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CANINE MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



BY W. GORDON STABLES, CM., M.D., R.N. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION DIAGNOSIS SOME SIMPLE REMEDIES. 



IT has been the aim and object of the writer in the following pages to describe, in plain and 

 simple language, the various diseases to which the dog is subject, their causes, their signs and 

 symptoms and the course these run and the most rational method of conducting them to 

 a successful termination. 



By studying the probable causes of any given malady, we gain an insight into the laws 

 that regulate the health of the animal, and good may thus be done, on the principle that 

 prevention is better than cure. But it has not been deemed expedient to burden the reader 

 with a description of the anatomy of any particular organ, further than is necessary for a 

 clear understanding of the nature of the malady or accident ; nor with more of physiology and 

 pathology than is barely requisite to the elucidation of the plan of treatment adopted. 



Throughout the treatise the classification of diseases is simple yet definite, the different 

 ailments being arranged in groups under their proper headings : as, for example, the " Diseases 

 of the Digestive Organs," " Skin Diseases," &c. &c. It is to be hoped it will thus form a work 

 of ready reference which may be consulted in the case of any emergency almost without the aid 

 of the index. Very nearly all if not quite all the numerous ailments that canine flesh is 

 heir to will be found described at length. Those of a strictly surgical nature are grouped in 

 a chapter by themselves. The diagnosis of the disease is given wherever necessary, that is, 

 in all cases where there are two or more ailments which somewhat resemble each other though 

 the treatment required may be different. It is an easy matter for any one who is in the habit 

 of being among dogs to tell when one of them is ill, but often a difficult matter to tell what 

 is the matter with him. The state of health is the dog's normal and natural condition, in 

 which there is freedom from pain and sickness, and the proper performance of every vital 

 function, without either dulness or irritability of temper. 



As the natural standard of health varies somewhat in every dog, the owner of one is often 

 better able at first to know when something is wrong than even a veterinary surgeon. The 

 bright, clear eye of a healthy dog, the wet, cold, black nose, the active movements, the glossy 

 coat, the excellent appetite, and the gaze, half saucy, half independent, but wholly loving, combine 

 to form a picture which only the owners of dogs know how fully to appreciate. But nearly 

 all this is altered in illness ; and to treat a dog at haphazard, without first taking all possible 

 pains to find out what is really the matter, is both careless and cruel. 



Having come to the conclusion that a dog is ill, the first thing we must try to find out is, 

 whether he is in any pain. For this purpose he should be examined carefully all over, beginning 



