Porcine yin deficiency with liver hyperactivity is one of the difficult and complicated diseases of pigs.
[Etiology] This disease mostly occurs in spring and summer. In spring and summer, yang qi is released, and the main qi of livestock tends to the body surface. When feeding and management are improper, the climate is abnormal, or the pig's own regulatory and adaptive functions are disordered, some diseases closely related to the season appear, and pigs are prone to yin deficiency with liver hyperactivity. When the liver is hyperactive, it affects the heart (the mother organ affecting the child organ). The liver opens into the eyes, and the heart opens into the tongue, so diseased pigs show red eyes, red tongue, dry mouth, and fever. Because of persistent high fever, body fluids are consumed and damaged, so symptoms such as weakness and a preference for lying down appear. Liver hyperactivity overacts on the spleen, and the spleen fails in its transportation and transformation, so appetite decreases. The liver governs free coursing and stores blood, while the heart governs the blood vessels and stores the spirit. When heat toxin invades the liver and attacks the heart, dual deficiency of qi and blood occurs. If treatment is not given in time, convulsions occur and the animal dies.
[Symptoms] At the beginning of the disease it resembles influenza. Pigs in the same batch become ill at the same time, with body temperature reaching 41-42°C, listlessness, a preference for lying down, and no eating. When driven to walk, they do so reluctantly, with the hind limbs swaying. The coat is dull, the eyes are red, the tongue is red and dry, and they like to drink dirty water. Some diseased pigs have dry feces, and individual pigs have reddening of the facial skin. There are no other obvious symptoms.
[Diagnosis] Treatment with antibiotics and other drugs is ineffective for this disease. On necropsy, apart from local capillary congestion in the mucosa of the large intestine, there are no other lesions visible to the naked eye. The diagnosis is mainly confirmed based on the special clinical symptoms.
[Treatment] Clear heat and resolve toxin, nourish yin, enrich blood, and calm the spirit. Prescription: dandelion 12 g, gentian 12 g, honeysuckle 10 g, wild chrysanthemum 10 g, Viola mandshurica 10 g, prepared rehmannia 12 g, codonopsis 15 g, coastal glehnia root 12 g, dwarf lilyturf root 12 g, bitter apricot seed 12 g, mung bean 120 g (decocted separately). The above drugs are the dosage for a pig weighing about 60 kg. Decoct in water twice, combine the decoctions, and administer in 2 divided doses daily. For those with complete loss of appetite, administer by drenching or via a stomach tube.
Modifications: For severe red, swollen, and painful eyes, add Prunella vulgaris 12 g and cassia seed 12 g. If fever still does not subside after medication, add raw gypsum 250 g and anemarrhena rhizome 10 g; if residual heat is not cleared after medication, add lily 8 g. Nursing care: Clean the pen and keep it hygienic. During medication, stop feeding any feed and provide only glucose-saline solution for drinking.