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SECTION VIII. 

 CANINE MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



BY W. GORDON STABLES, M.D, CM., R.N. 



CHAPTER I. 

 DIAGNOSIS AND SOME SIMPLE REMEDIES. 



MY aim and object in the following 

 pages is to describe, in plain and 

 simple language, the various 

 diseases to which the dog is subject, their 

 causes, their signs and symptoms, the 

 course these run, and the most rational 

 method of conducting them to a successful 

 termination. 



I have arranged the various diseases, 

 accidents, and other maladies in alpha- 

 betical order, so that the reader may have 

 no difficulty in referring to any one of them 

 at a moment's notice. The work, there- 

 fore, is a sort of A B C guide to the ail- 

 ments of the dog. But I earnestly advise 

 every owner of a dog or dogs to read care- 

 fully and leisurely this preliminary chapter. 



By studying the probable causes of any 

 given malady, we gain an insight into the 

 laws that regulate the health of the animal, 

 and good may thus be done, on the prin- 

 ciple that prevention is better than cure. 

 But I do not consider it expedient to bur- 

 den the reader with a description of the 

 anatomy of any particular organ, further 

 than is necessary for a clear understanding 

 of the nature of the malady or accident ; 

 nor with more of physiology and pathology 

 than is barely recjuisite to the elucidation 

 of the plan of treatment adopted. 



Very nearly, if not quite all the numer- 

 ous ailments that canine flesh is heir to 

 will be found described in brief. The 

 diagnosis of the disease is given wherever 

 necessary, that is, in all cases where there 

 are two or more ailments which somewhat 

 resemble each other, though the treatment 

 required may be different. It is an easy 

 matter for anyone who is in the habit of 

 being among dogs to tell when one of them 

 is ill, but often a difficult matter to tell what 



is the matter with him. The state of health 

 is the dog's normal and natural condition, 

 in which there is freedom from pain and 

 sickness, and the proper performance of 

 every vital function, without either dulness 

 or irritability of temper. 



Diagnosis. — As the natural standard of 

 health varies somewhat in every dog, the 

 owner of one is often better able at first to 

 know when something is wrong than even 

 a veterinary surgeon. The bright, clear 

 eye of a healthy dog, the wet, cold, black 

 nose, the active movements, the glossy coat, 

 the excellent appetite, and the gaze, half 

 saucy, half independent, but wholly loving, 

 combine to form a condition which only the 

 owners of dogs know how to appreciate 

 fully. But nearly all this is altered in ill- 

 ness ; and to treat a dog at haphazard, with- 

 out first taking all possible care to discover 

 what is really the matter, is cruel. 



The first thing we must try to find out 

 is whether he is in any pain. For this pur- 

 pose, if the case be difficult, he should 

 be examined carefully all over, beginning 

 with the mouth, gently opening the jaws, 

 feeling along the neck, down the spine, 

 and down each limb, inside and outside; 

 then, having laid him on his back, we ought 

 to examine the chest and abdomen well, 

 especially the latter, which should be gently 

 kneaded. Sometimes a hardness will be 

 found in the intestines, which, coupled with 

 existing constipation, may be enough to 

 account for the animal's illness, and the 

 removal of this state of system is at least 

 one step in the right direction. By such 

 an examination any swelling or tumour, 

 bruise or fracture, will be readily dis- 

 covered. The dog ought now be made to 

 walk about a little, talked to kindly, and 



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