Specifio Contagious Diseases. 101 



bran mashes, sliced roots, boiled oats or barley, green 

 grass, oil-cake, etc., giving from the hand if necessary. 

 Secure pure air and water, cleanliness, warm clothing, and 

 general comfort until restored to health. 



CAirrNE DISTEMPEE. 



A specific fever of the yonng domestic carnivora, affect- 

 ing the respiratory organs, and it may be the abdominal 

 viscera, the brain, the muscular system and joints, or the 

 skill. One attack usually protects from a second. 



Causes. Connected, like strangles, with domestication, 

 it is most severe on pet dogs kept in hot, close rooms, on 

 spiced food, or confined in kennels. Change of climate, 

 teething, and contagion are other causes. 



Symptoms. Dullness, peevishness, loss of appetite, dry 

 nose, watery eyes, elevated temperature, increased pulse 

 (110 to 120), sensitiveness to cold, shivering, cough and 

 glairy or yellowish discharge from the nose. The cough 

 becomes paroxysmal and is often followed by vomiting, the 

 matter not being licked up again, the breathing is disturbed, 

 and the chest-sounds on auscultation and percussion imply 

 disease there. The animal is weak, debilitated and ema- 

 ciated, and diarrhoea, ulceration of the mouth, and nervous 

 symptoms usually precede death. 



The complications are marked by symptoms of bronchi- 

 tis, pneumonia, enteritis, hepatitis, conjunctivitis, phrenitis 

 and skin-disease. Diseases of the brain (cramps, convul- 

 sions, chorea, paralysis) and skin-eruption are exceedingly 

 common in the advanced stages. The eruption is peculiai-, 

 consisting of small blisters, containing often a reddish or 

 purple fluid. 



Treatment. A warm, comfortable bed, pure air, and a 

 milk, or bread and milk diet are important. The diet should 

 not be so exclusive in dogs having had animal food only. 

 9* 



