Your Dog and Your Cat 



distemper, twenty-four hours on the start means a 

 great deal in the final outcome. 



Chorea. — Chorea is a nervous disease which de- 

 velops as a sequel of distemper. It may appear dur- 

 ing the later course of the disease, but is not usually 

 seen sooner than two weeks after recovery, and may 

 not develop for two months afterward. The dis- 

 ease is thought to be due to a degeneration of the 

 nerve tissue just oUtside of the spinal cord, caused 

 by toxins generated by the distemper virus. It is 

 characterized by regular spasms of certain muscles 

 or groups of muscles. Usually one leg, the jaw, 

 or the muscles over the head are affected. Some- 

 times all of the legs may be involved. The condi- 

 tion always starts in one group of muscles and if 

 the progress is slow, further development may be 

 checked. The dog may live a very normal life 

 thereafter in spite of this handicap. When the dis- 

 ease develops rapidly, other parts of the body soon 

 become affected. The convulsive twitching of a 

 large part of the body muscles consumes a great 

 amount of energy and the dog soon becomes ex- 

 hausted. In these cases treatment is without results 

 and the animal must be destroyed or it will die a 

 hard and lingering death. 



Treatment. — Many and various drugs have been 

 used in the treatment of chorea. Each veterinarian 

 will have a different line of treatment based on the 

 results of his experience. 



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