INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS. 145 
can be made by any druggist, who will have merely to test for albumen; and 
that found, it may be accepted that the kidneys are seriously at fault. 
Kept in a warm room of uniform temperature, that the skin may be at its 
best and do much of the work of the kidneys, and ona diet of milk, a dog suffering 
from this affection should do well without the use of medicines. But at the same 
time it would generally be advisable to give a laxative, that the bowels may 
assume a share of the kidneys’ duty. Large doses, however, are contra-indicated, 
and merely sufficient is required to cause three or four movements daily. 
Acute inflammation of the kidneys may become chronic if there is neglect 
in management, and especially to protect the patient from exposure to cold. 
This unfortunate ending, however, is far from common. Indeed, chronic inflam- 
mation of the kidneys is very rare, and almost always occurs as a result of 
obstructed circulation, as in heart disease. In its early stages, also, it would 
be quite sure to escape detection, failing as it does then to give rise to pro- 
nounced symptoms, or indeed to any that are suggestive of kidney affection. 
After it has well advanced, and possibly been on six months or a year, or 
longer, chronic disease of the kidneys usually gives rise to signs that indicate 
serious trouble somewhere within the system; but they may not point to the 
kidneys, and if not, likely the real cause is not detected. 
With the kidneys so disabled, albumen might appear in the urine ; but still 
it is often absent until very great degenerative changes have taken place. The 
quantity of urine excreted signifies but little, because during this disease it may 
be less or more abundant than in health. In the advanced stages, however, it 
is scanty, of dark color, and quite heavily loaded with albumen. 
As a rule the heart steadily fails in power, until it is very weak and irregular, 
and the pulse thin, thready, and intermittent. ‘The meanwhile chronic changes 
of an inflammatory nature have been taking place in other important organs. 
Digestion is seriously faulty, and generally there is obstinate although not very 
severe bronchitis. The appetite is poor, the manner dull and dispirited, exer- 
tion is avoided as much as possible, and when forced, the fatigue caused is very 
great. Finally, the kidneys having become so degenerated that they are no 
longer capable of doing more than a very small part of their work, the system 
is saturated, as it were, with the poison that they should have thrown out; there 
is more or less dropsy, and in most cases convulsions set in before death. 
Recovery from chronic inflammation of the kidneys cannot occur, nor is 
much improvement possible after the disease has well advanced. Until then, 
under right treatment, its progress may be somewhat delayed; but still it 
promises so little yet is so exacting it were best always to sacrifice the patient 
as soon as a positive diagnosis of the disease is made. 
