136 INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES. 



Bpasmodic colic by the extreme tenderness and heat in the bowels, 

 which are peculiarly apparent in the inflammatory state. 



Under these circumstances, the dog should be early and freely 

 bled. From three to six or eight ounces may be taken away, ac- 

 cording to the size and strength of the animal, A laxative of 

 castor oil, or of Epsom salts, should next be administered ; but 

 unless the bowels are obstinately bound, and have been so for 

 several days, nothing drastic should be given by the mouth, as it 

 would only heighten the inflammatory symptoms. The animal 

 should be bathed in hot water every three or four hours : when 

 that is found too troublesome from his size or other circumstances, 

 the belly may be steeped in hot water, or it may be fomented with 

 hot flannels ; but one or the other must by no means be omitted. 

 Clysters of castor oil, with mutton broth, should be frequently 

 thrown up, till evacuation is procured ; and when the case is des- 

 perate, the belly may also be rubbed with oil of turpentine be- 

 tween the bathings, or it may be covered with a blister ; or a mustard 

 poultice may be applied. No food should be given, and cold water 

 should be removed ; but the dog may be drenched with mutton 

 broth. In case the vomiting continues obstinate, with every dose 

 of castor oil, and with every drench of mutton broth, give from ten 

 to twenty drops of laudanum : if the animal becomes paralytic in 

 his lower extremities, if the sickness proves incessant, and the 

 mouth and ears become cold and pale, mortification is at hand. 

 Enteritis, or red colic, is not always accompanied with costiveness ; 

 in some there is very little ; and in a few cases the bowels are 

 even lax : but, in the greater number of instances, costiveness to a 

 certain degree is present ; for, even when it did not exist previous 

 to the attack, it is pretty sure to be brought on by it : an effectual 

 laxative is, therefore, premised early in the complaint. If the dog 

 be very delicate, this primary laxative may be castor oil ; but when 

 that is not at hand, or fails in its operation, I have used mild doses 

 of Epsom salts with advantage; and, in some instances, these 

 have remained on the stomach when castor oil has been rejected, 

 — See Costiveness. 



