22 



Circular 338, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



very poisonous if it gets into the lungs ; if the capsule breaks in the 

 mouth the drug usually gets into the lungs and may kill the dog. 

 Purgation may be omitted, but it is better to give a purgative than 

 to omit it. To avoid the bad effects sometimes observed in highly 

 susceptible animals a stomach tube may be used to administer the 

 treatment; the carbon tetrachloride is poured down the tube and 

 follovred immediately by a fluid ounce (30 cubic centimeters) of a 

 saturated solution of Epsom salt. The animal's mouth is held open 

 with a speculum of some sort while the tube is passed into the 

 stomach and the drugs poured in. Care must be taken that the 

 tube does not get into the windpipe, as the drug 

 will prove promptly fatal if j)oured into the 

 lungs. Dry Epsom salt or Glauber's salt may be 

 given in capsules if the carbon tetrachloride is 

 given in capsules. 



This treatment should be given in the morn- 

 ing, the animal being kept without food over- 

 night and no food given for three hours after 

 treatment. Fats, oils, and cream should be ex- 

 cluded from the diet; a carboh^^drate diet ap- 

 parently adds to the safety of the treatment. 

 In order to aid the action of the purgative the 

 dog should be allowed to run about in a yard 

 after treatment, and if the bowels do not move 

 in the course of three or four hours, another close 

 of salts should be given. Salts in solution may be 

 given as a drench to dogs, but as a solution of 

 salts sometimes causes them to vomit, partly be- 

 cause they object to its taste, it is best adminis- 

 tered by stomach tube. Ordinarily treatments 

 for worms should not be given to pups until 

 they are weaned, but as a rule pups two weeks 

 old or older may be given carbon tetrachloride 

 with safety. It is advisable to diminish the dose 

 rate for pups; one drop (not one minim) per 

 pound of weight of animal is a dose rate com- 

 monly used for pups. Animals Avith severe in- 

 flammation of the digestive tract appear to be 

 bad risks for this treatment as for most anthel- 

 mintic treatments. In connection with the 

 treatment, the same preventiA^e measures given for ascarids should 

 be employed. 



WHIPWORM INFESTATION 



Caiise. — The whipworm, Trichiris rulpis (synonym: T. depres- 

 siuscula), is so named because of its resemblance to a tiny whip 

 (fig. 21), the short, thick posterior portion of the body forming the 

 handle and the slender, anterior portion, which is about three times 

 as long, forming the lash. They are from 1.8 to 3 inches (4.5 to 7.4 

 centimeters) long. The eggs (fig. 22) produced by the female worms 

 are lemon-shaped, with a knob at each pole. These worms are very 

 common in dogs in the United States. 



The worm eggs pass in the feces and an embryo develops in each 

 egg. As a rule this development is slow, usually requiring several 

 months. When eggs containing these infective embryo worms are 



Fig. 21. — The dog whip- 

 wonn. Trichiiris vitl- 

 pis. Male. Enlarjied. 

 From Fiebiger, 1912 



