604 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



times a day with moderately hot water with great 

 advantage. 



It is not judicious to wet long-haired dogs 

 much, but short-haired may have the chest and 

 throat well fomented several times a day, and well 

 rubbed dry afterwards. Heat applied to the chests 

 of long-haired dogs by means of a flat iron will 

 also effect good. 



The following is an excellent tonic : Sulphate of 

 quinine, }i to 3 grains; powdered rhubarb, 2 to 

 10 grains; extract of taraxacum, 3 to 20 grains; 

 make a bolus. Thrice daily. 



During convalescence good food, Virol, Spratts' 

 invalid food and invalid biscuit, moderate exer- 

 cise, fresh air, and protection from cold. These, 

 with an occasional mild dose of castor oil or 

 rhubarb, are to be our sheet-anchors. 



During convalescence from distemper and from 

 various other severe ailments, I find no better 

 tonic than the tablets of Phosferine. One quarter 

 of a tablet thrice daily, rolled in tissue paper, for 

 a Toy dog, up to two tablets for a dog of Mastiff 

 size. 



Dysentery. 



Symptoms. Most troublesome and frequent 

 stools, with great straining, the dejections are 

 liquid, or liquid and scybalous, with mucus and 

 more or less of blood. Frequent micturition, the 

 water being scanty and high-coloured. The dog 

 is usually dull and restless, and there is more 

 or less of fever, with great thirst. If the anus be 

 examined it will be found red, sore, and puffy. 



Treatment. The animal should be properly 

 housed, and well protected from damp and cold, 

 which in dogs very often produce the disease. 

 Give a dose of castor-oil with a few drops, accord- 

 ing to the dog's strength, of the liquid extract 

 of opium ; follow this up in about two hours with 

 an enema or two of gruel, to assist its operation. 

 Much good may be done by hot fomentations to 

 the abdomen, and by linseed-meal poultices, in 

 which a tablespoonful or two of mustard has been 

 mixed, to the epigastrium, followed by a full dose 

 of the liquid extract of opium. 



This may be followed by from 5 grains to 30 

 of the trisnitrate of bismuth, in conjunction with 

 from /4 grain to 2 grains of opium, thrice a day. 



Judicious diet is of great importance in the 

 treatment of this disease. It must be very light, 

 nutritious, and easily digestible, such as jellies, 

 bread-and-milk, cream, eggs, patent barley, 

 Bovril, with an allowance of wine if deemed 

 necessary. The drink may be pure water, fre- 

 quently changed, barley-water, or other demul- 

 cent drinks. 



When the disease has become chronic, our 

 principal object is to sustain the animal's strength, 

 and give the bowels all the rest we can. The 

 mixture recommended for diarrhcea must be per- 

 sisted in, and great fcetor of the dejections indi- 

 cates the use of some deodoriser, as the hyposul- 

 phite of soda, with from 20 to 60 grains of wood 

 cnarcoal, twice a day. 



Dyspepsia. Usually called Indigestion. A dog 



is said to be off his feed. It is one of the com- 

 monest of all complaints, and is the forerunner 

 of many serious chronic ailments. In fact, it may 

 be said to be a symptom more than an actual 

 disease. 



CAUSES. Improper or irregular feeding; over- 

 feeding; want of exercise of a pleasant recreative 

 kind ; want of fresh air ; food of a too dainty kind ; 

 general irregularity of management, and the foul 

 air of kennels. 



Symptoms. The dog does not appear to thrive, 

 his appetite is either lost entirely or capricious; 

 the eye is more injected than it should be, and the 

 nose dry. There is generally some irritability of 

 the skin, and he is out of condition altogether. 



Whether fat or lean, he will be found to be lazy, 

 dull, and listless, and probably peevish and snap- 

 pish indication of irritability of the brain and 

 nervous centres. The dog knows as well as any- 

 one that he is not well, and he cannot bear good 

 wholesome food, but may eat beef or steak with a 

 will. Dogs suffer, too, from flatulence, sleep but 

 badly, and seem troubled with nightmares ; and as 

 to their bowels, they may be bound one day and 

 loose the next, and the stool itself is seldom a 

 healthy one. Vomiting and retching, especially in 

 the morning, are by no means uncommon in 

 dyspepsia. 



Treatment. Begin by giving a dose of opening 

 medicine, such as castor oil and buckthorn syrup, 

 from 2 drachms to i ounce of this mixture. 



Lower the diet for a day or two, and give 

 twice a day from 5 to 15 grains of the bicarbonate 

 of potash in water, with from 5 to 20 grains of 

 Gregory's powder. A milk diet alone may be 

 tried. For chronic dyspepsia the treatment re- 

 solves itself very easily into the hygienic and the 

 medicinal, and you may expect very little benefit 

 from the latter if you do not attend to the former. 



Begin the treatment of chronic indigestion, then, 

 with a review of the dog's mode of life and feed- 

 ing, and change it all if there is a chance of doing 

 good. Insist upon the necessity .of his being 

 turned out first thing every morning, and .of hav- 

 ing a good run before breakfast, unless there be 

 any disease present which might seem to contra- 

 inclicate the use of the douche. 



Insist upon his being regularly washed, 

 groomed, and kept sweet and clean, and housed 

 in a pure kennel not in a room, unless it be a 

 large one, has no carpet, and has the window left 

 fully open every night likewise upon his having 

 two hours' good romping or running exercise 

 every day. Then as to his food, let his breakfast 

 be a light one, and his dinner abundant, and of 

 good, substantial, digestible food. Give him a 

 good proportion of flesh. He is to have simply 

 the two meals a day, and nothing between them. 

 Give no sugar, no dainties, and bones most spar- 

 ingly. Have his dish always filled with pure 

 water and washed out every morning, so that he 

 may not swallow and sicken on his own saliva. 

 See that he has no disease of the mouth, and has 

 his teeth cleaned. 



