38 DISEASES 



selves. No dog should go over twenty-four hours without a passage, and 

 better if not so long. As to the size of the dose of castor oil this depends 

 greatly on size and age of dog. Take a grown dog the size of a fox terrier 

 or pug, by this is meant a dog over a year old, and you can give it a table- 

 spoonful. If this don't work in an hour or so, repeat the dose once. A 

 dog a year old or over, like an English setter, could stand two tablespoons- 

 ful at a dose, while the larger breeds like a St. Bernard, could stand an 

 ounce and a half, which would be three tablespoonsful, or even two ounces 

 at a dose. Some dogs, like some persons, are harder to physic than others, 

 so that judgment should be used; the idea being not to give too much, 

 but just enough to accomplish the desired result. Fluid extract of cascara 

 sagrada is a remedy much used for constipation, and to the dose of«castor 

 oil from five to twenty drops of this can be added and given with it with 

 benefit. 



Puppies from six months to a year old should be given smaller doses 

 in proportion to age and breed of dog. 



Young puppies as a rule should have rather loose bowels than other- 

 wise, and are rarely ever troubled with constipation. 



Watch your dog's bowels, which is easily done by spending a few min- 

 utes each morning after it is let out in the yard. Often if only slightly 

 bound up, or passage is a bit too hard, a little oatmeal (same as you cook 

 it for yourself), or some cooked liver for its breakfast, or a good drink 

 of buttermilk will loosen it up all right, in place of the oil. If passage 

 is normal (shaped and not hard), do nothing at all. Every dog should 

 empty itself at least twice a clay and puppies oftener. 



Some dogs are troubled with chronic constipation, and in such cases, 

 use a laxative pill, several of which are made for dogs. I have found Clay- 

 ton's very good. 



Cough. — Cough, strictly speaking, is a symptom of disease, rather than 

 a disease itself, but it is in very many cases to non-professional observation 

 the most distinct sign that something is wrong; indeed, so markedly is this 

 the case that we speak of a person having a bad cough as the ailment from 

 which he suffers, rather than the symptom of that ailment, and hence we 

 have innumerable specific remedies as cough mixtures, cough pills, etc. 

 Our dog we treat in the same way, taking the sign for the substance, the 

 smoke for the fire, and fortunately without much practical harm, for gen- 

 erally speaking, the medicine that will ease a cough is acting favorably 

 on the disease of which the cough is an evidence. To decide what parti- 

 cular disease is indicated by the cough, the concomitant symptoms and 

 circumstances, as described under the special disease, which are usually 

 preceded or accompanied by cough, must be taken into account, and the 

 special treatment called for in each case followed. Coughs vary as much 

 in character as do the diseases of which they are in many cases the most 

 pronounced indication. Thus, in common cold the cough slight and humid; 

 in bronchitis, hard, dry and frequent; and in inflammation of the lungs 

 and pleurisy, short and suppressed, doubtless from the great pain caused by 

 the effort. When the throat is sore, the cough is hoarse and generally ac- 

 companied by more or less difficulty in swallowing; in asthma, the cough 



