5IO DOG DISTEMPER 



a yellowish brown crust or burst, leaving a raw surface. Heal- 

 ing takes place with desquamation of the epidermis after 

 about eight days, leaving pigmented, pale reddish areas which 

 persist for some time. Generally, there are only a few pus- 

 tules present. The exanthema may spread in the form of a 

 scabby eczema over the whole body, to the membrane of the 

 external auditory meatus and less frequently to the mucous 

 membrane of the mouth and eyes. This eruption, contrary to 

 that of sarcoptic mange, is accompanied by only slight pruritis. 

 Intense catarrh of the prepuce may appear simultaneously 

 with the skin eruption. 



The temperature, which is usually very irregular, is 

 higher during the initial stage than when local manifestations 

 appear. It often falls with remarkable rapidity below normal 

 towards the approach of death. If the disease runs a pro- 

 tracted course, the patient becomes emaciated and the hair 

 loses its lustre, the body exhalations have a very fetid odor, 

 the eyes are sunken, the mucous membranes become pale and 

 the patient grows weaker, staggers when walking or lies in a 

 state of coma. 



In abortive cases recovery may take place in eight or ten 

 days, although the disease usually lasts three or four weeks. 

 With severe complications, especially those of the nervous 

 system, distemper assumes a protracted course and is frequently 

 followed by sequelae^ such as paralysis or convulsions at 

 longer or shorter intervals, which may persist for months and 

 even longer. The average mortality appears to be from 50 to 

 60 per cent. 



§ 396. Morbid anatomy. The anatomical changes in 

 the respiratory system are those of rhinitis, laryngitis, bron- 

 chitis and catarrhal pneumonia. The nasal mucous membrane 

 is either very pale or greatly congested, swollen and covered 

 with a thick, purulent, grayish green or dull reddish inflam- 

 matory exudate which is mixed with coagulated blood and 

 collects chiefly between the lamellae of the turbinated bones 

 and in the frontal sinuses. Hemorrhagic ulcers are some- 



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