DIAGNOSIS. 



587 



as to its frequency, this varies with the 

 breed of the dog and with his age. In 

 tiny dogs the pulse of the adult may be 

 100 and over, in the Mastiff and St. 

 Bernard it should be about 80 or 85 beats 

 to a minute. In young dogs it is very 

 much more frequent, and in old animals 

 it ranges from 60 to 80, according to the 

 breed. The owner of a pet dog should 

 make himself acquainted with its pulse by 

 frequently feeling it in health. The pulse 

 is most easily felt on the upper part of the 

 femoral artery, just about the middle of the 

 inside of the thigh, near to where it joins 

 the body. 



Now it is sometimes very difficult to 

 judge of the state of a small dog's health 

 from the pulse with regard to fever or in- 

 flammation, so much so that we have to 

 trust to other signs and symptoms, but in 

 large animals the state of the pulse often 

 aids one materially in forming a diagnosis. 

 Taking the state of the pulse, however, of 

 any animal requires some considerable 

 experience. 



Any transient frequency of the pulse 

 might be caused by mere excitement, and, 

 unless other symptoms were present, would 

 not indicate fever. 



By a hard pulse is meant a pulse small 

 in volume but of considerable force. A 

 wiry pulse is the same, only it is of still 

 smaller volume. 



A soft pulse means a pulse with plenty 

 of volume but little force. 



A hard pulse is met with in many inflam- 

 mations ; a hard, wiry, or thready pulse is 

 often present during the first rigors of 

 inflammation. 



A soft pulse is indicative of general de- 

 bility, and points to the necessity for good 

 nutriment and support, especially if it is 

 not only soft but small withal. 



5. BREATHING. There are certain symp- 

 toms of disease connected with the breath- 

 ing which every dog-owner would do well 

 to make himself acquainted with. Panting, 

 or quickened breathing, is present in many 

 inflammations of the lungs, as well as in 

 other diseases. If persistent it points to 

 illness of some sort, but it may be brought 

 about by over-exertion or confinement in 

 a close room, especially after a full meal. 

 Difficulty in breathing is always a dan- 



gerous symptom. It is present in many 

 diseases : in pneumonia and pleurisy, 

 where we have other signs of inflamma- 

 tion to guide us to a correct diagnosis. 

 The air-cells may be blocked up with 

 exudation, or exudation into the pleura 

 may be pressing on the lungs and imped- 

 ing the breathing. But from whatever 

 cause dyspnoea may arise, it must always 

 be looked upon as a very serious symptom 

 indeed, for if the blood cannot be properly 

 oxygenated, it is of course poisoned. 

 Snoring or stertorous breathing is present 

 in disease of the brain. So long as the 

 breathing is regular and comparatively 

 easy, it is not a dangerous symptom. If, 

 however, this is not the case, and the 

 breathing is slow and laboured, and the 

 animal cannot be roused, the case is bad 

 indeed. Snoring in simple sleep is nothing 

 to speak of, but it points nevertheless to 

 deranged digestive organs, and ought to 

 be looked to. Abdominal breathing points 

 to pleurisy or some other painful disease of 

 the chest. Thoracic breathing, again, 

 when the abdomen does not partake of a 

 share in the rise and fall, points to some 

 mischief in the regions below the dia- 

 phragm. Coughing is either dry or moist. 

 Whenever the discharge from the mucous 

 membranes of the chest is abundant, it is 

 moist. In the first stages of catarrh and 

 bronchitis, while yet the membranes are 

 merely roughened, the cough is dry ; and 

 in pleurisy, unconnected with bronchitis 

 or pneumonia, it will continue dry. The 

 cough of chronic laryngitis is harsh, that 

 of croup a ringing cough. The cough of 

 emphysema, again, is a soft, wheezy, voice- 

 less kind of a cough, for the air-cells are 

 enlarged, and have not the power properly 

 to expel the air. Other dry coughs are 

 caused by reflex action, indicating various 

 diseases teething, worms, indigestion, etc. 

 6. The SECRETIONS in disease of an in- 

 flammatory nature are diminished ; the 

 urine, for instance, is scanty and high 

 coloured, there may be more or less con- 

 stipation, and the skin becomes dry and 

 hot. The secretion of the inflamed surface 

 say of a mucous membrane, as in bron- 

 chitis, or a serous membrane, like the 

 pleura is at first dry, and afterwards in- 

 creased and perverted. 



