3X6 THE MANAGEMENT AND DISEASES OF THE DOG. 



crease in obesity with their years : no matter how plain the 

 food, fat is accumulated, and with it they become lazy, use- 

 less (so far as accompanying the sportsman is concerned) and 

 unsightly. 



Treatment. — This consists in avoiding, as much as possible 

 those causes which predispose or give rise to obesity. The 

 food should be less fattening, and more sparingly given. 

 Daily and somewhat vigorous exercise should be allowed. 

 Where the deposition has a tendency to increase in spite of 

 these observances, small doses of iodine may be given with 

 benefit, along with an occasional aperient. 



RHEUMATISM. 



Dogs are frequently affected with this " human misery." 

 It may locate itself in the joints (articular rheumatism) or in 

 the muscles, chiefly their tendinous portions, producing lum- 

 bago and " chest-founder." 



Causes. — Rheumatism chiefly arises from exposure to 

 damp and cold ; hence its frequency in kennel dogs, and 

 during those seasons of the year when the causes named pre- 

 vail — spring and autumn. 



The disease assumes an acute and a chronic form. An 

 attack of the former frequently terminates in the latter, which 

 may remain through life, and become increased in severity 

 with changes of temperature ; or, if the former disappears 

 without degenerating into the latter, periodical returns of it 

 very often occur. As in human beings, valvular disease of 

 the heart is one of the serious complications of rheumatism 

 which generally, sooner or later, causes the death of the 

 animal. 



Acute rheumatism has been conjectured to depend upon 

 the presence of lactic acid in the blood.* 



* " The acid properties of the perspiration, as manifested even by its 

 peculiar smell — of the saliva, as tested by litmus paper — of the urine, as 



