DISTEMPER. 17 



symptoms are very closely similar to those of simple cold, or ephemeral fever, it is 

 unnecessary to repeat them ; nor is the treatment in the first stage at all different. 

 But as the cough and running seldom disappear without some extra care and 

 attention, it does not always do to trust to nature here for a cure. Lowering 

 medicines and diet after the first few days are not at all successful ; and, on the 

 other hand, warm expectorants, with tolerably good and nourishing slops, will be 

 found to answer the best. The expectorant bolus, No. 1, may be given night and 

 morning with advantage. As soon as the cough and running at the nose have some- 

 what subsided, and before exercise is allowed, the bark mixture (Tonic No. 2) may 

 be given ; and only when the strength and spirits are so recruited as to warrant the 

 supposition that the health is greatly restored is the dog to be allowed exercise, 

 and then only at first with great caution. It is often the case that a premature 

 exposure to air and excitement brings on a relapse, and especially when the 

 lungs are at all implicated either in their substance or mucous membrane: A 

 human patient can be taken out in a carriage, but dogs, unless they are great pets, 

 are seldom allowed that indulgence ; and hence the necessity for the above precaution. 



DISTEMPER 



Distemper may be defined as a feverish disease, always marked by rapid loss of 

 strength and flesh, in proportion to the severity of the attack. It may occur at any 

 period of life, and even more than once in the same individual ; it is, however, 

 generally met with in the puppy, and in most cases the dog is afterwards exempt. 

 The essence of -the disease appears to consist in a poisoned state of the blood, 

 which may be either produced by contagion or by putrid emanations from filthy and 

 overcrowded kennels ; and it is from the efforts of nature to throw off this poison 

 that the various symptoms are produced by which we know the disease. These 

 symptoms differ according to the peculiar constitution of each dog, and to the state 

 of the air and other causes which produce them. Hence it is usual to speak of 

 distemper as either simple or attended with certain complications in the head, chest, 

 belly, &c. But, although they are all essentially the same disease, these variations 

 may be conveniently described as 1st, Mild Distemper ; 2nd, Head Distemper ; 

 3rd, Chest Distemper ; 4th, Belly Distemper ; and 5th, Malignant Distemper. 



In Mild Distemper there are in almost all cases the following symptoms, which 

 also show themselves in the other kinds, with the additional symptoms peculiar to 

 each. The first thing noticeable is a general dulness (particularly shown in the 

 eyes), accompanied by a dislike to play or take any kind of exercise, and by a want 

 of appetite. Soon there appears a short cough, attended by a disposition to sneeze ; 

 and the dog often seems as if he hardly knew which of these acts to do first. The 

 cough and sneezing are seldom heard while the dog is quiet, but when he is brought 

 out of his kennel into the air, and particularly after he begins to play or run about, 

 the mucous membrane is irritated and the coughing is set up, either by itself or 

 alternately with sneezing. There is some slight thirst, a warm dry nose generally 

 (but not invariably), a disordered state of the bowels, which may be either confined 



