110 CANINE DISTEMPER 
attendant or owner, bites at everything within reach, 
and often at itself, and looks wild-eyed and mad. 
These phenomena, however, usually abate quickly 
when distemper is the root cause, leaving the animal 
greatly exhausted and very depressed. In rabies they 
would not appear so suddenly, nor attain the great 
violence which so frequently characterises epilepsy. 
The latter never accompanies rabies in any stage of 
that disease. 
A succession of such furious manifestations, lasting 
perhaps two or three days, usually effects a fatal 
termination, for the animal is worn down and sinks from 
exhaustion. Cases are not unknown in which affected 
dogs develop a tendency to move in a circle, walking or 
trotting round and round, always one way, and quite 
oblivious to their surroundings or the voices of those 
they know best. Another curious manifestation is that 
in which the animal, when in a recumbent position, 
appears to be running as fast as it can, all legs being in 
progressive motion, and the dog simultaneously whining 
or moaning. In both conditions the brain is apparently 
implicated, and both are always extremely ominous. 
Warning of Fits.—Fits, as occurring in distemper, are 
usually preceded by some warning, and may possibly 
be averted if carefully watched for. For instance, we 
notice local twitchings, already referred to, as affecting 
the cheeks, mouth, or eyelids, restlessness, and hot head; 
these would be entirely absent in cases of fits arising 
from teething, worms, or unusual excitement, for here 
the animal is one moment perfectly normal and at play, 
and the next he is unconscious. 
Youatt sums up the situation very nicely in the 
following paragraph: “ However indisposed to eat, the 
dog may have previously been, the appetite returns 
when the fits are at hand, and the animal becomes 
