DECAYED TEBTH— TEMPBEATUKS AND PULSK. J27 



Generally speaking, the teeth do not receive any attention until 

 they decay, and cause pain or stomach trouble. Preventative 

 measures are in my experience seldom taken, though it is quite as 

 necessary for a dog to have clean teeth, as it is for ourselves. 



The teeth especially require attention in the case of dogs which 

 are fed upon an unsuitable diet, as they become furred, and finally 

 accumulations of tartar exist. To avoid this they should be gone 

 over once a day with an ordinary tooth-brush, dipped into weak 

 Condy's Fluid. This will not only prevent decay, but also keep 

 the breath sweet, a most important matter where the dog is one's 

 constant companion. Foetid breath, however, is not always wholly 

 due to the teeth, but to indigestion as a result of their condition ; 

 at times, too, especially when the teeth are irregular, food accumu- 

 lates between them ; this should be removed with the brush. That 

 dogs are frequently the subject of toothache cannot be doubted, 

 and is clearly shown by the swelling of the cheek, and often by the 

 formation of abscesses. All decayed teeth that are past preserving 

 should be extracted by a competent person. 



TEMFEBATUIKE AND PULSE. — As indications of 

 health or departure from the normal state the temperature and the 

 moisture or dryness of the nose — the integument forming the walls 

 of the nostrils — are very delicate iadicators, but, if I may say so, 

 they tell too much, and are too general, and do not enable us to 

 discriminate. When the nose is di-y and hot, we know the dog is out 

 of sorts, but we have to search for other symptoms to determine 

 what is the matter. The pulse and general temperature are important 

 aids to diagnosis far too much neglected. 



The first thing a medical man does when he visits a patient is to 

 feel the pulse, and if there is a suspicion of fever of any kind, the 

 temperature of the body is carefully taken ; this course, if followed 

 with the dog, would assist the owner in treating his animal in all 

 inflammatory and febrile cases, such as distemper. 



The pulse in the dog varies from 90 to 100 beats per minute, the 

 heart's action being quicker in highly bred, nervous dogs, such as 

 some strains of setters and pointers, and some of the finely bred toys. 

 For tliis reason the owner should make himself acquainted with the 

 pulse and temperature of his dog in health, in order that he may be 

 able at once to detect departure from the normal state. The pulse 

 can be felt inside the knee, but, especially io small dogs, it is better 

 to count the heart-beats. If the left fore leg is held up so that the 

 elbow is slightly bent, the point of it will indicate the place where 

 the hand should be held flat over it. 



The temperature is gauged by inserting an ordinary clinical 



