DOG DEPAETMENT. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

 THE DISEASES OF DOGS. 



DOG DISTEMPER. 



This a very common affection of the canine race, and it is 

 often very fatal, especially among the finer breeds, where there 

 has been close in-and-in breeding. It is usually seen in puppies 

 under one year old, although age is no preventive. Distemper 

 is a specific fever, and very contagious and wide-spread in its 

 prevalence. It is of a catarrhal nature, usually affecting the 

 mucous membranes of the head and digestive tract. Distemper 

 usually runs a definite course, and generally terminates favorably 

 when not accompanied by other diseases, but when complicated 

 it is not very satisfactory to treat. Frequently dogs pass through 

 life without contracting the disease, and one attack does not 

 render the animal proof against a second one. The period of in- 

 cubation (exposure) is from four days to three weeks, and that of 

 duration from ten days to two or three months. 



Causes. That dog distemper is caused by a germ is quite cer- 

 tain, although this specific microbe (germ) is not as yet very well 

 understood. The virus (poison) of the disease has great vitality, 

 and can be communicated from one dog to another by immedi- 

 ate contact or through the air, or from a kennel in which the dis- 

 (1or has been kept. We are satisfied it is due to a specific 



24 fp. 363] 



