98 KENNEL DISEASES. 
has what 1s commonly termed a “tucked up” appearance. . Pressure of the hand, 
if fairly quick and superficial, will seem to indicate that the tenderness and pain 
are nearly uniform over all the parts of the abdomen; yet if the examiner is delib- 
erate, and makes deep pressures slowly in the various regions, he will find that it 
is most intense under the left “short ribs” and at the “pit of the stomach.” 
The pulse is quicked from the first. There is also fever ; and the nose is hot 
and dry. The bowels may be constipated; and this is the rule at first, but in the 
course of from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, diarrhcea usually sets in. 
If death does not speedily occur from shock, and the disease is running to a 
fatal termination, the pulse increases in rapidity and becomes very feeble; the 
limbs are cold, the skin clammy, and the strength is shortly exhausted. Finally, 
convulsions occur, and the victim passes off in one of them. 
There is but little danger of acute gastritis being mistaken for any other af- 
fection; and colic is the only one to which its resemblance is close, but a careful 
study of that will develop the distinctive features. 
As stated, this affection is almost always produced by irritant poisons; but. 
since vomiting so speedily follows their entrance into the stomach, that they are 
actually the cause can seldom be positively determined in any case. However, 
if a dog is taken suddenly ill and presents the symptoms described, it is quite 
safe to assume that he is a victim of one of those poisons. But any existing 
doubts as to the cause of the attack would scarcely influence the treatment, for 
were the case one of poisoning, in all probability the poison would have been 
speedily expelled ; yet could the question be promptly settled in the affirmative — 
that a poison had been taken up — the first step in the right direction would be to 
pour as much “blood warm” water as possible down the patient’s throat. This 
would likely cause him to vomit, and with the water returned would come up 
most, if not all, of the poison; but to make certain, another such drenching 
would be advisable. Were this treatment ineffectual and vomiting did not 
occur speedily, a teaspoonful of mustard in a tumblerful of warm water should 
be administered; and the dose be repeated in ten minutes if the first did not: 
act. 
But as urged in cases of poisoning by drugs capable of producing acute gas- 
tritis the poisons are almost always, if not invariably, vomited as soon as they 
have reached the stomach. Therefore, the first treatment must generally be for 
the purpose of subduing the pain and vomiting; which latter is very distressing. 
Powders containing morphia and bismuth promise best. Assuming the dog to be 
of medium or largest size breed, each powder should contain one-fourth of a grain 
of morphia and twenty grains of the subnitrate of bismuth. If he is about the 
size of a fox-terrier, it were advisable to have in each powder one-sixth of a grain 
of morphia and fifteen grains of bismuth; while for toys the dose should be one- 
eighth of the former, and ten grains of the latter. 
In giving the powders, they should be shaken well back into the patient’s. 
