622 THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



Of all cases of canine disorder that the veterinary surgeon is called upon to treat, none 

 is more troublesome and less satisfactory than this same red mange. Till late years, the profession 

 laboured under two mistakes concerning it : the first was that it was a contagious disorder, and 

 the second that it could be cured by specifics. Practitioners know better nowadays, but the 

 rage for so-called specifics is still rampant among the less well-informed dog fanciers, and con- 

 sequently ekzema is a disease, or rather one of the diseases, on which dog quacks fatten. 



Causes. In the human being ekzema may arise from at least a dozen different causes, any 

 one of which, or several combined, may produce the disease. In the dog and the longer we live 

 the more we are convinced of the truth of what we state in the dog the disorder is nearly 

 always the result of errors in diet and hygiene, producing debility and an impoverished state of 

 the blood, combined with derangement of the whole system. Want of sufficient exercise is 

 another common cause ; want of cleanliness a third cause, to which may be added want of 

 proper grooming, and a sluggish condition of the whole cuticular system. How can people who 

 keep their kennels in a state of filth and foul air expect their dogs to be otherwise than mangy, 

 especially if the only exercise the poor brutes get is a doleful walk up and down their own dirty 

 yards, and their only bath the rain, which but tends to make matters worse ? 



Sudden alternations from heat to cold will tend to bring on the disorder in some dogs ; so 

 will grief. Although there are some who will pooh-pooh this latter cause as frivolous, it is none 

 the less true. 



Young dogs, and especially animals that have been much weakened by distemper, are 

 prone to ekzema. The rapid growth, too, of puppies may cause a tendency to this form of skin 

 disease. Mr. Hunting says feeding on dog cakes alone, or on oatmeal, often produces mange 

 We do not quite agree with him, especially as regards the oatmeal, for we know of many 

 healthy kennels where the animals are entirely fed upon oatmeal, and never have tasted flesh 

 in their lives. Old gross dogs are very subject to it ; the coat in some long-haired animals coming 

 completely off, leaving the thickened, scarred, and unsightly skin quite naked and open to view. 

 We have often known it form a very distressing sequela to distemper ; in fact, any sudden lowering 

 of the vital frame will produce the disorder. 



Chronic ekzema is much more frequent about the time the animal is casting his coat. 



Pathology. Ekzema is a diseased condition of the skin, resulting from over-vascularity therein, 

 more or less of tumefaction, and the exudation of serous matter, either alone, or combined with 

 pus. 



Diagnosis. Ekzema is not dependent on a parasite either on or in the skin, consequently 

 we have the microscope to guide us in our diagnosis. Otherwise we have the redness, the slight 

 thickening, the exudation, desquamation, and the itching, for our guides. 



Prognosis. Should be guarded. It is a difficult disease to manage at the best, and it may 

 return again and again, after being apparently perfectly cured. We have little doubt that 

 some dogs acquire an ekzematous diathesis, and it is possible that in some cases the diathesis 

 may be inherited. 



Symptoms. Ekzema simplex is the milder and more common form of the disorder, one of the 

 earliest symptoms of which is the itchiness, as evinced by the animal scratching himself on every 

 possible occasion. If on the back, or top of the shoulders, or probably the rump or tail, redness 

 will be found, and the skin will not be so pliant as usual, small vesicles form, filled with serum 

 or pus and serum ; these, on breaking, form scabs, matting the hair together in lumps and 

 patches, and these hairs are easily removed, leaving a wet exuding surface. Other parts of the 

 body may be covered with dry furfuraceous scales, and again you may have larger solitary blebs or 



