DISTEMPER 1H 



ii should be regarded as kind of a safety valve, for dogs that suffer from skin 

 complaint rarely, if ever, develop paralysis or chorea. 



The following valuable article was taken from Field and Fancy: 



After -Effects of Distemper — Distemper in itself is not so serious a 

 matter as are the troubles which follow in its wake. The most deadly of 

 these is the complaint known as chorea, or paralysis, sometimes called 

 "twitch," which is an involuntary jerking of the nerves, affecting sometimes 

 the head, sometimes the legs, sometimes the whole body. It usually comes 

 about in this way: A dog has distemper, and, as the owner believes, has 

 it very mildly; he merely shows signs of a little cold, or perhaps he is merely 

 "off color," as the expression is, loses his appetite and seems not to be 

 himself for a few days, no other symptoms in particular making their ap- 

 pearance. 



After a few days he is better, and the owner thinks he has had dis- 

 temper and is getting over it, and nothing more is thought of the matter 

 until a little later on — probably after the lapse of week or two — he has a 

 fit, and on recovering from the fit it is found that he is twitching all over. 

 This is not always what happens. In many cases the first symptoms of any- 

 thig wrong takes the form of this involuntary twitching of the muscles; 

 bpt the disease is very insidious and comes on in various ways, although it 

 seems to be almost entirely connected with distemper, and the moral to 

 be learned from this, therefore, is that any case of distemper, however mild, 

 should be treated as seriously as if it were a bad attach, because this chorea 

 or paralysis ought almost to be described as a sort of suppressed distemper, 

 which, if the case is thoroughly treated, is brought out of the system instead 

 of being allowed to lie dormant there until it affects the brain and causes 

 the distressing symptoms of twitching, which in many cases last till the 

 end of the dog's life. 



With regard to carelessness in dealing with dogs which are convales- 

 cent. The most dangerous cases of distemper, apart from those in which 

 there has been chorea or paralysis, are the cases in which the liver is very 

 seriously affected. Jaundice, as every one know r s who has had experience 

 with it, is a very bad complaint, and it carries off a good many dogs. It 

 very often occurs in combination with distemper, and when a dog which has 

 been suffering in that way with a combination of distemper and liver com- 

 plaint has taken a turn for the better great care will be needed for some 

 time. 



