174 i DISTEMPER 



ailment. The writer's observation has been that a dog in distemper gets 

 along best when given limited quantities of what it craves, three to five 

 times daily, always bearing in mind the aim to make the stomach's work 

 easy. Raw (fresh) beef cut fine on bread, fed three or four times daily, 

 is most excellent. If milk is relied upon, sterilize it (rather than boil) 

 and give in moderate quantities. Raw eggs with milk is generally very 

 good and strengthening. Avoid alcoholic stimulants, except when dog is 

 badly off, then give whiskey and quinine as tonic, and maybe a little port 

 wine with milk. The following few important and brief "dont's" will aid 

 some as occasional reminders and cautions, viz.: 



Don't pour food down a sick dog when he hasn't the ability to either 

 hold or digest it. It only makes him worse. 



Don't exercise a dog sick with distemper. 



Don't let a day pass without proper use of compound tablets (pepsin, 

 bismuth and charcoal). 



Don't get scared if your dog won't eat. It's better for him not to eat 

 until he can handle his food rightly. He won't die of starvation. 



Don't allow him to get his feet wet. This is likely to bring on pneu- 

 monia, which is generally fatal. 



Don't wash a dog, no matter how foul he may be, when down with 

 distemper or convalescent. Brush, comb and clean with powder (flour). 

 Many a dog has contracted incurable chorea and its twitches from a bath 

 too soon after distemper. Keep him away from the water for three months 

 at least. 



Don't let your dog off chain as soon as he begins to feel better. Keep 

 him there till well, leading him for exercise only when convalescent. Re- 

 lapses are common and often fatal. 



When your patient is once well over distemper you can risk him any- 

 where, for dogs do not have the real thing but once. If your dog's sys- 

 tem is left very much run down, blood tonics are good, according to indi- 

 vidual needs, Scott's Emulsion being especially beneficial. 



The most important safeguards to bear in mind are: (1) Absolute quiet 

 on chain in dry quarters. (2) Tablets regularly given and constant care. 

 (3) The seton promptly put in before the case has advanced to the fatal 

 or acute form of the disease. Distemper in itself is not fatal, but the com- 

 plications and collateral developments it leads to are. Whoever faithfully 

 follows the suggestions given in this article need have no fear of any fatal 

 results from distemper. The ideas herein formulated are but the result 

 of years of practical experience of varying results with young setters. 

 Common sense is the underlying principle of it all, which after all, if used 

 in time, is far better than medicine. We hear of all kinds of "cures," 

 including those who still have faith in "coffee," the pellet of "buckshot," 

 or dose of "gunpowder," together with other harsher specifics and meth- 

 ods of treatment. Should we not give our priceless clogs, whose value 

 every year is increasing with their educated usefulness and close com- 

 panionableness, the benefit of up-to-date intelligent care, rather than the 

 "guess at it" methods of the past? 



"Modestly submitted for the benefit of somebody's faithful dog, some- 

 time, somewhere." 



The following very complete and exhaustive article on Distemper was 

 written especially for this book by Dr. George W. Clayton: 



Distemper. 



"History. — The disease now known as canine distemper made its ap- 

 pearance at a very early period. According to Laosson, it was known at 

 the time of Aristotle, and the epizootic that invaded Bohemia during the 

 year 1028 and decimated the canine species of that country is now known 

 to have been canine distemper. It made its appearance in England and 

 on the Continent of Europe during the Seventeenth Century, first in Spain, 

 and traveled from there to the other countries. It appeared in England 

 and France about 1740, in Germany in 1748, in Italy about 1764, and in 



