GENERAL EXAMINATION 3 



animal when lying down is to a certain extent a diagnostic symptom. 

 Dogs which are affected by lateral or one-sided diseases of the chest, for 

 instance, lateral pneumonia, pleurisy, or pneumothorax, ;vvill take a sitting 

 position or lie on the sternum with the legs under the body. 



THE STRUCTURE AND CONSTITUTION OF THE BODY. 



The development of the skeleton may be used as a basis for deter- 

 mining what sort of constitution an animal has, at the same time taking 

 into consideration the great difference there is in form between the differ- 

 ent breeds of dogs in the strength and shape of the bones; we can fre- 

 quently obtain some diagnostic information concerning a defective con- 

 stitution from the following indications: of softness of bones, there are 

 flat non-arched ribs, a narrow chest, a marked change in the shape of the 

 skeleton, the swelling of the ends of the ribs at the union of the bone to 

 the sternum, by the contortions of long bones, and a swelling of the joints 

 as seen in all rachitic animals. For further information on this subject see 

 the article on the examination of the respiratory apparatus. In rare 

 instances there is a marked deformity of the spinal column, an upward 

 curvature (kyphosis) , a lateral curvature (skoliosis) , an upward and lateral 

 curvature (kyphoskoliosis) , and a downward curvature (lordosis) . 



THE NUTRITIVE CONDITION. 



The general condition may depend, to a large extent, on the age of 

 the animal, how he has been fed, and the amount of exercise he has had, 

 but, as a general rule, if the animal's condition is poor, it is due to the 

 presence of some disease. The skin, to a certain extent, is a diagnostic 

 guide; if the animal is healthy the skin will be loose and pulled easily from 

 the different parts of the body, whereas in disease it is tight and loses its 

 softness and smooth feeling to the fingers. The body loses its symmetry, 

 the eyes are sunken in their sockets. In slight cases of emaciation we 

 must depend, to a certain extent, on the history of the cases from the 

 owner. Weighing the animal is also useful to determine whether an 

 animal is gaining or losing during the course of treatment; this is especi- 

 ally valuable where the animal is being reduced in cases of plethora, or in 

 convalescence from acute disease; the gain shows that the animal is im- 

 proving; but at the same time we must not lose sight of the fact that we 

 may have an increase of weight from csdema, or any dropsical condition. 

 A rapid emaciation is seen in diseases of the digestive apparatus, in all 

 acute and chronic feverish affections, in certain cases of poisoning, and in 

 rabies. A gradual loss of flesh may be seen in cachexia, as a result of 

 chronic infectious and constitutional diseases, such as tuberculosis, leu- 



