248 DOGS 



he has never learned anything by experience. I 

 believe he caught the disease by lying panting 

 in the blazing sun through a sultry summer, but 

 that may have been excusable, because he was 

 young and foolish. Now, however, he should 

 know that lying out in cold is the worst thing 

 possible for him, and yet in the most bitter days of 

 the winter, though wind and snow touch him up 

 immediately, there is no keeping him in the house. 

 The first ordinary symptom of distemper is one 

 you should easily discover in a house dog — he 

 loses appetite. Then his nose is hot ; he is always 

 running to the drinking-trough ; he loses spirit, 

 and is dull and languid. The cheeks begin to 

 shrink and the face has a pinched expression. He 

 is either costive or has a touch of diarrhoea. Then 

 there will be a discharge from the eyes and nose, 

 first watery and afterwards mattery. When you 

 first suspect distemper, it is always safe to give 

 a dose of castor-oil — a dessert-spoonful or a table- 

 spoonful, according to size. If that does not give 

 relief and bring back his appetite, call in advice. 

 In any case, when he does take to his food again 

 he must be strictly dieted, and the food must be 

 light and nourishing. Bovril and beef-tea are 

 good. He should be kept scrupulously clean in 

 a warm room, well ventilated, and the discharge 

 from eyes and nostrils should be sponged away 

 at intervals. Dr. Stables recommends dissolving 

 some chlorate or nitrate of potash in the water, 

 and prescribes the following fever mixture, to be 



