174 KENNEL DISEASES. 
In view of the fact that in puerperal fever the intestinal discharges are 
usually highly offensive, also that nature then sends diarrhoea as a measure 
of relief, it is advisable to give early in every attack a moderate dose of mag- 
nesia, and repeat every fourth hour until the bowels have moved freely. 
Other medication will seldom be required in puerperal fever, except it be 
to combine the carbonate of ammonia with the whiskey after the first day, if 
failure of the vital powers is threatened. 
This should be in solution with water, one and one-half drachms to two 
ounces. The dose will then be one teaspoonful for medium and large-sized 
dogs, and one-half that quantity for the smaller. 
Summarizing, the treatment required is to empty the genital canal; wash 
it out and keep it clean with corrosive sublimate solution; meet the offensive 
odor with carbolic solution; favor the removal of the materies morbi from the 
system by the remedies advised; and literally “crowd ” nourishment and stimu- 
lants ; for the poor victim is, as it were, in deep water, and if her strength is kept 
up it is possible that she may make a safe landing. 
That in many instances puerperal fever is preventable is a fact that can 
properly be urged in closing, although such must be the inevitable conclusion 
from the foregoing. Remembering always that it is through the genital tract 
that infection occurs, whether it be septic or putrid; that the special germs are 
of the most virulent nature, easily transmissible, and only an infinitesimal 
quantity is quite sure to prove destructive; that retained matters must decom- 
pose before they become infectious, and bacteria are necessary to putrefaction; 
finally, that these essential agents may be on the person of caretakers, — it fol- 
lows that ample precautions should be taken before making examinations, lest 
the poisons be introduced. 
These precautions consist first of thorough cleanliness of the hands, secured 
by a scrubbing-brush and soap and water, and a subsequent use of a 1 to 3,000 
solution of corrosive sublimate, or 5 per cent solution of carbolic acid. 
That in all instances the whelping quarters should be the healthiest possible 
goes without saying. If always clean, dry, well-ventilated and accessible to 
ample sunlight, with the precautions advised, puerperal fever is never likely to 
enter them. 
As for the measures which must be employed to prevent its recurrence where 
this malady has once invaded kennels, they will be discussed with Septicamia 
of Pregnancy. 
