XXVI. 



FEEDING THE SICK. 



I propose to give here a brief practical summary of the 

 methods of feeding sick animals. The proper feeding in acute 

 diseases, accompanied with high fever, varies to some extent ac- 

 cording to the individual affection, but is subject to general prin- 

 ciples which are sufficient practical guides for most cases. When 

 an acute febrile stage is very severe and temporary, it is usually 

 associated with complete anorexia, which the nurse may obey 

 with safety. After, however, the first day or two of such an 

 attack, and when the febrile reaction is prolonged, a loss of appe- 

 tite, amounting even to disgust with food, is no excuse for absti- 

 nence. The amount of nourishment received by the body is 

 measured, not by the amount of food put into the stomach, but by 

 the amount which is assimilated; and in febrile complaints an 

 effort must be directed not to the filling of the stomach, but to 

 obtaining as large an assimilation of food as possible, without 

 disturbing the alimentary canal. Any symptoms of gastric or 

 intestinal disturbance should be the signal for immediate lessen- 

 ing of the food. Excessive tympany, or an increased diarrhoea 

 from over-feeding, should not be overlooked, nor attempt made 

 to remove the symptoms by medicine. Such practice is exceed- 

 ingly reprehensible. In febrile diseases the feeding should be at 

 short intervals, with small amounts of liquid foods of a nutritious, 

 easily digested character. The feeding of sick animals has not 

 received deserved attention, and as a result many an animal has 

 been lost that otherwise could have been saved. 



It may be set down as a general rule that all foods given in 

 protracted febrile states should be in liquid form. In aU febrile 

 cases alcohol in some form should be given with the food. Alco- 

 holic liquors in moderate amounts stimulate the stomach and aid 

 digestion and absorption, but in large amounts interfere with 

 these processes. 



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