Recording of the reticular motility in cattle with experimental and spontaneous traumatic reticuloperitonitis.

Using the method described in a previous publication for recording the reticulum action in normal cows the authors have investigated three cows with experimentally produced reticuloperitonitis as well as a group of cows with spontaneous peritonitis under treatment at the stationary clinic. The experimental animals were provided with permanent rumen fistulas. In the three cows with experimentally produced peritonitis the pointed object worked loose spontaneously during the first 24 hrs. The symptoms were mild after the first perforation and became aggravated after further perforations. An abnormally prolonged reticulum interval was recorded immediately after the perforation and continued to be clearly distinguishable for two to three days. In the cows with spontaneous peritonitis, this change was observed only in the acute stage. Prolongation of the second phase of the reticulum was the most pronounced finding from the recordings of the reticular movements, both in the cows with experimental peritonitis and in those in the spontaneous group. The change was at its height after two to seven days, and then subsided gradually in the experimental animals in which repeated recordings had been made. The pressure elevation in reticulum during the contractions was lower both in the animals with experimental peritonitis and in the spontaneous group than in the healthy animals. The cows with reticuloperitonitis also displayed impaired ability to pass the recording catheter from the atrium ruminis to the reticulum.