Rumination - 5

UREA POISONING

In 1959, during the month of December, by 8.00 p.m., I was returning to my residence on my bicycle after dinner at a hotel. From a distance I noticed a Fiat car in front of my residence. Before, I got down from my bicycle; I noticed some busy activities in the front portion of the building from where the veterinary dispensary was functioning. I heard a loud conversation of night duty attendant with somebody. Before, I alighted from my bicycle, the driver of the stationed car shouted “Doctor has come”. A well dressed young man and my attendant dashed towards me from the dispensary building.

“Doctor, very urgent. Some of our best cows died all of a sudden this evening. I have come with my car. Please come to my village and save my other ailing animals” the young man pleaded plaintively.

I just turned around and glanced at my attendant who had served in that station for 40 years (including his “boy service”).

“Sir, everything ready. This gentleman is the son of a prominent, big landowner of this taluk who is also a regular client to our dispensary. His village is 20 miles away from here. Please change your dress. We can go and return by night itself” appealed the elderly attendant.

With a reluctant smile, I moved into the residential portion of the building. Though I wanted to help the worried client, my physical tiredness due to the day long strenuous work in that taluk headquarters dispensary, made me think twice before accepting the urgent call to an interior village that too in that cold weather.

My diplomatic attendant who followed me wheedled. “Sir, his father is a very decent, educated man who owns more than 300 animals. He is a strong supporter of our dispensary. We must go immediately and attend the ailing animals”.

Though physically tired mentally decided to attend the case since no other veterinarian was available anywhere in that taluk at that time. I changed my dress and proceeded immediately to that village with the young gentleman.

During our car journey, I enquired the young man. “Do you know anything about the illness of the animals”.

“Yes Sir. My father is in the habit of listening to the farmers’ programmes of All India Radio daily evening. Today, AIR broadcast a talk on the benefits of feeding urea to cattle. It was time to feed concentrates to all the animals in our farm. After hearing that talk, he mixed a handful of urea which was stored in our godown for agricultural purpose in the feed trough of every animal. Within half an hour 3 high yielding Sindhi cross-bred cows which were fed at first, fell down with colicky pain one by one and died. Immediately all the feed troughs were removed to prevent the animals from consuming the urea-mixed concentrates. However, a few animals were restless with salivation. Immediately I rushed to you sir, for your help”.

After hearing the brief history of the case, I was worrying about the approach of treating such poisonous cases. During that time, the words of “Rumen Medicine” and “Urea Toxicity” were unheard of by the veterinarians in this country. So, I decided to treat the ailing animals, as per the general principles to be followed to treat the poisoning cases.

At 9.00 p.m., we reached the village. The owner was surrounded by his workers with an expression of utter sorrow and disappointment at the entrance of the cattle shed. He was visibly upset and could not talk to me freely. “This is my fate. Even though my old servant resisted to feed urea, I, myself mixed urea in feed troughs of all the animals, with a pride that I am the first farmer in this district to adopt all the newer scientific developments in the field of animal husbandry practice. Unfortunately, my best cows died before I could do even first aid. I have arranged to drench white of egg stirred in milk to all the ailing animals as first aid. Please save the other animals” he implored.

I examined all the eleven ailing animals. Except Cal. BoroGluconas injection, no other drug was available in my armamentarium at that time. All the ailing animals were given 150 – 200 ml of calciumborogluconas by i/v. In those days, glucose injection was available only as 20 ml ampules even for medical practitioners. That too was not available then in that village. So, I collected tender coconut water from tender coconuts which were available in plenty in that farm. I injected 450 ml by i/v to every animal. To neutralize the alkali I administered lime juice extracted from 50 lime fruits to each ailing animal orally. Then I returned to headquarters by 4.00 a.m. and prescribed 4 tablets of “Strinacin”(combination of Streptomycin with Sulpha) for oral administration to each animal. The owner purchased the tablets in medical shop at taluk headquarters and administered in the morning. When I visited the farm in the evening all the animals had recovered.

I advised the owner, not to adopt any newer techniques/findings/ suggestions, either by reading journals or by hearing radio news, with over enthusiasm, better to contact his veterinarian and discuss with him in detail all the pros and cons of newer suggestions and then adopt the newer technology, if found suited to him. I also pointed out him that the administration of white of egg the urea poisoning would only aggravate the condition. It is quite risky to use urea as feed. If anybody wants to use it, he / she must have good understanding of its utilization and limitations. If not, the feeding of urea will lead to heavy loss to farmers due to the toxicity.

Rumination - 4

“Bony Theory and Flesh of Practice”


Recently, sensational news was published in the news papers about a sanitary worker of a hospital in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The sanitary worker removed a tumour successfully from the neck of a child before the surgeon entered the theatre. Though it is considered as an improper as well as a criminal act, we have to appreciate his surgical skill which he had inculcated during his service by assisting many surgeons in the theatre.

I too had such an experience during my early days of service. Within 4 months of service in a rural minor veterinary dispensary, I was transferred to a taluk headquarters dispensary during the 3rd week of December, 1959. The dispensary was located in a rented building with facility for residential quarters to veterinary asst.sugeon. In the midnight of the second day of my joining duty, the night duty attendant woke me up and informed that a farmer had come in a taxi from a village 10 miles away to pick me up to his village to attend his animal suffering from dystokia. But, I was hesitant to move out during that winter night since I had a fear that I could not return to my morning duty (6 am) in time after attending the dystokia. However, the farmer besought me to help him by attending his animal which was struggling to deliver the foetus since that evening. My attendant also persuaded me to help the farmer. Then, my attendant and myself proceeded to that village with necessary kit gathered by my senior and experienced attendant.
During my 10 miles journey in the taxi in that cold night I was recollecting from my memory the “Bovine dystokia” taught to me in the college. There was no separate Dept. of O&G during my college days. The theory of Obstetrics was taught by surgery teachers along with surgery. We did not have an opportunity to handle “Bovine dystokia” due to want of such cases in the cattle ward of the college hospital. Though I had theoretical knowledge I had no practical training to handle bovine dystokia in field conditions. Furthur, it was my first dystokia case in my professional career. So, I was in jittery mood and also I was mentally preparing me to face the situation.

My musing was suddenly interrupted by stoppage of taxi. Within 30 minutes of travel, the taxi drew up near a vacant field where a man was standing with a hurricane light. The farmer informed that the animal was lying down nearly 2000 yards away in the open field. In that dark night we reached the site with the help of a lantern. I could see nothing outside the circle of flickering lantern which the farmer held before me. When I tried to physically examine the cow I was shocked. Both the fore limbs were protruding out of vagina and they were highly oedematous. The foetus was dead. There was no space even to introduce my little finger. When I enquired the other man guarding the animal he revealed the truth that the poor animal was suffering for the past 2 days and many quacks around the village had tried to remove the calf merely by pulling the fore limbs not knowing that will only worsen the condition. Unfortunately, even to-day most of the rural farmers approach the vets only after approaching the locally available quacks who instead of mitigate only complicate the most instances.

Recollecting my theoretical knowledge I decided to deliver the dead foetus by embryotomy (to-day’s Nomenclature: subcutaneous fetotomy). Unfortunately my experienced attendant had failed to bring the Thygesen embryotome kit due to 2 reasons.
1. Sine the farmer misinformed the real situation
2. My attendant was not familiar with Thygesen embryotome kit which was imported and supplied only a week back to that dispensary.
I was flabbergast in that situation. There was no time to return back to dispensary to bring Thygesen embryotome kit.


I bewailed to my attendant for his failure to bring the embryotome kit.
“No problem Sir, We can deliver the calf” he replied confidently.
Then he adjured the farmer to go and bring an used wooden churning staff, immediately.




I was wondering as to why he wanted a used wooden churning –staff in that juncture. However, when a used wooden churning-staff was brought, he removed the head from the handle and chiselled one end of the handle sharply like a sharpened pencil ( Fig.1). Then he requested me to make a circular incision around the hoof to separate the skin from the hoof of one protruding forelimb. When I made the incision by using embryotomy knife (Fig.2),



he pushed the tip of the sharpened end of wooden handle in 45 degree angle into the incision facing towards the uterus and then gave a blow forcefully by a wooden log on the other end. It created a skin tear up to the shoulder of the foetus. I understood the principle of his action.

Normally, when Deburin’s chisel (Fig.3) used during subcutaneous fetotomy the sharpened tip will be passed in a convenient angle above hoof and then pressed forcefully towards the uterus by holding the handle in the other end.



By this way a skin tear will be created from the hoof to the shoulder. Then by twisting the limb it will be removed from the body. Both the forelimbs also will be removed the same way to have a sufficient space to introduce the hands in to the uterus to correct the posture of the foetus and to remove it from the uterus.

By using his technique I removed both the limbs of the dead foetus. Then I easily introduced my hand into the uterus and found that the foetus was in foot nape posture ( Fig. 4)




After correction I removed the dead foetus by traction.
Since my attendant had served under many vets from the age of 7, he had learnt many practical techniques. This incident taught me a lesson that

“Mere theoretical knowledge will not be sufficient to be a successful practitioner in the field condition. Only when the bony theoretical knowledge is covered with the flesh of practical experience one can be shaped into a full-fledged successful veterinarian,”