DISEASES OF GOATS, DOGS, AND CATS 641 



Nervous Symptoms. In weak and anemic subjects serious cere- 

 bral symptoms predominate; characterized by stupefaction. In 

 strong animals we notice especially symptoms of active cerebral 

 hyperemia, sparkling eyes, hot head, restlessness, great excitement, 

 followed later by others which are produced by cerebral compression, 

 especially convulsions, which are often limited to one or more mem- 

 bers. At certain moments violent epileptiform spasms appear. The 

 animals, which are anxious and over-excited, shake their heads and 

 wander around without aim, or run around as if lost, with a frothy 

 saliva running from the mouth. 



The animal falls, utters a cry, loses consciousness, and under- 

 goes generalized tonic or clonic spasms, the rectal and vesical sphinc- 

 ters are paralyzed, and there is expulsion of urine and fecal matter. 

 These phenomena are due to arterial anemia and venous hyperemia 

 of certain regions of the cerebro-spinal center, as well as to the action 

 of the infectious poison on the nervous system. These nervous 

 symptoms are generally followed by either complete or partial 

 paralysis, more commonly of the posterior extremity. 



Symptoms Furnished by the Skin. In nearly half of the cases 

 a peculiar pustular exanthema or eruption is developed upon the 

 inner fascia of the legs and on the abdomen. In mild cases this 

 exanthema only becomes papular and is sometimes the only symp- 

 tom that is present. 



On the surface of the skin very red spots appear which within 

 twenty-four hours are transformed into military pustules surrounded 

 by a red zone. These pustules either dry and form crusts, or burst 

 and form moist wounds which heal in from six to eight days. This 

 eruption may be only in circumscribed areas or it may be distributed 

 over the entire surface of the abdomen. 



General Symptoms. The temperature, as a rule, rises in the 

 beginning, and increases when inflammatory localizations are pro- 

 duced, at the approach of death often dropping considerably below 

 the normal. The course of the fever, however, is generally irregu- 

 lar. As the disease advances, emaciation becomes more and more 

 marked; the abdomen becomes tucked up, the ribs prominent, the 

 hair dull and bristly, the orbits become sunken, the mucous mem- 

 branes pale, the gait is staggering and weakness is extreme. The 

 animal gives off a fetid odor and is almost always found in a recum- 

 bent position and in a deep state of coma. 



Course and Prognosis. Canine distemper offers a great variety 

 of changes. When it is marked by a simple papular or slight pustu- 

 lar exanthema, by a simple inflammation of the conjunctiva, by 

 slightly marked nervous symptoms, by a mild catarrh of the respira- 

 tory or digestive mucous membranes, it often runs a rapid and abor- 

 tive course, and may end in recovery within eight or ten days. Its 

 duration, however, is from three to four weeks. Where marked 

 brain and spinal lesions complicate the disease, it runs a slow course, 

 dragging along for months, unless some vital portion of the brain 19 

 involved, or some important function disturbed, in which case, death 



