Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Infectious Rhinotracheitis
Watching his expression, Batu nervously stroked the horse’s mane: “Aha…”
“It’s fine, I’ll give it an injection.”
Fortunately it was cold, so the wound hadn’t festered yet—just some redness and swelling. Disinfecting and giving it an anti-inflammatory injection should help.
However, it would be best to apply some ointment to the wound.
Speaking of ointments, there were actually many types.
For preventing infection, you’d use disinfectant ointment with iodine or alcohol.
For already infected or at-risk wounds, you’d use antibiotic ointment with amoxicillin and similar ingredients.
For cases like the chestnut horse where there was inflammatory reaction around the wound, you’d use ointment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (like ibuprofen-based compounds)…
After considering in his mind, Xie Changqing decided to prepare his own using herbs.
After processing the herbs, he’d add some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
This way, he could both conserve medicine and cure Little Red.
“Aha, inject directly? What is this for? Is this for Little Red to eat?” Batu followed behind him like a little tail.
At first Xie Changqing answered him, but later got tired of responding.
He was getting dizzy from all the turning, so he simply ordered Batu around: “Go get a ladle of water… dump this out… give me that basin.”
Fortunately Batu was worried about the chestnut horse and didn’t mind the work, happily running around with him.
With his help, Xie Changqing quickly finished making the ointment.
He first gave Little Red an injection, then rewashed its wound.
This was naturally very painful, and Little Red paced back and forth, calling out from time to time.
“Ah, it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt. Tomorrow I’ll go cut tender grass for you again, okay?” Batu coaxed it, actually quite convincingly.
Hearing this made even Xie Changqing want to laugh, though his hands moved even faster and more gently.
By the time he finished treating it and reapplied fresh medicine, it was almost lunchtime.
“How is it? Nothing wrong now?” Tana came over, asking nervously: “Is the horse alright?”
Batu beside her also looked up expectantly at Xie Changqing.
“Basically fine.” Xie Changqing picked up his medical kit and headed back, saying calmly: “I’ll check again tonight. As long as there’s no inflammation or pus, it should be okay.”
Thank heavens. Tana breathed a long sigh of relief.
This was their only horse now, since Lightning couldn’t completely be considered theirs…
After lunch, someone else came looking for Xie Changqing: “Doctor! Changqing!”
“Doctor” was what they called physicians here. This was really the first time Xie Changqing had heard someone call him that—it felt… rather novel.
He picked up his medical kit and went with the person to the pasture.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with this cow. It was eating grass fine, then suddenly wouldn’t move.” The herder was very anxious.
Cows at this time were all raised fat and strong.
This cow just wasn’t big enough yet, or it would have been sold along with the others at the end of autumn.
But if it died, that would be such a waste.
The cow was still alive but breathing continuously, appearing to be in great pain and having difficulty breathing.
Reaching out, Xie Changqing found its body very hot: “It has a fever.”
Not only that, but mucus was flowing from its nose.
After discovering this symptom, Xie Changqing had an estimate in mind.
He reached out to pry open its tightly closed eyes.
Sure enough, its conjunctiva was red, in a state of congestion.
High fever, difficulty breathing, mucous nasal discharge, conjunctival congestion—great, all the symptoms were there.
The herder sounded a bit nervous: “It has a fever? Ah… will it be okay?”
How could it be okay? Xie Changqing shook his head: “It should be infectious rhinotracheitis, quite acute. First isolate this cow and pen it up separately, then let me check the other cattle.”
Because this was contagious, they needed to isolate it from other cattle immediately to prevent transmission.
Hearing it was contagious, the herder became extremely anxious and quickly nodded: “Yes, yes! Right away!”
He didn’t even bother asking about the cow’s condition and immediately pulled over a cart to drag it away.
Xie Changqing disinfected his hands before going to examine the other cattle.
The herd didn’t move much, letting him examine them.
After checking them all, he indeed found another sick cow.
“Fortunately, this cow has milder symptoms.” Xie Changqing had the herder take this cow back for isolation too.
The two sick cattle were also kept separately. Xie Changqing first treated the one with severe symptoms.
“Didn’t your cattle get vaccinated?” Xie Changqing frowned. Logically, there should be vaccines for infectious rhinotracheitis.
“Ah? We gave all the shots, but only Xie Yu knew what we were injecting…” The herder couldn’t understand terms like vaccines or what they were called.
Xie Changqing sighed inwardly and nodded: “Alright, let me take another look.”
If possible, he needed to give it ribavirin—an antiviral medication.
But…
He opened the medical kit. Among the medicines the old veterinarian from the Seventh Pasture had given him, there was no ribavirin.
This was awkward…
After pondering for a moment, Xie Changqing touched the medical kit’s switch.
[Level 1 Medical Kit]
[Points: 16]
[Reputation: -177]
[Available for exchange: Ampicillin… Ribavirin]
Among the many medications, Xie Changqing immediately spotted ribavirin.
Calculating, he really had treated quite a few livestock these past days…
Though not too many, these points were quite useful.
He’d been reluctant to use them, but now they came in handy!
What surprised Xie Changqing was that his reputation was still somewhat low.
Mainly because those people who’d left their pasture for the Sixth Pasture had all given him negative ratings. Sigh…
Xie Changqing discreetly took the ribavirin from the medical kit, mixed it with antibiotics, and injected both sick cattle.
“Eh? Why isn’t it better yet?” The herder watched him finish the injection and peered inside: “Is this enough?”
“It’s not that fast—the medicine needs time to take effect.” Xie Changqing couldn’t help laughing as he waved his hand: “This pen needs disinfecting, then sprinkle some plant ash everywhere. Keep the pen dry and change the hay inside frequently.”
The removed hay had to be burned directly and couldn’t be reused.
The herder listened carefully, noting down each item and executing them seriously.
By evening, the cow with milder symptoms actually got up and started eating grass. He was immediately tremendously excited.
He made a special trip over to share the good news with Xie Changqing.
At the same time, he brought over a large chunk of dried beef, stuffing it into Tana’s hands without allowing refusal: “Oh my, this is just wonderful! Saving these two cows has really put my mind at ease!”
If both cows had died together, he really would have been heartbroken.