ABC GUIDE TO CANINE AILMENTS. 
Catarrh.—Sometimes called coryza or a com- 
mon cold. 
Causes.—It is usually the result of neglect in 
some form or another. The kennel probably is 
leaky, or the dog has been left out to shiver in 
the rain, or has been sent into the water towards 
nightfall and allowed to go to kennel in his wet 
coat. Exposure to cold and wet when the dog 
is tired, and the system consequently weak, will 
be very apt to produce it. 
Catarrh is very common among puppies, and 
dogs that are much confined to the house, and 
get but little exercise, are more liable to colds 
than rough out-of-door dogs. 
Now this catarrh may seem a very simple 
matter to many, and no doubt it is, and it speedily 
yields to judicious treatment; but the results of 
a neglected cold are sometimes disastrous in the 
extreme, and one never knows where a coid may 
end. 
Symptoms.—In severe cases the dog or puppy 
exhibits unwonted lassitude, is more dull and 
sleepy than usual, has slight shiverings, and may- 
be loss of appetite or a capricious appetite. This 
is followed by running at the nose and a slight 
discharge from the eyes, and if the conjunctiva is 
examined it will be found either redder or darker 
than usual, showing that it is injected. Sneezing 
is a frequent symptom, but unless the catarrh ex- 
tends downwards there will not be any cough. 
The discharge from the nostrils will indicate the 
extent of the disorder, and the dryness of the nose 
and heat of the mouth the amount of fever. 
Treatment.—By the tyro a common cold is often 
called distemper, and “cured” by a specific. A 
simple cold is easily got rid of, but there is no 
reason why it should be utterly neglected, espe- 
cially in valuable dogs, for this reason, that it 
is apt to recur, and will each time evince a greater 
downward tendency. 
Give the animal a dose of castor-oil when he is 
first observed to be ailing, and let him have a 
dry, warm bed at night, and from two drachms 
to an ounce (according to the animal’s size) of 
mindererus spirit. Let him have plenty of water 
to drink, in which you may dissolve a teaspoon- 
ful of chlorate of potash and also a little nitre, 
or you can give a dose or two of nitre made into 
a bolus with soap and sulphur. 
Give the following simple medicine thrice 
daily: Syrup of squills, 5 drops to 30; paregoric, 
to drops to 60; syrup of poppies, half a drachm 
to 4 drachms. Mix. 
Chok’ng.—If the bone or piece of wood is visi- 
ble, it should be removed with forceps, or, if too 
far down, a probe may be used to force it into 
the stomach. Only a vet. can do this. 
Chorea or St. Vitus’ Dance.—A somewhat rare 
complaint in dogs. 
Symptoms.—A whole or part of the body is 
affected, as the neck or leg or one side. It is a 
form of irregular palsy, and depends on impover- 
ished blood and nerves. Sometimes spasmodic 
twitchings of the face, or whole head may shake. 
599 
It is often a sequel to distemper, and may con- 
tinue long after the dog is well. 
Treatment.—Improvement of health. Nutri- 
tious diet, milk in abundance, flour food, Spratts’ 
invalid biscuits. Plenty of milk and eggs if 
possible. 
Colic.— This is a most distressing complaint, 
far from uncommon among the canine race, and 
not unattended with danger. It is a non-infiam- 
matory disease, usually termed “the gripes,” or 
“tormina,” due to an irregular and spasmodic 
action of the bowels. 
Symptoms.—Great pain in the region of the 
abdomen, restlessness and distress. The pain 
comes on every now and again, causing the dog 
to jump up howling, and presently, when the pain 
in some measure subsides, tc seck out another 
position and lie down again. During the attacks 
the breathing is quickened and the pulse accele- 
rated, and the animal’s countenance gives proof 
of the agony he is enduring. 
The pain of colic is relieved by pressure or 
friction; in inflammation pressure cannot be 
borne. The pulse, too, is not of the inflammatory 
character. The suddenness of the attack is like- 
wise a good clue. 
Treatment.—The first indication of the treat- 
ment of colic is to get rid of the cause. If the 
dog is otherwise apparently in good health, give 
the following: Of castor-oil three parts, syrup 
of buckthorn two parts, and syrup of poppies one 
part, followed immediately by an anodyne 
draught, such as: Spirits of ether, 10 to 60 drops; 
spirits of chloroform, 5 to 20 drops; solution of 
muriate of morphia, 3 to 20 drops; camphor water 
a sufficiency. Mix. 
In less urgent cases of colic, a simple dose of 
castor-oil will be found to answer quite as well, 
and the oil is to be followed by a dose of brandy 
in hot water. 
If there be much drum-like swelling of the 
abdomen, hard rubbing will do good, with a 
draught proportioned to size of dog and contain- 
ing 10 to 60 grains of bicarbonate of soda, 2 to 
10 drops of oil of cloves, and 5 to 10 of laudanum 
in camphor water. 
Constip:tion, more commonly called costive- 
ness, 1s a very common complaint. It often 
occurs in the progress of other diseases, but is 
just as often a separate ailment. 
Perhaps no complaint to which our canine 
friends are liable is less understood by the non- 
professional dog doctor and by dog owners them- 
selves. Often caused by weakness in the coats of 
the intestine. The exhibition of purgatives can 
only have a temporary effect in relieving the 
symptoms, and is certain to be followed by re- 
action, and consequently by further debility. 
Want of exercise and bath common cause. 
Youatt was never more correct in his life than 
when he said: “Many dogs have a dry con- 
stipated habit, often greatly increased by the 
bones on which they are fed. This favours the 
disposition to mange, etc. It produces indiges- 
