252 THE DOG IN DISEASE. 



It always indicates, when purely functional, that the 

 food is unsuitable either in quantity or quality, or that the 

 stomach is unfit to receive it, and so is better without it. 

 The dog frequently, in warm weather, eats grass and 

 causes vomiting, and thus in a way regulates his own di- 

 gestive tract. 



As a rule, when a dog is seen to vomit he should 

 either be left without food for a time or have his diet 

 wholly altered — perhaps both. It is very rarely that medi- 

 cine is demanded. Vomiting may be due to worms, when 

 the indication is clearly to give a vermifuge. When 

 vomiting is frequently repeated, a careful investigation 

 should be made, and poison, among other things, sus- 

 pected. 



A Capricious Appetite should always receive attention. 

 It may be due simply to lack of stamina, or to debility 

 owing to bad hygienic surroundings. It may be a sign of 

 organic disease, of worms, etc. The bowels will generally 

 be found at fault. If due to mere debility or atony of 

 the digestive organs, vegetable bitters — as gentian, quassia, 

 cinchona, etc. — are useful, especially in the form of the 

 compound tinctures. I^ux vomica, carefully watched, is 

 excellent. A change in the feeding to raw meat only for 

 a time may be wise. A trial may be made of a mixture 

 of bicarbonate of soda, powdered rhubarb, and gentian, or 

 the compound tincture of cinchona. If dependent on a 

 sluggish condition of the liver, about which one can form 

 some opinion by watching the stools, this must be treated. 

 The color and consistence of the stools of the dog vary 

 with the food. Meat causes them to be dark ; a mixed 

 diet some shade of yellow. They may be very hard and 



