36 KENNEL DISEASES. 
be inhaled. Ammoniac gases arising from refuse under stables may, however, 
render the larynx very irritable, in which condition acute inflammation is easily 
excited by exposure to cold and wet. Again, this affection may be but an exten- 
sion of a similar inflammation in the nasal passages, i.e., coryza. Finally, it is 
almost always present in severe attacks of distemper. 
Hoarseness in barking is the most prominent symptom. A hoarse, brassy 
cough may also generally be excited by outward pressure over the upper part of 
the windpipe when the larynx is inflamed. There is often present some impedi- 
ment in swallowing, and perhaps in respiration. As a rule, but little, if any, fever 
is appreciable, and the pulse is scarcely quickened. Yet now and then are en- 
countered cases in which all these symptoms are severe and threatening; and in 
them the inflammation, instead of being superficial, is quite deep, and there is 
an effusion of serum—the fluid portion of the blood—beneath the mucous 
membrane of certain portions of the larynx. The trouble is then what physicians 
call cedema of the glottis. This seriously interferes with respiration, and may 
even produce suffocation if not promptly relieved. The breathing is very harsh 
and noisy, rapid and jerking; in fact, it is identical with that observed in chil- 
dren suffering with true croup. As in this, one of the gravest maladies of child- 
hood, there are at times spasms in the larynx which nearly close the windpipe, 
and cause distress that is terrible to witness. 
When laryngitis occurs with coryza the symptoms of the latter are of course 
present, and do not differ from the ordinary, excepting that the discharge from 
the nose is bubbling or frothy if there is much impediment to swallowing. 
Chronic laryngitis is seldom persistent; that is, the inflammation is rarely 
continuously of sufficient intensity to give rise to appreciable signs. As a rule, 
it is scarcely more than an irritation. In other words, the lining of the larynx 
is irritable, and easily inflamed by barking, exposure to cold, and other influences 
which are capable of exciting the acute form. But when it follows distemper, 
and the voice does not return as the general health is restored, it generally 
proves obstinate; and in some instances a cure is never effected, because the 
trouble is complicated with partial paralysis of the vocal cords. 
Only very few deaths result from laryngitis alone, and never from the chronic 
merely ; while in the acute form recovery is almost certain to take place unless 
the throat has been badly lacerated, as by a bone, or the trouble caused by inhala- 
tions of a powerful irritant. As previously stated, smoke is the irritant most 
likely to reach dogs; and let one be caught in a burning building where it is 
dense, if not soon rescued, even if not otherwise injured by the fire, the outlook 
is that he will die within thirty-six hours unless he is very skilfully treated. 
Mild cases of acute laryngitis do not require any active treatment. Confined 
in a room well ventilated and heated uniformly, and fed lightly for a few days, 
recovery will usually take place speedily. 
In cases which threaten to be severe, a purge should be promptly given. 
