DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS — 151 
The temperature, unless raised, does not much facilitate 
a diagnosis, as frequently it remains practically normal for 
some considerable time, and absence of temperature 
should not therefore be allowed to dispel one’s fears or 
suspicions. 
As it sometimes occurs that a dog may suffer from a 
very benign or almost unnoticeable attack of distemper, 
it is a wise plan to continue isolation for a fortnight 
where practicable, as this not only mitigates the risk of 
contagion to other dogs from the convalescent one, but 
also gives time for the appearance of a second and more 
severe manifestation of symptoms, as often happens. 
A diagnosis is arrived at with great facility when 
several other dogs which have been in contact are noticed 
to be also ailing; and little doubt need be entertained when 
once a characteristic group of advanced symptoms has 
been exhibited. 1 have known cases in which little or 
nothing was apparently wrong with the animal except 
ulcerative keratitis, though this has usually been later 
followed by other typical symptoms which made the 
nature of the disease clear. 
Dog owners should no longer permit themselves to be 
lulled into a sense of false security when told their dogs 
are merely suffering from a chill. They should realise 
what a'deadly and insidious disease distemper really is, 
and they would be well advised to regard with the 
utmost suspicion every sign which is known to be an 
early warning of this malady. 
Diseases confounded with Distemper.—There are several 
diseases which may be mistaken for distemper, among 
the more prominent being Stuttgart disease (or canine 
typhus), tuberculosis, epilepsy, rabies, mange, and the 
many primary catarrhal disorders, such as conjunctivitis, 
rhinitis, laryngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, gastritis, en- 
teritis, cystitis, hepatitis and nephritis, etc., all of which 
