Chapter 56
Chapter 56: Ruminal Acidosis
Getting frostbite would be truly miserable.
During the day it would be itchy and painful, not to mention at night.
Sometimes after getting warm in bed, the frostbitten areas would start itching unbearably, as if insects were crawling on the skin—tingly and itchy, making you want to scratch.
But once you started scratching, piercing pain would follow, waking you even from sleep and keeping you tossing and turning all night.
Moreover, once you got frostbite, you’d get it every year. There was no cure.
Tana had suffered enough from frostbite, so she paid special attention to her children in this regard.
Even with mischievous Batu, she watched constantly and regularly applied sheep oil to his hands.
While talking, she also told Xie Changqing to apply some: “You can put on a thick layer at night since it won’t get in the way.”
It wasn’t good to apply during the day because of work and such.
Xie Changqing agreed and obediently took sheep oil to apply: “Next time I have a chance, I’ll get some mink oil—that’s more comfortable.”
“I heard there’s something called… clam oil!” Batu looked at Xie Changqing eagerly: “Aha… Father used to have some, it smelled so good!”
But they couldn’t even get near it because it was hidden away so carefully.
“Alright, I’ll see if I can get some next time I have a chance.” Xie Changqing had heard of clam oil too.
While they were talking, Batu started snoring…
Early the next morning, before Xie Changqing had gotten up, Eris came to their house.
“What’s the situation? How are the cattle?” Xie Changqing quickly got up and dressed. After putting on his clothes, he noticed a pair of finished wolf fur gloves at the foot of the bed.
He tried them on—they fit perfectly.
The key was that they were very comfortable, unlike his previous hand covers where all fingers were together and he had to remove them to do anything.
These gloves were different—each finger was sewn separately, and Tana had carefully trimmed them with very tight stitching.
Seeing him opening and closing his hands repeatedly, Tana smiled: “I thought this way would be more convenient for you to use.”
“They’re really good.” Xie Changqing nodded, extremely pleased: “Alright, let me wash up and go look at the cattle first.”
Hearing this, Eris felt relieved, though somewhat apologetic: “It’s just that you haven’t eaten anything yet…”
“Look at the cattle first.” Xie Changqing waved his hand and took the flatbread Tana handed him: “I’ll just eat this on the way.”
But before leaving, there was a small incident.
Usually when Xie Changqing went out, he rode Lightning.
But probably because previously only Lightning had gone out, and yesterday Batu and the others had only given Lightning a snow bath, this had stimulated the chestnut mare.
Today, as soon as Xie Changqing reached the stable, while Lightning was still leisurely waiting for Xie Changqing to lead it out, Little Red suddenly rushed over and blocked the exit.
It whinnied and swished its tail, pushing toward Xie Changqing.
“Eh? This is…” Eris was somewhat surprised.
Xie Changqing couldn’t help but laugh and shook his head, patting Little Red’s head: “Your wound hasn’t healed yet. You need to rest more. Be good.”
“Whinny… whinny…” Little Red obviously didn’t want to hear this answer, but there was nothing it could do.
Finally, under Little Red’s dejected gaze, Xie Changqing still led Lightning out.
Little Red huffily paced around the stable, even kicking and stomping.
This made Lightning very proud.
Not only did it run very fast, it also ran very steadily.
As soon as they stopped, Eris had already jumped down to help him lead the horse: “Those two cattle from before look much better, but suddenly yesterday three more cattle showed problems…”
He’d originally wanted to find Xie Changqing yesterday, but then Ar’s cattle also got sick: “The situation seems about the same as at my house!”
Xie Changqing grunted and headed straight for the cattle shed: “What are the symptoms?”
“They suddenly stopped eating, and they’re having diarrhea!” Eris was afraid of everything except epidemic diseases: “And it’s not just those three from yesterday. After I separated them, today two more have the same condition…”
It sounded somewhat like the previous infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, but not necessarily.
While talking, they’d reached the cattle shed.
The cattle shed was already somewhat cramped, but with two cattle separated out before, and now five more separated, they’d cleared out a sheep pen to house the sick cattle.
Xie Changqing looked around and went to the left side of the cattle shed first.
“Yes, these three got sick yesterday and today won’t eat any feed at all…” Eris was so anxious his mouth was about to blister.
“Alright, let me examine them first. Go get a basin of water.”
After sending Eris away, Xie Changqing first observed the sick cattle’s mental state.
They seemed somewhat depressed but hadn’t shown signs of lethargy.
Moreover, their coats weren’t rough and lusterless. When Xie Changqing pressed their skin, there were no signs of dehydration either.
That meant things weren’t too bad. He took out a veterinary thermometer—no matter what, he’d check their temperature first.
To take a cow’s temperature, the thermometer had to be inserted into the cow’s rectum.
Xie Changqing removed his gloves and, not caring about anything else, held down one cow and inserted the thermometer.
Although it was sick, the discomfort of having the thermometer inserted still made the cow jump up immediately.
“Good, no limping or trembling.” Xie Changqing carefully observed—when the cow squeezed toward the other two, none of them showed unsteady standing.
He felt relieved—then the problem wasn’t too serious.
While the temperature was being measured, he checked their mouths and breathing, which were both relatively normal.
Then he could only examine their feces.
Normal cow feces were formed lumps, with color varying according to feed type.
If feces were loose or watery, it might indicate intestinal infection, indigestion, etc.
Feces containing blood or mucus might suggest intestinal inflammation or parasitic infection.
Foul-smelling feces might be related to intestinal bacterial infection or poisoning…
Each situation would have different results.
Xie Changqing took out a piece of hide to cover his nose and mouth.
Then he took a stick and started examining the sick cattle’s feces.
The feces were acidic with a sour smell.
Xie Changqing had some idea now and went to remove the thermometer.
Sure enough, the temperature was normal.
Eris came back with water, setting it down and looking at him anxiously: “How is it? Is it that disease?”
“No.” Xie Changqing shook his head, then paused: “What feed have you been giving them recently?”
Expecting to discuss symptoms, Eris was surprised by the sudden question about feed and was momentarily stunned: “Just… the grass from this pasture.”
“What about before, before the winter migration?”
“Oh, before we fed dry grass…” Eris said, somewhat embarrassed: “We fed dry grass on the road—it’s more convenient to manage.”
This way he didn’t have to constantly tend to them. Only after reaching this pasture did he switch to fresh grass.
Xie Changqing used the water to wash his hands clean, then cleaned the thermometer and nodded: “That explains it. You were feeding dry grass before, then suddenly switched to pasture grass. Their stomachs couldn’t adapt, causing ruminal acidosis.”
“Poi… poisoning?” Eris’s eyes widened..