THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



2. The commonest contagious diseases ; 



3, and briefly, the external or hair parasites found on the dog. 



N.B. Having already mentioned that skin diseases form a large pioportion of the ailments 

 incidental to canine life, it may be as well, before describing their general symptoms and treat- 

 ment, to state that they are seldom or never incurable, even in old dogs, and that the common 

 notion of the disease getting into the blood is quite erroneous. We have known cases cured in 

 six weeks which had lasted half that number of years. 



I. NON-CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 



1. Erytliema. 



By the term erythema we mean that condition of redness with slight inflammation of the 

 skin, the deeper tissues underneath not being involved. 



Causes. The causes are usually local and mechanical, although they may be constitutional, 

 and the result of cold and wet. Damp and dirt and carelessness in grooming often produce 

 erythema simplex in Poodle dogs, Newfoundlands, and in most long-coated dogs. The hair gets 

 matted and felted, and under the matting the skin will be found red, inflamed, and in a most 

 unhealthy condition, causing great uneasiness to the poor dog, either from pain or itching, or both 

 alternating. We see it sometimes between the wrinkles of well-bred Pugs, Mastiffs, and Bulldogs, 

 and also between the scrotum and inside of the thigh in Greyhounds and Foxhounds. Bad 

 feeding in gross dogs, who get but little exercise, may be instanced as a constitutional cause 

 of erythema. 



Symptoms. The symptoms are simple enough, so that any one may know the disease. They 

 are much the same as those of chafe in the human being. There is at first simply redness, with 

 very slight tumefaction, generally traceable to some local cause ; when the skin breaks there is 

 discharge of serum, or in some bad cases pus ; the skin becomes thickened and sometimes cracks, 

 and if the disease is situated in any part that the dog can reach with his tongue, his careful 

 attentions thereto will speedily draw attention to it. 



Treatment. The treatment of erythema greatly depends upon the cause. If the dog has 

 been improperly fed, and weighs more than he ought to, regular proper feeding, with plenty of 

 exercise, cleanliness, a mild course of tonics, and the morning bath, will speedily put an end to 

 the mischief. 



Local causes must be removed ; rest for hounds, along with a tonic, maybe prescribed. Before 

 the animal starts on a run the chafe should be anointed ; after he returns it ought to be washed 

 and dusted with oxide of zinc, starch, fuller's-earth, or the violet powder of nurseries. In erythema 

 of the wrinkles of Pugs, &c, the same treatment will be found serviceable. In dogs where the 

 disease has been produced by matting of the hair, the coat must be clipped taking care to 

 protect the animal from cold afterwards. When the clipping has been accomplished, washing the 

 inflamed parts with mild soap and lukewarm soft water will do good ; then, if there is much 

 inflammation, poultices will be required, or the simple lotion of lead, of arnica tincture, or of 

 brandy-and-water, may be sufficient to effect a cure. 



2. Erysipelas. 



Erysipelas is a disease of a more dangerous nature. It depends upon a deeper-seated 

 inflammation than does erythema ; for in erysipelas we have not only the skin, but the 

 underlying tissues involved, and infiltration first of serum, latterly of unhealthy pus. 



