572 THE BOOK OF THE Doc. 



iron may be used in old standing cases, and likewise the douche or bucket bath, followed by 

 immediate exercise. 



4. Croup. 



Croup in its true form is a very rare disease in the dog, although cases are occasionally met 

 with, especially in pampered pet dogs. 



Croup may be characterised as a sthenic inflammation of the larynx and trachea, accom- 

 panied by the exudation .of false membranes, accompanied also by a fever which at first is 

 inflammatory, but has a marked tendency to run on to the low form. 



The symptoms are the high fever, the curious crowing inspirations, the violent fits of 

 coughing, difficulty of breathing, and latterly the coughing of fibrinous patches of false mem- 

 brane. It is only a disease of young and delicate animals that have been exposed to cold and 

 wet, or any of the exciting causes of inflammation of the mucous membranes of the air passages. 

 It may be a complication of pneumonia or bronchitis, and is nearly always fatal. 



The treatment must first be directed to cutting short the attack. Bleeding must not be 

 resorted to however, but the bowels should be freely opened with calomel and jalap 



$ Calomel ... ... gr ad gr. v. 



Jalap gr. x. ad 3 ij. 



In form of bolus. 



After an emetic has been given (ipecacuanha will be best and safest : dose, from ten to 

 thirty grains) blisters to the throat may do good, and the inhalation of steam, and also the 

 warm bath this latter is better suited to short-haired small dogs. 



Liquor ammonia acetatis (Mindererus spirit) may also be given at night. 



As soon as the fever assumes an asthenic, or low type, stimulants must be given (wine 

 and brandy and beef-tea, and other easily-digested nourishment). 



5. Pleurisy. 



Pleurisy, or more properly speaking, pleuritis, is, as the name indicates, an inflammation 

 of the pleurae, either one or both. 



To prevent friction against the walls of the chest and other surrounding surfaces, the lungs 

 are enveloped as it were in two serous sacs, one for each. It would take up too much space 

 to describe with any degree of minuteness the various windings of the pleurae, suffice it for our 

 purpose to know that while one side of each pleura is attached to the walls of the chest, the 

 other surrounds the lung. 



Pleurisy is generally confined to one side of the chest, and is often combined or compli- 

 cated with pneumonia, or inflammation of the lung tissue itself. 



Terminations. The disease may end in resolution in mild cases if properly treated, or 

 lymph may be exuded, and the inflamed sides of the sac may become adherent, or there may 

 be large effusion of serum constituting what is called hydrothorax, or water in the chest. 

 Again, pus may become the product of the inflammation. 



Causes. The disease is usually idiopathic. We have known the disease more than once 

 brought on by allowing dogs to plunge into cold water when fatigued and heated. Sudden 

 changes from heat to cold are very well borne by dogs, and do not, as a rule, produce inflam- 

 mations ; but if the dog is both fatigued and hungry, while at the same time he is hot from 

 running, it is dangerous, to say the least, to allow him to take to cold water. 



