DISEASES OF ANIMALS 



157 



tumors at these points, it may be the re- 

 sult of strains or other injuries. The 

 inflamed spot may be treated with strong 

 spirits of camphor or iodine. Canker 

 closely resembles roup in chickens and 

 may be identical with this disease. It is 

 accompanied with fever, swelling of the 

 throat and the appearance of white 

 patches in the mouth and throat. The 

 canker sores may be treated with pow- 

 dered alum, but all affected birds should 

 be isolated. A form of sore head, prob- 

 ably identical with chicken pox, but fre- 

 quently called smallpox in pigeons, ap- 

 pears in the form of sores on the head 

 and spreads over the neck, forming 

 scabs. The scabby areas may be re- 

 moved and the disease cured by apply- 

 ing a dilute solution of blue vitriol. 



DISEASES OF DOGS 



While dogs may become affected with 

 a great variety of diseases which are of 

 much importance to the dog raiser, the 

 purposes of the present volume do not 

 permit us to discuss the less important 

 dog diseases except in so far as they 

 may be a source of contagion to man 

 and our common domestic animals. 



Dogs are recognized as capable of fur- 

 nishing considerable service to the stock 

 raiser, but unfortunately they also carry 

 many infectious diseases, which may 

 become a source of great danger to 

 stock. On this account it has become 

 desirable to give close heed to the health 

 of dogs which are maintained on stock 

 farms. 



Distemper [ 3 a highly contagious and 

 malignant disease, due to a specific bacil- 

 lus, and affects dogs, cats and other car- 

 nivora. It is one of the most serious dis- 

 eases of dogs and causes the death of 

 from 50 to 60 per cent of affected 

 animals. The symptoms of distemper 

 include loss of appetite, fever and con- 

 stipation, followed by quite profuse diar- 

 rhea. The eyes at first show a watery dis- 

 charge, but later this discharge becomes 

 thick, yellow in color and of a purulent 

 nature. Distemper may be described as 

 a catarrhal fever, and a persistent dis- 

 charge takes place from the nose. It 

 affects chiefly young dogs and perhaps 

 more frequently high-bred, pampered 

 dogs than those which are allowed great- 

 er freedom. If a dog kennel once be- 

 comes infected, it is necessary to treat it 

 thoroughly with antiseptics or burn it up 

 in order to prevent the spread of the dis- 

 ease to other dogs which may occupy 



the kennel. The period of incubation 

 is usually from one to three weeks. Hill 

 recommends a mild emetic at the start; 

 for example, a teaspoonful of mustard 

 and salt in warm water. This may be 

 followed by the use of stimulants, such 

 as a teaspoonful of port wine and 1 

 grain of quinine or a mixture of 4 

 drains niter, 4 drams tincture of gentian 

 and x /2 ounce aqua menthae, the dose 

 of this mixture being a teaspoonful. If 

 the eyes are badly affected they may be 

 treated with weak antiseptic solutions 

 such as silver nitrate at the rate of 4 

 grains in 4 ounces of water. Despite 

 the fact that some veterinarians refer to 

 distemper as yielding to remedial treat- 

 ment, it is the common experience that 

 treatment is quite unsatisfactory and 

 unless the pups are of more than the us- 

 ual value it is often best to kill them at 

 once and disinfect the kennels. Many 

 dogs which recover from the disease are 

 of little use on account of heart weak- 

 ness or some other bad result of dis- 

 temper. Certain Italian investigators 

 have confidently recommended a serum 

 treatment as devised by Piorkowski. 

 Much controversy has developed con- 

 cerning this method, and the results ob- 

 tained from its use are not uniform. 



E,abies or hydrophobia i s an acute 

 disease of the nervous system trans- 

 mitted from one animal to another by 

 means of bites. The virus of rabies is 

 present in the saliva of affected animals 

 and may be sufficient to transmit the 

 disease before the symptoms have ac- 

 tually appeared in the animal in which 

 the disease is developing. An unusual 

 amount of energy and skill has been ex- 

 pended in solving various problems con- 

 nected with rabies and the controversy 

 concerning the disease has been most bit- 

 ter. Some authorities deny the exist- 

 ence of rabies entirely and refer to it as 

 purely imaginative ; by others the extent 

 and danger from the disease has been 

 much exaggerated. Dogs, cattle, horses 

 and other domestic animals, as well as 

 man, are susceptible. The dog is of par- 

 ticular importance in this connection 

 for the reason that most cases are due 

 to the bites of rabid dogs. In man the 

 disease appears about 70 days after being 

 bitten and a similar lapse of time is 

 observed in other animals. The symp- 

 toms may somewhat resemble those of 

 lockjaw, but are distinct by the fact that 

 the animals are vicious. Affected dogs 

 show a nervousness and run about the 



