POISONS AND ANTIDOTES. 543 



anus and nozzle of the syringe, and to be exceedingly gentle ; it is a tender part, and we 

 must therefore assure the animal we mean no harm. 



Some powders may be rolled in greased tissue paper, and given in form of bolus. The 

 paper must be thin, however. 



POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES. 



Whether as the result of accident or by evil design, dogs are exceedingly liable to suffer 

 from poisoning. Independently of either accident or design, the animal is sometimes poisoned 

 by his owner unwisely administering to him drugs in too large doses. In most cases the 

 great difficulty is to tell what kind of poison the animal has picked up. Prevention is 

 certainly better than cure, and people cannot be too cautious in handling or using poisons 

 where dogs or even cats are about. At the same time, the law for regulating the sale of 

 poisons is far too loose. Poison is often put down to rats and mice, and in a form, too, 

 which is usually just as palatable to the house-dog as to the vermin. There are so many 

 ingenious traps now-a-days sold for the catching of mice and other vermin, that really the 

 practice of poisoning rats should seldom be resorted to. 



The symptoms of poisoning always appear very rapidly, and this combined with the urgency 

 of the symptoms and the great distress of the animal, usually lead us to guess what has happened. 

 In this chapter, those poisons only which are most likely to be swallowed by the dog are 

 treated of, and the antidotes given. 



Poisons are divided into three classes the Irritant, the Narcotic, and the Narcotico- 

 irritants. 



The Irritant class give rise to great pain in the stomach and belly, which is often tense 

 and swollen, while the vomited matters are often tinged with blood. The sickness and retching 

 are very distressing ; so, too, at times is the diarrhoea. 



The Narcotico, such as opium, morphia, &c., act upon the brain and spinal cord, causing 

 drowsiness, giddiness, and stupor, accompanied at times by convulsions or paralysis. 



The Narcotico-irritant give rise to intense thirst, great pain in the stomach, with vomiting and 

 purging. Whenever it is suspected that a dog has swallowed poison, the first thing to do is 

 to encourage vomiting by the mouth. We must get rid of all the poison we can as speedily 

 as possible. Sulphate of zinc dose, five to twenty grains in water or more is one of the 

 speediest emetics we have ; or sulphate of copper dose, three to ten grains is good. At the 

 same time the dog must be well drenched with lukewarm water. When the stomach has been 

 well washed out by the action of vomiting, give some of the antidotes recommended below. 



Arsenic. Keep up the vomiting by giving warm mucilaginous drinks, as gruel, barley-water, 

 raw eggs beaten up with milk, lime-water and oil, lime-water and milk; castor-oil, a large 

 dose to carry off poison from the intestines. The hyd rated sesquioxide of iron in large doses, 

 from a half a teaspoonful to a dessert-spoonful, frequently repeated is uncertain. Afterwards give 

 stimulants, brandy and full doses of opium, to get rid of the depression caused. 



Phosphorus. Keep up the vomiting, encouraging it in the same way as in arsenical poisoning. 

 Avoid giving oil, because it is a solvent of phosphorus. The antidote is calcined magnesia in 

 large doses. 



Tartar Emetic. Encourage the vomiting by giving large draughts of warm milk. Anti- 

 dotes strong tea, gallic acid, decoction of oak bark, tannic acid, powdered Peruvian bark. 



Butter of Antimony. Give magnesia in milk. Antidotes same as for tartar emetic. 



