112 KENNEL DISEASES. 
rheea to persist. Where they are rightly made of meat alone and not so “rich” 
as to tax digestion, such foods can safely be allowed ; and the diarrhcea will not 
be unpleasantly affected by them, nor by scraped raw, lean beef, which should 
always be given when the other simple foods fail to support, and the strength of 
the patient threatens to decline. If those meat products appear to be well borne, 
properly digested, and agreeable to the patients, there may be added to them a 
little boiled rice or arrowroot; and in any event it will be advisable to thicken 
the beef-teas, extracts, or essences with gelatin ; for the stomach generally re- 
ceives this combination more kindly than the fluids alone ; and even in cases of 
vomiting it often remains down. 
At variance with the custom of writers on canine diseases, no astringent reme- 
dies have been advised, for the reason that they are not required in diarrhea, 
and would likely in any event do more harm than good. The purpose of treat- 
ment is not merely to lessen the number of discharges daily, for it is even more 
important that the cause be removed. That at first may be indigestible foods, 
but soon there is irritation of the mucous surface of the bowels, which constitutes 
another cause. Now let this be overcome, and the diarrhoea will voluntarily 
cease. It may be argued that with the mucous membrane of the bowels nearly 
back to the normal condition its secretion will often still be excessive and astrin- 
gents should be used. Not so, however, for properly prepared flour-gruel is as 
active in this direction as those drugs, and does the work quicker and better. 
Diarrhcea in suckling puppies is usually the direct consequence of indiges- 
tion or worms ; but it must not be forgotten that constitutional feebleness and 
unfavorable hygienic surroundings, and especially quarters that are too small, 
damp, and filthy, increase the liability to attacks of this affection. 
Occurring in the first three or four days of life, and attended by colic and 
great prostration, the chances are that the diarrhcea is due to excessive acidity 
of the mother’s milk. This defect is serious indeed, and requires prompt and 
special treatment, which the reader will find discussed at length in “ Kennel 
Secrets,” beginning page 275. An exhaustive discussion of the treatment of 
worms, the essential formulas, and correct doses for each week during early 
puppyhood, are also to be found in the same volume. 
The digestion of puppies, like that of infants, being very weak, it is not sur- 
prising that looseness of the bowels often occurs at the weaning ; and unless the 
discharges are quite watery and frequent, there is, ordinarily, scarcely occasion 
for uneasiness, but still the sign should never be disregarded. And generally it 
indicates that the change from the mother’s milk is being made too abruptly. 
Soon after the bowels are disturbed by indigestion or other cause, the dis- 
charges, as a rule, occur at once after the feedings and every two or three hours. 
At first they are merely more liquid and copious than usual and of more pro- 
nounced odor. After a time — which may be very short — they undergo various 
other changes. Often they are like water with a yellowish tinge. Now and 
