DISTEMPER. 



DISTEMPER. This disease troubles breeders more and causes more deaths 

 than anything else, except perhaps worms. It is the hardest subject I have to handle 

 in this book, and as too much information on this dreaded disease we cannot know, 

 I have secured for this article about all I could get. Read and stvidy up this sub- 

 ject before distemper appears, so as to be then prepared to attend to it when your 

 dogs are so unfortunate as to have it. It is not a foregone conclusion that a dog 

 must die, because he has distemper; I have had many dogs get it and get well, 

 ard I now have dogs in my kennel that got safely over it, and these same dogs 

 afterwards exposed to it several times and did not again have it. As to this. I 

 believe that it does not necessarily follow that a grown dog will have it the second 

 time, if exposed, any more than a man is in danger of getting smallpox after hav- 

 ing passed safely through it. Lately I had two cases of distemper in my kennel, 

 one being a boarder, a Cocker spaniel, and the other, one of my own poodles, both 

 young dogs of six months. Unfortunately both cases proved fatal, but I checked 

 it up here and not another one of the fifty other dogs in the kennel had it at all, 

 which was indeed lucky, as it was impossible to prevent most of them from ex- 

 posure at the first stages of the disease when these two were taken down with it. 

 Wbat I did do, however, was to immediately take steps to prevent, especially the 

 younger dogs from getting it. This I did by at once isolating the ones that had 

 it, thoroughly disinfecting all kennels, destroying the bedding that had been used, 

 and then putting every dog that had been exposed on either Clayton's, Glover's or 

 Dent's Distemperine, ail three of which I always keep on hand. This I kept up for 

 a few days, watching every dog for any signs of distemper coming, also as to see 

 how they ate, and condition of passages, and am glad to say that this time 1 con- 

 lined it to the two that died. All three of these remedies are good, and it is the wise 

 plan to have one of them on hand so that when distemper comes you can go to 

 work on the dog at once, and not make it worse by having to wait till you can 

 get the remedy. Since writing my first book I have used the "Onion Remedy" of 

 my friend, William Saxby, the Beagle breeder of Ilion, N. Y. This, in addition to 

 Sther treatment, and with good results, as it can do no harm and^Svill surely do 

 good. It is called the "Home Made Distemper Cure," and was published in all the 

 dog papers: 



Slice a sound raw onion (the stronger the better) and put into a stocking leg 

 and with safety pins fasten around the dog's neck, with the onions under the chin. 

 This will cause the discharge to be watery; renew often enough to keep it watery 

 (say every other day) and with careful nursing you will be surprised at your 

 success. 



How to diet a dog during distemper is a question to which the answer must 

 vary according to the circumstances of the case. It goes without saying, however, 

 that in all cases solid meat must be tabooed anything likely to raise the tem- 

 perature being highly unsuitable. If the dog is purged violently, milk, with a 

 small percentage of lime water added, would be good, as would also port wine 

 beaten up with egg. As a general rule the safest plan is to dispense with solids 

 altogether, and feed on gruels, broths, beef tea, etc., remembering that, as with 

 a human invalid eo with a canine, it is equally of importance to provide only light, 



