THE DOG—DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT, 339 
PUTRID AND NERVOUS FEVER. 
If shut up in dirty lodgings, or fed on damaged or decaying food, or if 
subjected to undue heat or effort, dogs may be attacked with this form of: 
fever. The symptoms are loss of appetite; restlessness; fitful shivering; 
dull, heavy look; starting; howling; spasms; eager thirst; quick, small 
pulse; high-colored urine passed in small quantities; offensive excretions of 
the skin and bowels; death in a few days, if not early treated. 
TREATMENT.—Aconite is highly useful in the first stages for fever, 
restlessness, and offensive, high-colored urine. Gelseminum is needed for 
sudden weakness, loss of motion, and jerking of muscles. Give belladonna 
for glistening eyes, hanging tongue, and unconsciousness. Furnish dry, 
cool lodgings, with frequent supplies of cold water. Give small allowances 
of cold milk, with a little bread in it if the animal will eat it. 
SMALL-POX. 
This is more common in young dogs, and results from contagion. The 
symptoms are fever; patches without hair, becoming red, then covered with 
small spots, like insect-bites, which increase and grow pale in the center, 
with a red circle around the edge. In five or six days these spots contain a 
clear fluid, which soon turns yellow, the tops become hollow, and then 
break. Scabs form and fall off. The breath and excrement are disgusting. 
A return of appetite, with cool, moist nose, indicates recovery. But the 
animal should be killed at once if the symptoms progress, the nose being hot, 
tongue hanging, thirst great, breathing hard, with constipation and increased 
color in the spots; or if the spots do not rise above the skin, or if they run 
together. 
TREATMENT.—Antimonium tartaricum is desirable when the eruption 
is clearly seen; belladonna for delirium; mercurius if saliva fills the mouth, 
and if there be bad breath and diarrhea. A dose or two of sulphur is de- 
sirable to complete a successful treatment. Furnish cool, airy lodgings, 
without draughts; sprinkle the place often with carbolic acid. Change the 
bedding every day, and burn it, with evacuations of the bowels. 
RHEUMATISM. 
Stiffness and tenderness of the fore legs and chest in dogs are known 
as rheumatism, and are especially common in those kept for the house or 
sporting. It is caused by sudden cold or dampness, plunging into water 
when hot, a cold, wet bed, and over-exercise. It is marked by stiff fore legs 
Digitized by Microsoft® 
