124 THE DISEASES OP THE DOG. 



improve his digestion ; but these bones are to be given 

 unbroken, and sharp fish bones are liable to cause trouble 

 with toy dogs ; the occasional feed of bones ought to be 

 de rigueur. 



DISEASES OF THE INTESTINES: Enteritis.— True 

 inflammation of the bowels is more frequent in the dog than 

 in the horse ; although by some authorities it is said to be 

 "very common/' this cannot be considered correct, but the 

 result of opinion based on imperfect diagnosis ; essentially 

 there is a certain amount of gastritis in these cases. The 

 muscular coat of the bowel is the main seat of disorder, 

 and this accounts for obstinate torpidity of the bowels being 

 a very marked symptom. The most frequent causes of 

 enteritis are impaction, intussusception, or some form of 

 strangulation of the bowels. Next in importance to these 

 rank irritant poisonous substances, and it is said that 

 exposure to cold, as from lying through the night on a 

 bed of wet straw or on damp earth, exposure to a cutting 

 wind when the coat has recently been removed, over- 

 exertion, and other such deleterious influences act as 

 causes. Mayhew has noticed that it is very frequent as 

 a result of maltreatment of cases of mange by excessively 

 powerful stimulants. 



Symptoms. — So urgent is the distress in these cases, and 

 so altered the general behaviour of the animal, that they 

 have been mistaken for rabies, especially as the eyes are 

 very red, the voice is altered by pain, and paralysis sets in 

 in the later stages of the attack. Fever commences with a 

 shivering fit and then seems very high ; there is obstinate 

 and continuous abdominal pain, and the animal cries with 

 agony when the belly is pressed upon, yet he may gently 

 press this part against the ground in the hope to find ease. 

 Generally, however, he runs away to some dark quiet 

 place and lies flat on his side panting and crying. 

 On manipulation the belly is found to be hot, and the 

 animal is likely to snap when it is pressed upon. No 

 faeces is passed and the urine is generally very scanty 

 and high coloured. There is a hardness and smallness 

 about the pulse, and the tail is carried pressed down over 



