DISEASES. 25 



Bronchitis often assumes a chronic form, especially in old dogs, when the 

 cough is husky and constant, retching and discharge of phlegm, the breathing 

 short and thick, and the dog is incapable of much exertion. Chronic cases are 

 Incurable, but alleviation can be given when it is unusually bad by giving a des- 

 sertspoonful to a tablespoonful, according to size of dog, of equal parts of oxymel 

 of squills and thick mucilage of acacia several times a day. 



BROKEN BONES. It can be ascertained that a bone of the leg is broken by 

 taking hold of the limb above the supposed fracture and moving the lower portion 

 against it, when a grating or crackling of the broken ends against each other will 

 be felt or heard. The treatment consists in adjusting the fractured parts to their 

 natural form, and applying splints to keep the parts set. Splints may be made 

 of strips of gutta percha, softened in warm water and moulded to fit the limb, or 

 pieces of thin wood may be cut the required size and well padded with wadding. 

 The splints can be kept in place by binding evenly with light cotton bandages, 

 which, previous to application, have been smeared with the following preparation 

 whilst warm: Take Venice turpentine, Burgundy pitch, equal parts; melt and 

 smear over the bandage whilst hot. If much swelling occurs, it will be necessary 

 to slacken the bandages, and, in most cases, it will be requisite to muzzle the dog 

 to prevent him tearing off the splints. Perfect rest will be required, and the 

 general health attended to. The time it will take for the bones to unite is 

 uncertain, but always tedious. 



Unless you feel capable of handling the case properly yourself you had better 

 call in a veterinarian or your family physician. Your druggist could do this in 

 case neither the veterinarian or doctor could be had. 



BOWELS, OBSTRUCTION OF THE (CONSTIPATION OR COSTIVENESS). Dogs kept in 

 the house and not exercised sufficiently, or improperly fed, are particularly liable 

 to constipation. Bones, while excellent and almost necessary to a dog's health, 

 yet an excessive use of them is to be avoided, also any one kind of dry food, and 

 no dog should be kept constantly on one kind of food, as want of exercise and the 

 absence of necessary variety in the food are the principal causes of constipation. 



When looked upon as a disease itself, or as a symptom and attendant on other 

 diseases, it is always troublesome and often becomes dangerous. The feces accu- 

 mulate and get pressed into hardened lumps, the belly is distended and hard; the 

 colic pains occur, driving the dog almost frantic and causing him to run about 

 blindly, stumbling over different obstacles in his way, and to give utterance every 

 now and then to sharp howls of pain. All this pain and misery that the poor dog 

 has to suffer in nearly every case, is the result of neglect of proper rules which every 

 dog owner should, in common justice to the dog, be acquainted with and observe. 

 But the evil does not end here, for it is the too common practice to rush into one 

 of commission quite as great or greater namely, the common practice in consti- 

 pation of resorting to strong purgatives, such as epsom salts, jalop, calomel, etc., 

 the consequence of giving which is to render the evil worse by forcing the feces 

 into still less compass when it becomes more impacked and hardened than before. 

 The proper course to follow is, when the dog is in great pain, administer a dose 

 of the anti-spasmodic drops. Compound spirits of sulphuric ether and tincture of 

 opium (laudanum) equal parts. Mix and keep in a well-stoppered bottle in a cool 

 place. The dose for a 20-lb. to 30-lb. dog would be a small teaspoofcfu'l given in 

 about two tablespoonfuls of milk, gruel or other liquid. Success in relieving the 

 patient is best obtained by mechanical means. Clysters of thin oatmeal gruel or 

 soap and water, lukewarm, and containing about one ounce of castor oil in each 



