BREEDING AND RAISING OF PUPPIES 157 



tepid solution of permanganate of potash. When the discharge is very copious 

 and offensive, it is a good plan to repeat the syringing every day for the first week; 

 and the coat surrounding the passage, when the bitch does not keep herself clean, 

 should be washed occasionally with warm water and carbolic soap and afterwards 

 carefuly dried. 



When the discharge from the passage continues after three weeks, astringent 

 injections are necessary, as a teaspoonful of powdered burnt alum dissolved in a 

 pint of tepid water and repeated morning and evening. 



Occasionally, after the usual discharge has ceased, a bitch will have a blood- 

 like discharge, the same as is seen in bitches when in oestrum, and this may con- 

 tinue for weeks. It is due to a relaxed condition of the parts, and when, very 

 profuse the b.tch becomes much emaciated and weakened. The alum injection 

 should be given and from two to five drops of witch hazel bark, administered three 

 times a day in a little water. When this does not stop the discharge, ergotine, 

 from one-half to two grains, made into a pill, may be given twice a day. 



The mammary or milk glands often require attention, more especially if all, or 

 nearly all, the puppies die. Then the milk, which often accumulates in quantities, 

 becomes, as it were, caseated, the glands are swollen, inflamed and very tender 

 and abscesses may form. The same thing sometimes occurs when the bitch has a 

 large litter, in one or more glands, the puppies seeming to take a dislike to the 

 milk in these parts; or perhaps the parts are tender and the bitch refuses to let 

 the puppies suck there. Many bitches who have never been in pup, or even 

 served by a dog, often have a large accumulation of milk about nine weeks after 

 being on heat, and unless the parts are carefully watched to see the glands do 

 not become swollen and hard, a good deal of trouble may follow, and subsequently 

 glandular tumors form, necessitating an operation. 



When the glands become swollen and inflamed, hot water fomentations should 

 be applied three or lour times a day, and after each fomentation the glands, espe- 

 cially the hard lumps, should be rubbed with warm camphorated oil, and the milk 

 drawn off. Castor oil should be given also every three or four days. When the 

 bitch aiiected is rearing puppies, it is necessary to wash the camphorated oil off 

 with warm water and soap before she is allowed to return to the little ones. 



While some bitches have too much milk, others have none at all; the latter 

 conditions may only continue for a day or two, but sometimes it is permanent, 

 and though Uie mother may be anxious to nurse the puppies, she is unable to do 

 so. In such cases treatment iis-of little use; a diet of oatmeal gruel and boiled 

 hsli may be tried, and is occasionally successful. In other instances when this has 

 failed, 1 have found a stimulating diet of lean raw meat of some use. 



JJitcLes of a nervous disposition, especially those of the smaller breeds of 

 dogs, are occasionally subject to convulsions when nursing puppies. It is gener- 

 ally put down to weakness, but i do not think this is the cause, for I have seen 

 these attacks occur when the mother has been in good condition and when 

 oui> rearing two or three puppies. 



The complaint is called parturient eclampsia, and though the symptoms are 

 very distressing, it is very seldom that death occurs as a result. The early signs 

 are restlessness and excitement, the bitch keeps leaving her puppies and walks 

 about panting. Presently she falls over on her side, the whole body being con- 

 vulsed, looking very much like an animal which has been poisoned with strychnine. 

 The legs are stretched out and rigid, the tail is often curled tightly over the back 

 and the head is drawn back. The mouth is generally kept wide open, the dog pant- 

 ing violently, but there is no loss of consciousness. 



