Your Dog and Your Cat 



will require a sufficient range of study and amount 

 of work to absorb the time and thought of the ordi- 

 nary person, without assuming the responsibilities 

 of administering drugs about which he has no 

 knowledge. 



Many bad practices have sprung up in the canine 

 field which ought to be corrected. Castor oil is our 

 best remedy for cleaning out the intestinal tract, 

 but the habitual use of it at regular intervals is a 

 bad practice and tends to lessen its efifect on the 

 system. If the animal is kept right and fed right 

 there is no need of regular purgation, and even 

 when it is needed, recourse should be had to milder 

 remedies which will have a more lasting effect. 

 Cathartic pills are even worse than castoi- oil. Fol- 

 lowing their repeated use a habitual constipation de- 

 velops, which is difficult to overcome. 



The idea generally prevails among dog owners 

 that all dogs are infested with worms and must be 

 regularly treated for them. While worms are more 

 or less prevalent among dogs, the disasters result- 

 ing from them are less than from the violent action 

 of some of the remedies which are given to remove 

 them. The purging of dogs with drastic worm 

 medicines is always attended with grave danger 

 and should be carried out only by those thoroughly 

 familiar with the action and dosage of the remedies 

 given. 



A large percentage of skin diseases is due to 

 dietary disorders and intestinal diseases rather than 



44 



