CARE OF THE NEW-BORN. 265 



milk fever is not in the slightest degree dangerous, and 

 deserves consideration only where the puppies have been 

 lost. And even then it occasions discomfort merely. As 

 for puerperal fever, the only fever peculiar to the whelping 

 state which need disturb the minds of apprehensive breed- 

 ers, that is very rare in canine mothers, and a person may 

 breed extensively for years without seeing a case of it. 



Where the puppies are lost and milk fever occurs it is 

 eminently right and proper that treatment be applied for 

 the purpose of lessening the mother's discomforts. But 

 " sloppy foods," which are so generally supposed to be 

 the least favorable to inflammation and fever, are the very 

 ones that must not be given in this instance, for they would 

 surely tend to increase the secretion of milk and so inten- 

 sify the existing trouble. And the same can be said of 

 water merely. Consequently for several days the patient 

 should have such foods as boiled rice, broken dog cakes 

 or well-baked bread crusts, — in limited quantity always, — 

 softened by a little milk or broth, and be allowed water 

 only at intervals of five or six hours, and then even but a 

 little at a time. 



If her breasts are badly swollen and what is popularly 

 termed "caked," the mother should be quartered in the 

 kitchen or other convenient, well-warmed place until her 

 discomfort has abated. During the day hot, dry flannels 

 should be applied to her breasts for fifteen or twenty 

 minutes at a sitting, and the application be repeated as 

 often as possible ; while at night they should be gently 

 rubbed with camphorated oil, the same being used 

 generously. 



Notwithstanding the notion that cathartics are always 

 required in cases of this sort, neither these nor any other 

 drugs need be given, for under the simple treatment 

 advised very considerable improvement will take place 



