336 The Management and Diseases of the Dog. 



MARASMUS. 



This condition is frequently dependent on mesenteric 

 disease. The term marasmus is used to signify leanness 

 or emaciation. Dogs apparently healthy in themselves, 

 i.e., so far as feeding well, performing their duties, etc., 

 are concerned, nevertheless do not thrive, or, to use a 

 common expression, they are "out of condition" Hence 

 the frequent inquiry addressed to the canine surgeon is, 

 " Can you give me something to get my dpgs in con- 

 dition?" This leanness, however, is not necessarily a 

 result of disease : in many animals it is a natural and 

 hereditary condition ; in others it may result from neglect 

 of hygiene. ' 



Symptoms. — Such a:nimals have usually large appetites, 

 and an unkind and unthrifty appearance. The bowels 

 are generally constipated, and attacks of colic are not 

 unfrequent. 



When it proceeds from mesenteric disease, the abdomen 

 is pendulous and large, the coat is particularly harsh and 

 dry, the mucous membranes are pale, the eyes watery, 

 and the nose often dry and hot ; the appetite is not so 

 extreme as the thirst, the faeces are offensive, and the 

 .bowels are either relaxed or costive, and the excretions 

 coated with mucus. In the latter stage the pulse is weak 

 and accelerated, and the animal exhibits considerable 

 indisposition for exertion ; the thirst increases, and the 

 bowels are continually relaxed. 



Treatment. — Fresh air, daily exercise, 'nourishing food, 

 and, in the case of disease, cod-liver oil, and the pre- 

 parations of iron, are the measures chiefly indicated. 



PLETHORA. 



Dogs highly fed and allowed but little exercise are 

 those generally subject to excess of blood, or what is 



