TREATiMENT 21 



or whatever drug is required, is held within about one f(xit 

 of the aninial's nostrils. It is usually advisable to throw a light 

 cover over the head and pail in order to direct the steam toward 

 the nostrils. Dogs can be placed on a cane-seated chair and a 

 pail or pan of boiling-hot water placed under it, and a sheet 

 thrown over all. 



Drugs are administered by way of the rectum when the 

 animal can not be drenched, or the drug can not be given in 

 any other way and when a local action is desired. An enema 

 or clyster is a fluid injection into the rectum and is employed 

 for the following purposes: to accelerate the action of a purga- 

 tive ; to stimulate the peristaltic movement of the intestines ; to 

 kill intestinal parasites ; to reduce body temperature ; to adminis- 

 ter medicine; and to supply the animal with food. An enema 

 may be administered by allowing water to gravitate into the rec- 

 tum from a height of two or three feet or by using an injection 

 pump. In the larger animals several feet of heavy walled rubber 

 tubing carrying a straight nozzle at one end should be used. In 

 administering an enema, the rectum should be emptied out with 

 the hand and the nozzle of the syringe carried as far forward as 

 possible. The operator should be careful not to irritate or tear 

 the wall of the rectum. 



Size of the Dose. — The doses recommended in the treatment 

 of the different diseases, unless otherwise stated, are for mature 

 animals. The dose for a colt one year of age is about one-third 

 the quantity given the adult, two years of age one-half, and three 

 years of age two-thirds. In well-matured colts a larger dose may 

 be given. In cattle, the doses recommended are about the same. 

 In the smaller animals the size of the dose may be based on the 

 development and age of the animal. When the drug is adminis- 

 tered at short intervals or repeated, the size of the dose should be 

 reduced. The physiological action of some drugs may be changed 

 by varying the size of the dose. 



