.
A herd of hogs may be quickly and easily drenched if they are confined
in a small pen, and the loop of a small rope placed around the snout,
well back toward the corners of the mouth. A small metal dose syringe
should be used. If the drench is bulky and the hog difficult to hold, it
may be necessary to elevate the head and raise the forefeet from the
ground. The drench should not be given until the hog is quiet and well
under control, as there is some danger of the medicine passing into the
air passages and doing harm. It may be necessary to mark the hogs that
have been drenched with a daub of paint, or in some other manner in
order to be able to distinguish them from the untreated animals.
The administration of drugs enclosed in a gelatin capsule, or mixing
them with syrup, honey or linseed oil, and rolling the mass into the
form of a cylinder is commonly practised. The capsule or ball may then
be shot into the pharynx with a balling gun. A ball may also be given to
the larger animals by carrying it into the back part of the mouth with
the hand, and placing it on the back part of the tongue. In the horse this
method of administration requires some practice. The tongue must be
pulled well forward, the head held up, and the tongue released as soon
as the ball is placed on the tongue, so that it may pass back into the
pharynx.
The administration of drugs by injecting beneath the skin (Fig. 7) is
suitable when the drug is non-irritating and the dose is small. Drugs
administered in this way act promptly and energetically. The alkaloid
or active principle of the drug is commonly used. A fold of the skin is
picked up with the fingers and the needle is quickly introduced, care
being taken not to prick or scratch the muscular tissue, as this causes

some pain and makes the animal restless. In order to avoid abscess
formation at the point of injection, the skin should be cleansed with a
disinfectant and the syringe and needle sterilized before using.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Hypodermic syringes.]
Drugs are not absorbed through the unbroken skin, but when applied
with friction, or when the outer layer