DISEASES 81 



"Now, when it is affected by what is called fatty degeneration, it be- 

 comes very pale, thin and flabby, greasy to the touch, with one or more 

 patches of fat upon the walls of the ventricles. This is brought about by 

 the muscle fibres composing the heart being changed or replaced by fat. 



"In order to bring about this condition the dog need not be fat itself; 

 in fact, a heart in this state is far more likely to be found in a dog which 

 is thin or underfed. 



"Dogs which are excessively fat externaly generally show the same 

 internally; that is to say, that the heart, kidneys, liver, etc., may be com- 

 pletely imbedded in one mass of fat; but then it must be understood that 

 this is not a diseased state and does not interfere with the animal's health 

 so long as it allows these different organs to perform their work. It is 

 a sign of over rather than one of under nutrition. 



"The fatty degenerated heart is a diseased one. This is not technical. 

 It is called an 'infiltration,' a term which means that fat is formed be- 

 tween the muscular fibres. 



"I am not aware that there is any symptom or symptoms during life 

 which will enable us to tell whether the heart is in this diseased state. 

 An opinion can only be purely speculative. Of course, the heart has a 

 weak beat, and the animal is easily knocked out. Sudden death is likely 

 to occur either from failure of the heart's action, or, if the fat is in the 

 form of a patch upon the wall, from sudden rupture of the wall at this spot,, 

 whereby the blood would gush suddenly out of the heart into the bag 

 containing it, ceasing to beat at once. 



"The animal must be prevented from any severe exertion. 

 "It has been stated that this disease is common among pampered, 

 asthmatical pets, the truth of which is open to serious doubt." 



This is perhaps the most frequent form of heart disease found in the 

 dog; it is, however, seldom diagnosed during life. A postmortem will 

 show in such cases that the fibres of the muscles are dotted with small 

 dark. spots (these are globules of oil within the sheath of the fibre), the 

 heart tissue is soft and breaks down readily under the finger. Cause may 

 arise from a general malnutrition of the system, or from senile decay due 

 to old age. The organ not always wholly involved, and when only a part 

 is affected it is due to some obstruction, causing local malnutrition. 



Warty Growths on the Valves of the Heart. — The valves of the heart 

 are sometimes the seat of small wart-like growths. When a dog has been 

 a constant sufferer from rheumatism, in such we occasionally meet with 

 these growths. Their presence may prevent the valves from working: 

 properly, or one may be whipped off, and thus block the circulation. 

 Sudden death may occur. 



Evertion should be avoided as much as possible; but this stite can 

 only be surmised during life, as in the case of the former disease. 



Follicular Mange — See Mange. 



Founder of the Chest — See Kennel Lameness. 



Fracture. — See Bones Broken. 



