232 DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



some, and will make any other disorder the more likely 

 to terminate fatally ; it should, therefore, be always at- 

 tended to. The food must not be neglected, and either 

 a solution of the iodide of potassium with liquor po- 

 tassse, or pills of trisnitrate of bismuth, must be given. 

 The preparations of iron are sometimes of use ; and a 

 leech or two, after a small blister to the side, has also 

 seemed to be beneficial. When some ground has been 

 gained, the treatment recommended for indigestion 

 generally must be adopted, the choice of remedies 

 being guided by the symptoms. The practitioner, how- 

 ever, must not forget that tho mode of feeding has 

 probably been the cause ; and, therefore, it must ever 

 after be an object of especial care. The cold bath 

 and exercise, proportioned to the strength, are equally 

 to be esteemed. 



Very old dogs often die from indigestion, and in such 

 cases the stomach will become inflated to an extent 

 that would hardly be credited. These animals I have 

 not observed to be subject to flatulent colic ; when, 

 therefore, the abdomen becomes suddenly tympanitic 

 the gas is usually contained in the stomach. Fits and 

 diarrhoea may accompany or precede the attack, which 

 in the first instance yields to treatment ; but in a month 

 more or less returns, and is far more stubborn. Ether 

 and laudanum, by mouth and enema, are at first to be 

 employed ; and, generally, they are successful. The 

 liquor potassae, chloride of lime in solution, and aroma- 

 tics with chalk, may also be tried, the food being 



