62 DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. 



only in very rare instances in older dogs. If the tenesmus is very 

 great, it indicates that there is great irritation of the lower bowel 

 (as regards the examination of the lower bowel, see page 38). 



The other symptoms of catarrh of the intestines are as follows : 

 The color of the urine becomes dark from the tinting of the bile 

 and is lessened in quantity from the drain of fluids from the 

 bowels (Frohner). Fever is present, but it is generally slight. 

 There is loss of appetite, vomiting, and yellow or icteric color- 

 ing of the mucous membranes, great thirst, and the animal becomes 

 weak very quickly and shows great depression. This is specially 

 noticeable when the inflammation is due to eating decayed meat. 



Chronic inflammation of the bowels resembles the acute form 

 in many ways, but it is less severe in its symptoms. The feces 

 change from soft to firm, and vice versa, the animal becoming 

 weak and thin, showing all the signs of anaemia; but in the 

 chronic cases the appetite is generally very good. 



Prognosis. In strong, healthy animals this disease is gener- 

 ally not very serious, but in young dogs or puppies it causes great 

 exhaustion, and they die from collapse before the diarrhoea can be 

 checked. The chronic form in adult animals is generally very 

 hard to control. Often attacks follow one after another, com- 

 pletely prostrating the animal and carrying it off finally. 



Therapeutics. In slight cases the only thing to do is to 

 regulate the food, and, as a rule, lessen it in quantity and make 

 it easily digested. Soup or stock mixed with bread or biscuit, 

 rice, etc., friction to the abdomen, and a small quantity of alcohol 

 in the form of whiskey or sherry in weak, delicate dogs. It must 

 be borne in mind that in all cases of this disease the treatment 

 will depend entirely on the causes and symptoms that are ob- 

 served. If the cause has been due to the ingestion of decayed or 

 putrid substances, internal parasites, the first thing to do is to 

 clean the intestinal canal out by means of a purgative, such as 

 castor oil or syrup of cascara sagrada, or in weak subjects or puppies 

 olive oil. If there is any indication that the liver is disturbed, it 

 is best to first administer a dose of calomel or blue-mass and follow 

 up with an oleaginous purgative. Where there are copious and 

 thin discharges and an indication of excessive peristaltic action it 

 is advisable to use narcotics, and in this instance opium is always 

 indicated. The attempt to substitute extract of belladonna or 



