PART V. 



DISEASES OF THE BLOOD AND BLOOD 

 PRODUCING ORGANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

 ANEMIA. 



Definition. A reduction in the total volume of blood or 

 of its corpuscles, oligocythemia, or of certain of its more 

 important constituents, such as albumin and hemoglobin. 

 Two forms of anemia are recognized, viz.: (a) Acute, and 

 (6) chronic. 



Occurrence. Very frequently observed in dogs and cats. 

 The most common form is the acute. The chronic form 

 following various diseases is also of common occurrence. 



Etiology. (a) Many cases of acute anemia are the direct 

 result of loss of blood. The condition develops rapidly 

 following epistaxis, intestinal hemorrhage, rupture of blood- 

 vessels in the lungs, hemorrhage of the uterus, parenchy- 

 matous hemorrhage, or any external, severe hemorrhage. 



(6) Chronic anemia develops slowly and gradually. 

 Several different causes are found producing this type: 

 Insufficient food, or food of poor quality in which the essential 

 nutritive elements are deficient; diseases of metabolism in 

 which the nutritive processes are modified and the food 

 elements not utilized in the body. In small animals anemia 

 often follows diseases of the digestive tract (catarrhal inflam- 

 mation) producing either a loss of appetite or an interference 

 in the digestion and assimilation of the food. This may 



