Distemper in Dogs and Cats. 213 



spontaneous recovery when the general health improves and ap- 

 pears to be little affected by local treatment. 



Nervous Symptoms. These are shown more or less from the 

 beginning. The great dulness, depression, apathy and weakness, 

 which usually ushers in the disease, are indications of this. Drow- 

 siness may be early shown. Even the early nausea and vomiting 

 may be largely central in its origin. In some cases, however, the 

 brain symptoms are more active and violent. The dog is restless 

 and irritable, getting up and moving from place to place, starting 

 from sleep, yelping, snapping, with twitching of the muscles of the 

 face or limbs, rolling of the eyes, and excessive heat of the head. 

 Krajewski even describes rabiform paroxysms, depraved appetite, 

 spasms, furious delirium, fawning, or threatening, and finally 

 where rabies is familar it would have been more satisfactory if 

 inoculation had been made from such cases with results negativ- 

 ing rabies. Epileptic attacks may appear at any stage of the 

 disease. Chorea, tonic spasms, paresis and paralysis are on the 

 contrary habitually late manifestations and often seem to be 

 sequelae determined by toxin poisoning of the nerve centers, or 

 degenerations of their structure, Choreic movements may be 

 confined to the head, or a limb, or they may affect the whole 

 body. Tonic spasms often affect the neck, turning the head 

 rigidly to one side. Among other nervous disorders may be 

 named, amaurosis with dilated pupil and atrophy of the optic nerve, 

 ■deafness, anosmia, and dementia. 



Lesions. These vary as do the symptoms. The nasal pharyn- 

 geal, and faryngeal mucosae show congestion, swelling, infiltra- 

 tion, ecchymosis with vesicles, pustules and ulcerations. They 

 are covered by a foul muco-purulent exudate. The same condition 

 may often be traced to the final ramifications of the bronchial sys- 

 tem. In pulmonary cases, the lungs show inflammation, inflamma- 

 tary exudation and consolidation, collapse, splenization, oedema, 

 and even suppuration in points or large areas. The, bronchial 

 lymph glands and often the pharyngeal are enlarged, congested 

 and may be suppurating. The pleura over the congested lung 

 may be the seat of exudation and false membrane, and a bloody 

 serum may occupy the pleural cavity. The heart may show 

 ^parenchymatous degeneration. 



