DISTEMPER AND COXTAGIOUS CATARRHAL FEVER 



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and irregular. The urine frequently contains more or less bile coloring 

 matter, sometimes albumin and tube casts are found. In some cases the 

 general nutrition and condition may* keep up well all during the disease and 

 in other cases the animal at the onset of the disease rapidly loses his vital 

 force, even when it is eating a fair amount of nutriment, goes down in 

 strength each day. Frequently the expired air has a particularly 

 unpleasant penetrating odor. 



The anatomical alterations of the nervous system, produced by this 

 disease, which are shown in the section of the brain, are sometimes very 

 slight, and it is rather remarkable to find such acute nervous symptoms 

 with so little pathological alterations. The microscopical examination 

 shows little change, or few alterations you might expect from many of 

 the infectious diseases of other animals. We must, therefore, admit that 

 the microbes of distemper are not as yet well known. Like all other path- 

 ogenic micro organisms, they prodvice "ptomaines." It has been proven 

 that the severity of the nervous symptoms depends to a certain extent 

 upon the natural disposition of the animals, and also their bodily health. 

 When they take the disease, as weak, anaemic, poorly fed animals, they 

 are very apt to be severely attacked with a nervous form of the disease. 

 Occasionally symptoms appear in this disease which should be mentioned, 

 such as serious weakness of the heart. This may be due to a parenchyma- 

 tous degeneration of the heart muscle. It is generally fatal, as it 

 produces oedema of the lungs. Albuminuria is produced by paren- 

 chymatous degeneration of the kidneys, and in rare instances from true 

 nephritis; decubitus is seen occasionally in severe cases in the elbow- 

 and knee-joints, also at the femoro-tibial articulation. This sometimes 

 causes septicaemia and produces death. 



The large number of the above-described symptoms show how com- 

 pletely the whole body may be affected with this disease; generally, how- 

 ever, the gastri-catarrhal forms predominate and run a regular course. 

 We also observe in some instances peculiarities and symptoms which may, 

 to a large extent, come from a general want of nutrition, or want of resist- 

 ance in some cases, while in others, especially in the terrier classes, they 

 seem to be able to throw off the disease and stand more acute attacks than 

 other animals. There are some forms of the disease which are so mild in 

 character as to almost escape observation. Thus we may have a mild 

 exanthema or a slight respiratory or intestinal catarrh which may be 

 difficult to recognize. The duration of this mild form of the disease may 

 be from half to one week. Of the different forms of the disease the catar- 

 rhal and gastric forms are most frequently seen, the nervous next, and the 

 exanthema least.- 



Coui-se and Prognosis. — Distemper generally runs its course in two or 

 three weeks, although we occasionally see cases where the disease is, as we 



