DOGS. 717 



and milk, oatmeal and cornmeal pudding, vegetables, soup, etc. Instead of continually dos 

 ing a dog for this difficulty, add oatmeal and corn mush to his diet, together with vegetables; 

 boiled liver, cooked rather rare, is also good for dogs under such circumstances, fed two or 

 three times a week. 



Diarrhoea and Dysentery. Unless judiciously checked, diarrhoea will be apt to 

 run into dysentery. The latter may be distinguished from the former by blood being mixed 

 with the excretions, great straining, pain, dejected countenance, and redness of the rectum. 

 To regulate the bowels, give a mild dose of castor oil, giving as a diet mutton soup, wheat 

 bread and boiled milk, or boiled milk thickened with cracker, rice, oatmeal, etc., avoiding 

 corn meal mush, which is loosening to the bowels. Where the symptoms are those of 

 dysentery, to a medium-sized dog give a tablespoonful of the following mixture: Castor oil, 3 

 ounces; laudanum, 2 ounces; tincture of ginger, 2 drachms, with frequent injections of warm 

 water. The animal should be kept .perfectly quiet, and fed on rice water thickened with 

 arrowroot, scalded milk, mutton broth, and oatmeal gruel. 



Distemper. This disease often proves fatal to dogs, and requires judicious manage 

 ment. It is generally supposed that it is similar to the typhoid fever in man, and is the 

 result of blood poisoning, the germ of the disease being admitted from without, or developed 

 within the blood, by which means the secretions of the body are either checked entirely, or 

 so changed as to no longer purify the system. The symptoms are languor, loss of appetite, 

 redness of the eyes, nose hot and dry, urine high colored, pulse feverish, breathing rapid, 

 shivering of the body. The bowels will sometimes be constipated and sometimes loose, the 

 discharge being of a fetid nature. About two days after the attack the eyes and nose begin 

 to have a watery discharge, a cough sets in, and there are symptoms of pneumonia; the 

 tongue becomes coated, and there is a high fever, frequently accompanied with delirium and 

 great weakness. The nostrils sometimes become so filled with a discharge as to prevent 

 breathing through the nose, and the eyes so sore as to cause a partial blindness. &quot;When the 

 seat of the disease is in the bowels, a violent diarrhoea is the result, which frequently proves 

 fatal; when the brain is much affected, fits will generally be the result. Sometimes the skin 

 is affected; in such cases pustules will appear on the inside of the thighs, fore legs, and on the 

 belly. Dr. Sewell recommends the following treatment for distemper: 



&quot; The rules for the general management of sick dogs must here be observed, and then 

 attention may be directed to diet. The first week the diet should be entirely of a fluid 

 nature, as weak mutton broth or beef tea; and, if these are refused, milk may be offered. 

 After the first week, when the dog is very weak, bread or biscuit may be added to the broth 

 or other liquid food, which may now be given stronger. At this period of the disease the 

 dog often refuses all nourishment. On those occasions it should be drenched with it that 

 is, given it out of a bottle as in medicine. The beef tea, if the dog is very weak, should be 

 thickened with arrowroot, and a small quantity of port wine added. A fresh egg, well beaten 

 up with a little brandy, may be given occasionally for a change. The food should be offered 

 in small quantities every two hours. About the end of the third week, if the dog is pro 

 gressing favorably, and the fever diminished, the diet may be increased. In addition to the 

 beef tea and broth, small quantities of meat, such as mutton -or beef (the former preferred), 

 may be allowed. It is more serviceable when rather under-cooked. Should this cooked food 

 be refused, raw meat is readily snatched up by some animals. Sheep s paunches, well 

 cleansed and boiled, are frequently relished by a dog at this period, and may be given with 

 safety, as they are easily digested. Large quantities of any kind of food should not be offered 

 at a time, but rather small quantities every three or four hours. The quantities may be 

 gradually increased as the patient improves and gains strength. 



Distemper is often accompanied with a bad form of diarrhoea, which, if not stopped, 

 quickly proves fatal. A judicious diet greatly assists in stopping the purging. If beef tea is 



