PREVENTION, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT I73 



Symptoms.— The disease is impossible to diagnose by symp- 

 toms alone. Suggestive symptoms are the passage of small quanti- 

 ties of urine which is often dark or pink, and thicker and more 

 turbid than usual; an arching or stiffness of the back with dis- 

 inclination to move and stiff, straddling or staggering gait behind, 

 with tenderness over the kidneys on pressure; loss of appetite; 

 edema of dependant parts and ascites; and finally vomiting (in 

 dogs), staggering, stupor, mania or convulsions (uremia). 



Albuminuria and casts are confirmatory of nephritis, but these 

 are sometimes absent in the disease, and again may be present in 

 the absence of acute nephritis. The abnormal color and scanty 

 amount of urine with high specific gravity (at first), in the course 

 of an acute infection, are of more value than>a chemical and micro- 

 scopic examination of the urine for diagnosis. 



Treatment. — Prevention is to be attempted by the avoidance of 

 draughts and the use of warm covering on animals with acute in- 

 fections; by restriction of diet and securing activity of the bowels 

 and skin by enforcing complete rest in these diseases. Absolutely 

 to withhold both food and drink for the first few days is of prime 

 importance in acute nephritis to rest the kidneys. Afterwards the 

 diet should be sloppy — milk for dogs; green food and mashes for 

 large animals, with milk. A strong purge — an aloes ball for a 

 horse, Glauber's salts for cattle, compound jalap powder (3ss-i) 

 for dogs — should be given at the very beginning. Hot blankets 

 over the whole body, or a warm pack or sheepskin over the loins, 

 are beneficial. Drugs are not of much value and all irritants — 

 turpentine, saltpetre, etc. — should be avoided. Marked hematuria 

 may be treated with fluidextract of ergot (H., §i; D., 3i), thrice 

 daily. To increase elimination through the saliva and skin, pilo- 

 carpine hydrochloride (M., gr. ii; C, gr. vii; D., gr. 1/15 to %) 

 may be injected under the skin in single doses as required. To off- 

 set the danger of pulmonary edema and depression of the heart 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



