AILMENTS AND ILLNESSES
=Anaemia=--a condition of general depression in health, with
impoverishment of the blood--is of all serious diseases the most common
among dogs. It is this condition that causes dogs to have worms; it is
this deficiency in the blood supply, both in quantity and quality, which
brings about ninety out of every hundred cases of skin disease. The
original cause of the disease in toy dogs was the way in which they
were, and unfortunately often still are, kept, fed, and housed. A number
of dogs kept together in some artificially-heated building, confined in
small pens, obliged to breathe impure air, and fed on Indian meal,
biscuits, oatmeal, and other cereals, with little or no meat--this is
kennel life, and a splendid foundation for anaemia. We all know how worms
and eczema and other skin troubles beset toys kept "in kennels," but not
until the knowledge has caused people to give up keeping them thus, and
handing on hereditary eczema and hereditarily vitiated blood to their
puppies, shall we get rid of the inherited tendency to poverty of blood
which makes so many toy dogs possessions of anxiety rather than sources
of satisfaction to their owners.
If a law could be passed obliging all dogs to receive a suitable daily
allowance of good, fresh, underdone meat, and abolishing farinaceous
feeding altogether, even for five years, it is not too much to say that
at the end of this time eczma in its more common forms would have died
out, worms be the infrequent exception rather than the rule, and
"distemper" would have ceased to be a thing of terror.
It is extraordinary how ignorant educated people, otherwise well
informed, can show themselves on this subject. I have repeatedly
received letters in which, after detailing a diet of milk puddings,
oatmeal porridge, vegetables, bread and gravy, and so on, the writer
gravely adds the assurance--"But I have never given a farinaceous diet!"
Green vegetables and such starchy vegetables as potatoes are absolutely
useless to dogs, and so indigestible as only to rank second to absolute
poisons, like carrots and turnips. No dog can get the mineral salts
necessary to healthy blood out of oatmeal, Indian corn meal, or any
other meal, nor out of a little iron-hard, dried gristle or some similar
substance, such as appears in some so-called "meat" foods. It can only
get these substances out of its natural and proper food--meat. Puppies
fed on meat from the time their teeth can bite it do not have anaemia,
and are consequently free from skin trouble: their blood is rich and
pure, and they do not harbour worms. I only ask any reader who doubts
these statements to try the very simple experiment of separating a
litter at seven weeks, and feeding half the pups on meat, of course
varied, cut up small, and given in moderate quantity three times, and
subsequently twice, a day, with a very small proportion of wheaten
flour-stuff given merely as a treat and variety, in the form of small
sweet biscuits or sponge cake, to afford the needful bulk to the meals.
No gravy, milk, vegetables, nor any liquid but water to be given. The
other pups in the litter can be fed on the old, artificial, unnatural
plan of constant, large, sloppy meals of milk food. If the conditions
are otherwise equal--plenty of fun, sunshine, and exercise being
given--the difference between the two sets of pups will probably be
quite sufficiently marked to uphold my argument, with the further
addition that the meat-fed puppies will be found a good deal less
objectionable in the house before their education begins, and infinitely
easier to train, than their brethren on farinaceous diet.
In cases of anaemia, as shown by skin trouble, bareness round the eyes,
poor or capricious appetite, languor, unpleasant breath, thinness, and a
general look of unthriftiness, a liberal meat diet is the first
essential, and plenty of fresh air--not necessarily hard exercise, for
which the patient is generally unfit--the next. A tonic is always
desirable, and iron the most suitable. There are several forms of this
useful drug. Reduced iron can be given in very small dosage; sulphate of
iron is cheap and useful in pill form: both of these have a tendency to
constipate. The saccharated carbonate of iron is a beautiful preparation
that does not constipate--is, indeed, a little laxative in action. It is
a powder, tasteless except for sweetness, and will be taken readily
enough if sprinkled on meat, or it can be made into pills with the
addition of a tonic bitter, as in the form of the Kanofelin tonic pills.
It is the most expensive of the forms of iron, but that is not saying
much, as all are absurdly low in price. The dose for a toy is from two
to four grains twice a day, in, or immediately after, food. Cod liver
oil is a useful medicine in bad cases of anaemia, especially where, by
reason of having or having inherited, this habit of body, a long-haired
toy is always poor in coat. Some dogs never grow coats, merely because
they have not the strength to do so, and others inherit sparseness of
hair. But if there is any hair in reserve, a course of cod liver oil
will help it on, and better far than plain cod liver oil is its
preparation with malt. Cheap cod liver oil, however, is horrid, and
should never be given. It will only act as a purgative, and be worse
than useless. Nor should a dog ever be forced to take this substance if
he has a dislike to it. But if the anaemic, scantily-coated patient will
take it readily, a teaspoonful of some good brand of cod liver oil and
malt extract, besides three grains of saccharated carbonate of iron
twice a day, with meat diet, will make a most marvellously different dog
of him in six weeks' or two months' time.
It is quite useless to give any tonic for a week or ten days, or
irregularly. It must be given for a long time and with perfect
regularity, or it does no good whatever: it must have time to be
absorbed into the system, to permeate it, and be taken up by the blood.
=Bad Teeth.=--The existence of canker in dogs' teeth is generally
another consequence of bad rearing and farinaceous feeding. Meat-fed
pups, from meat-fed parents, have conspicuously good sound teeth,
whereas among kennelled dogs it is not at all uncommon to find specimens
of mouths cankered throughout, and this condition is certainly sometimes
transmitted to the offspring. The teeth look deep yellow, or brown, the
dental enamel is soft, and in bad cases they drop out. The gums are soft
and spongy and pale. The disease being constitutional, little or nothing
can be done to arrest the decay of the teeth, which luckily seems
painless. The dog should be carefully fed on the most nutritious
underdone meat, and the mouth may be washed out daily with a very weak
solution of permanganate of potash: just enough of the crystals to tinge
warm water pink being used. The best way to perform this little
operation--one to which most dogs object very strongly--is to get
someone to hold the head, with the nose pointing downwards, over a
basin, and to introduce the nozzle of a gutta-percha ball syringe
between the lips at the back of one side, letting it enter that spot in
the jaw where there is a hiatus between the lower teeth. Two or three
squeezes of the ball will then wash out the mouth pretty effectually.
This cankered condition of dogs' teeth may be brought about by the
absorption of mercury into the system. A dog which had been troubled
with very obstinate recurrent eczema, known to be inherited from
ill-reared parents, was apparently cured as by magic when sent to a
veterinary surgeon, who dressed him all over with mercurial ointment.
The improvement in his condition continued for about three months, when
it was discovered that he ate with difficulty. His mouth being examined,
the teeth, previously sound, were found to be like so much dark,
yellow-brown leather, and the gums sore. The next development was in the
form of a cancerous growth in the posterior nares, and so the poor
animal died, a victim to a cruel "fate," for which the surgeon had
obtained the credit of a cure. Such cases are not at all uncommon.
=Dental Caries=, such as affects our own teeth when they decay and have
to be stopped, occasionally, though luckily not often, distresses dogs.
They may bruise the dental pulp inside a tooth by biting very hard on a
bone, or by playing too roughly, and more especially by carrying stones,
a very bad practice. The only thing to be done is generally to extract
the tooth under chloroform, since it is difficult to find dog-dentists
who will stop a decayed tooth. A dog with toothache, rubbing his face on
the ground and crying, is a pitiable sight.
=Abscesses between or on the Toes= are a form of eczema, and should be
treated constitutionally, as suggested under the heading of Anaemia,
eczema's usual cause. Dogs will worry these sores, and must be prevented
from doing so by having the foot encased in a sock made of strong washed
calico, tied round the leg with tape. Before putting on the sock, dress
the sore with iodoform powder or zinc ointment.
=Docking Puppies.=--Being docked is not an ailment nor an illness, but
as a very sad conclusion may be put to a valuable pup's life by the
operation carelessly performed, it is as well to say a word about it.
Docking should never be left until the eyes open and the nervous system
is fully organized. At such an age it is a piece of gross cruelty and
the risk of haemorrhage is enormously increased. Unless puppies are very
weakly, they should be docked at five days old at latest. Happy is the
owner whose Poms or Pugs require no such improvement! The Schipperke
owner has been especially commiserated or vituperated, as the case might
be, but as a matter of fact there is, in the hands of a competent
surgeon, used to operate on these and other dogs, not one iota more risk
or more pain or more difficulty than in dealing with a terrier. Docking
should be done by a skilled veterinary surgeon, with proper antiseptic
precautions. His hands and the strong scissors used are first made
thoroughly antiseptic by washing in carbolic or some other antiseptic
solution, and the operation can be done without the pup's losing any
blood at all to speak of. The wounds are dressed with iodoform powder
and tannic acid powder, mixed, and in one hour the mother, who should be
sent out for a walk while the surgeon is in the house, will be admitted
to them, and they will be sucking as if nothing had happened.
Occasionally, owing to some idiosyncrasy of the individual, a puppy may
bleed after docking, and therefore a careful watch must always be kept.
If there is any haemorrhage, bathe with very cold water in which alum has
been dissolved, and apply a styptic, as tannic acid or perchloride of
iron. But it is always well to ask the operator to remain for an hour or
so, until all risk is over. The blood vessels very quickly seal up at
their ends (to use untechnical language), and the tongue of the mother,
when re-admitted after the necessary interval, will do no harm. Though
docking is neither dangerous nor cruel when properly done on puppies so
young that they have little or no sensation in their undeveloped nerves,
it is a barbarism to let any ignorant person, as a groom or coachman, do
it; and the dog owner who will not sacrifice her own possible repugnance
sufficiently to co-operate with the skilled surgeon in seeing it
properly done, at least owes it as a duty to her dumb dependents to pay
him to take all reasonable care, and bring an assistant to hold them,
and stay until they are quite safe and comfortable.
=Bilious Attacks.=--A slight chill, in east-windy times of year, or from
any undue exposure to cold, will sometimes bring on a liver attack in
dogs, while some are habitually subject to sick-headache after the
manner of their owners. A bilious dog shivers, looks miserable, brings
up a little yellow liquid or some froth, after a good deal of retching,
and refuses to eat. Such an attack is always easy to diagnose, because
the nose remains, as a rule, cold and moist, while there is no rise in
temperature. The same symptoms, with feverishness, would probably mean
commencing serious illness, necessitating skilled advice; but without
rise of temperature are not important, unless they resist treatment and
continue for longer than about twelve hours. The patient should be kept
warm, covered up before the fire if the weather is severe, and given a
soft pill of three grains of carbonate of bismuth and one grain of
bicarbonate of soda, every four hours, until appetite returns.
=Loss of appetite= is a symptom which should never be disregarded. It
may be quite right for the owners of sporting dogs to use the phrase so
frequently heard: "Oh, if he won't eat, he's better without it," but
want of appetite in a toy dog should never be a matter of indifference
to the owner. It may, of course, arise only from previous over-eating,
and over-fed dogs are certainly subject to bilious attacks which do not
call for much sympathy; but it is always desirable to assure oneself
that nothing more serious is the matter before dismissing the subject.
In cases where loss of appetite is the precursor and accompaniment of
illness, as in distemper, it would be most unwise to leave the dog to
itself, and by allowing it to go without food, pull down the vitality
and give the disease a firmer hold. As a general rule, a dog may be
allowed to miss one meal without much anxiety; but, if a second is
refused, inquisition should be made, and the temperature be taken,
without loss of time. A clinical thermometer is a most useful adjunct in
the dog-room, and any temperature over 100 degs. or 101 degs.--the
former the dog's normal one--is suspicious. The easiest way of taking it
is by inserting the instrument between the thigh and the body, and, as
it were, holding these together, over it. Puppies will often refuse food
simply because their gums are sore from teething, and here, again, it
would be extremely foolish to let them go on in a state of
semi-starvation. When a puppy is seen to pick up his food with his front
teeth, shake each piece, and turn it over indifferently, it is a pretty
sure sign that he cannot eat comfortably; if the natural process of
cutting the teeth is in fault, all that need be done is to give minced
meat and soft though dry food--a sponge cake will nearly always be
willingly negotiated--and keep a watch to see that he gets enough to
maintain him in good condition and pull him through the critical time;
if, as is sometimes the case with an older dog, a too-lingering first
tooth is setting up irritation and needs extracting, the vet's services
must be requisitioned, as it is not advisable for any amateur to try his
hand at canine dentistry. The main characteristic of the "new" or
Stuttgart disease, or of gastritis, by the way, is inability to take
food, the mouth being ulcerated, in addition to stomach complications;
and here, again, commencing loss of appetite must be regarded with
suspicion. Simple biliousness is not common among properly-fed dogs, but
is sometimes brought on in individuals by what I may be so technically
medical as to call idiosyncrasy--to wit, inability to digest certain
foods. Many toy dogs cannot eat vegetables, which of course are to all
unnatural and very indigestible, and others are invariably sick if they
are given milk, and the dog can no more help these peculiarities than
human beings similarly afflicted. Biliousness, brought on either by
over-eating, a chill on the liver, or some unsuitable food, is easily
recognized, and here abstinence for a while _is_ advisable. The patient
will be chilly, probably having cold paws, and may be sick several
times, producing only a little yellow froth; most dogs eat grass and
soon feel better, requiring no medicine; but if appetite does not return
quickly, give a bismuth-and-soda pill every four hours, the proportion
being three grains of bicarbonate of soda to one grain of carbonate of
bismuth.
=Indigestion= is by no means uncommon among toy dogs, and frequently
leads to the odious habit of eating horrible things in the street, about
which dog owners sometimes complain, and with reason. The presence of
worms leads up to this habit, too, and where it exists they may be first
suspected; and then, if their existence is disproved, indigestion comes
in as the likely factor. Its treatment is not difficult, but the owner
must make up her mind to persevere, and to feed her dog herself--no
servant, no matter how careful, possesses judgment enough to deal with a
case of this kind. Absolute regularity in feeding is necessary; the
meals must be small, yet very nourishing, and the dog should not be
allowed to drink immediately after eating. A digestive tonic containing
nux vomica is almost invariably useful, but it is not a medicine which
can be prescribed at large, for nux vomica is in itself a dangerous
drug, and acts much more freely upon some dogs than upon others, making
it most unwise to prescribe "so much" for all dogs alike. With this
proviso, I will give a prescription intended for a Yorkshire terrier
weighing about 6 lbs., which may be safely tried upon toys between 5
lbs. and 8 lbs. weight, the quantity of this particular ingredient being
reduced by one-half for dogs between 4 lbs. and 5 lbs. and by two-thirds
for toy puppies, upon whom its administration must be watched with extra
vigilance: Rx pulv. nucis vom., 1/2 gr.; pulv. radix gentianae, 1 gr.;
carb. bismuthi, 4 grs.; bicarb, sodii, 1-1/2 grs.; ferri carb. sacch., 3
grs. M. H. D. Exhib. cum cib. bis vel ter die. A pill somewhat similar,
but in some respects superior to this, is sold as one of the Kanofelin
remedies.
The symptom of too great susceptibility to the action of strychnine (nux
vomica) will be, in bold language, twitching and nervousness, and where
these are observed to follow a dose it must be diminished or stopped
altogether, and in this latter case the powder without the first
ingredient may be tried.
=Disagreeable Breath and Eructation.=--Beta-naphthol, given in pills
containing 1/2 gr. each, is a valuable drug in cases of indigestion
where eructation and disagreeable breath are noticeable. For toys under
5 lbs. 1/4 gr. pills must be given; one pill in either case to be given
about ten minutes after each meal. The effect of the drug is simply to
check the fermentation of the food and the consequent formation of foul
gases in the stomach. Where this form of indigestion is accompanied by
diarrhoea, salol may be given instead of naphthol, in the same doses;
but it and naphthol do not suit all dogs alike, though neither can do
any harm, and if the patient is sick after a dose, the sign has been
given that marks the treatment as unsuitable to his individuality. As in
the case of human patients, the dog doctor may have to try several
methods of treatment before he hits upon the cure. Pills are often
troublesome to give, which fault cannot be found with powdered vegetable
charcoal, to which few dogs make any objection when it is sprinkled upon
their food and lightly covered with a few tiny bits of something very
dainty; but where the owner prefers to give medicine apart from the
food, enclosure of powder in a capsule is always practicable. A simple
and tasteless powder is included among the Kanofelin Remedies, and may
always have a trial, given with the food, in cases of indigestion.
=The Bad Doer.=--Want of appetite for no particular reason, except
general debility of the stomach, is the annoying characteristic of the
kennel-man's horror--the "bad doer," who is characterised by thinness
and bad coat. Here and there we find a thin little dog that nothing
will fatten; hardly ever hungry, and dainty to the distraction of his
owner; a dog who will not eat in a strange place or from an unusual
plate, and who only grows the thinner and more miserable for what he
_does_ eat. He is an unenviable possession, but we must make the best of
him, coax him with small and frequent meals, for he will often accept a
teaspoonful of raw meat minced, or a tablespoonful of cream, where he
would not even look at an ordinary dog's meal, and get him up as well as
we can for show with a daily new-laid egg, beaten up in a very little
milk, and that useful and valuable dog-owner's aid, cod liver oil and
malt. Most dogs will take this with a little tempting meat to help it
down. Of course it must not be pushed at first, but given, to begin
with, in very small doses, and gradually increased until our usefully
typical 6 lb. dog is taking a full teaspoonful twice a day. It is a
wonderful hair producer. Cod liver oil alone, without the malt, is of
much less use, and cheap preparations of either or both are to be
sternly avoided; in the nature of things, such a medicine cannot be
cheap, if it is to be thoroughly good. And here, I may remark, that
because we are _only_ dealing with a dog is no reason why we should put
cheap drugs of any kind into him. His system is just as beautiful and
delicate in its balance as that of a human being, though his teeth and
his digestion may be stronger--such is not invariably the case by any
means--and the administration of impure or adulterated medicine is just
as great a cruelty to it as to the human machinery. To give a toy dog
crude cod liver oil, imperfectly purified, because it is cheap, is like
expecting to do fine carving upon oak with a hatchet, because it _is_
oak and not satin-wood.
=Internal Parasites.=--In no case has modern progress in knowledge
disclosed more fallacies, held formerly as firm beliefs, than where the
internal parasites--which for our present purpose, this being only a
popular manual, may be classed as tape-worms and round worms--of the
dog are concerned. Only a few years ago, if a dog suffered from skin
disease in any one of its several forms, "worms" were at once cited as
the cause. Now we know--or rather, those among us know, who either have
some understanding of canine anatomy and physiology or will take the
word of the scientist for it--that worms cause nothing: they are not a
cause, but an effect. They are a symptom of anaemia; and as skin trouble
almost invariably accompanies any severe degree of anaemia in dogs, skin
trouble and worms are usually found together. We cannot, therefore, cure
dogs of harbouring worms by giving expellent doses, no matter how
glowingly advertised and boomed, of the various irritant drugs which act
as vermifuges. We can only by this means temporarily drive out the
enemy, which is certain to return, because the conditions prevailing in
an anaemic intestine suit it perfectly, and encourage its increase,
whereas in the healthy intestine it more or less shares the fate of food
on being digested, and is incapable of rapid or sustained increase. The
effect of an anaemic or vitiated condition of the blood-supply to the
villi, or, in non-scientific language, digesting pores which exist all
over the mucoid lining of the intestinal tract, is to prevent their
throwing out those strong juices or digestive fluids which they normally
produce. Their secretions are altered and weakened, and have no
injurious effect on the parasites, which then increase rapidly. When,
therefore, it becomes evident, by the appearance of short
yellowish-white segments, generally about an inch long, and varying in
breadth from a mere line to about a quarter of an inch, dropped about by
a dog, that tape-worm exists; or it is seen by his vomiting them up or
otherwise, that he has round worms, which somewhat resemble earth-worms,
what we have to do is to alter that condition of the general health
which allows these pests to exist. In brief, we have to treat the dog
for anaemia, which subject has been already discussed. It is, of course,
occasionally possible for a healthy, meat-fed dog to become
accidentally infected by swallowing tape-worm ova, and in such a case a
few of the parasites may be harboured for a considerable time, not
increasing, but now and then making their presence manifest. Infection
is possible by the swallowing of fleas, which are intermediate hosts of
tape-worm, or by eating the insides of rabbits, which usually swarm with
these creatures, or, in the opinion of some authorities, by sniffing the
ova up through the nasal passages and subsequently swallowing them. As,
however, one cannot always be certain that the apparently healthy dog is
not a trifle below par, it is always well to treat him with a course of
iron, giving the powders or tonic pills advised for anaemia for a month,
and at the expiration of that period, when the system is toned up so
that the worms' position is almost untenable, and their expulsion will
be final, one or two vermifuge doses may be given. All sorts of quack
remedies have been praised and boomed as infallible, but many are
exceedingly drastic, and some positively dangerous. Areca nut, so
frequently advised, is a most violent irritant, actually poisonous in
its effects on young puppies, and a very cruel remedy in all cases.
Wormseed oil, an American preparation, possibly from one of the inulas,
a family of plants known in English gardens, is sometimes an ingredient;
also such highly unsuitable, inert, useless, or dangerous substances as
sulphate of magnesia, salt, or cowhage, with strong doses of santonine,
a drug that should never be given in unknown quantity. A violent
purgative action often accompanies these secret remedies, adding to
their danger. The intelligent dog owner should know what he is giving,
and to some extent understand its action; but in a country where quack,
much-advertised medicines are largely given to children, I suppose it
will be difficult to prevent their being also administered to dogs. In
any case, no worm medicine whatever, of any sort or kind, other than an
iron tonic, should be given to young puppies, no known drug possessing a
stronger action than iron upon the parasites being safe for toy pups
under three months old. After that age it is safe to give very small
doses of oil of male-fern and absolutely minute ones of santonine. These
are best combined in a capsule, in which form they can be given without
distressing the patient, and a perfectly safe capsule after this formula
is, among the Kanofelin remedies--which are not secret, but are
compounded after recognised formulae, and equally suitable for dogs or
children in the purity of their drugs and safety of their action. If any
of the popular advertised remedies are used for adults, experiment
should be made at first with much smaller doses than are cited, and
safety thus assured, for a microscopic dose will often act quite
severely enough for the toy dog owner's purpose, and dogs are as
variously sensitive to drug action as we ourselves.
In very young puppies the bringing up by the mouth of round worms is not
at all unusual, especially when they are pups born of "kennel" parents,
dogs crowded together in numbers, insufficiently fed (although possibly
upon an excessive quantity of oatmeal and Indian corn meal), denied
meat, and leading a completely unnatural life in every respect. It is
rather a shock to an amateur when this occurs, but as a rule little
anxiety need be felt, for if the puppy is properly fed upon small dry
meals of a very digestible and nourishing nature, say two tablespoonfuls
of good underdone rump-steak, or the same quantity of roast mutton,
three times a day for a dog the size of a pug, and given a one-grain
dose of iron with two of these meals, he will be pretty sure to grow out
of his troubles. In any such case great attention must be paid to
keeping up the strength of the patient, in order to tide him over the
time when by reason of youth and his very tender little stomach, it is
impossible to give him any stronger medicine with safety.
Extreme thinness and loss of coat are sometimes attributed to that
wonderful power worms, in old-fashioned eyes, possessed. Both of these
symptoms are those of an anaemic condition, as is foetor of the breath.
Finally, the treatment of that over-rated bugbear in the way of
diseases, "Worms," is easily summarised thus--Meat feeding; an iron
tonic; a vermifuge after the tonic course, and not before.
After male-fern capsules it is quite unnecessary to give any aperient.
Most inventors of "worm pills" and the like order castor oil to be given
after their boluses, a terrible aggravation both to operator and
patient.
=Aperients.=--Some people have an idea that it is desirable to dose dogs
periodically, on the quaint old "spring-medicine" principle, extended
over all the year. No greater mistake can be made. A dog should never be
given drugs of any kind unless really ill, and this it will never be in
the direction indicated, if it is properly fed and regularly exercised.
A dog's natural and proper food is meat; but the stimulus of distension
must be given to the intestine by adding some bulk of innutritious food
to the meat. We cannot give quite enough meat to afford this stimulus
constantly, because by doing so we should overload the system. In a
state of nature dogs ate the fur and skins of their prey, like other
carnivora: now we must give them a certain proportion, but only a small
one, of biscuits made of wheat (not of oatmeal or Indian corn meal,
which are too indigestible) or of brown bread, to provide bulk without
nourishment. They may, if any aperient be absolutely necessary, have a
meal of boiled liver, a teaspoonful or two of pure olive oil poured over
a little meat, or given from a spoon, or some cod liver oil, which may
be voluntarily taken, and is equally efficacious. Milk is very laxative,
and sometimes, where there is no biliousness, a small saucerful makes a
good aperient. Always take a dog for his run at the same time of day,
wet or fine, and never lose sight of the fact that a well-behaved clean
little house-pet may bring upon itself a dangerous attack of
constipation by its good manners if its appeal for a walk is ignored.
Illustration: TYPICAL JAPANESE SPANIEL.
=Distemper.=--As a matter of actual fact, there is no such disease as
distemper. There are two diseases, or two groups of diseases, both more
or less contagious, which, for want of skilled diagnosis, are
indifferently so named, but their popular designation is so firmly
rooted that "distemper" will be with us to the end of the chapter, and
so long as the disease is properly treated it matters little whether we
call it bronchial catarrh, gastro-enteritis, typhoid, or distemper.
Perhaps, in a manual not intended for the learned, it will be most
useful, as it is certainly most simple, and, I think, practical, to
speak of "two forms of distemper," since the chest and lung diseases of
the dog all call for one sort of home treatment, and the more ordinary
diseases of the intestinal tract can with safety be lumped together as
needing another fairly uniform style of treatment. Further than this the
non-medical dog owner is not wise to venture, since it is quite as
necessary that a canine patient should have skilled advice as that it
should be called in for his master--that is, if his recovery is desired.
Roughly speaking, then, there are two kinds of distemper--that which
affects the nose, throat, and chest, and in slight cases may pass as
being only a very bad cold, and that which affects the intestinal canal,
involving the whole alimentary system. This latter is certainly the more
troublesome for an amateur to treat, and decidedly the more fatal; but,
fortunately, the former is the more common. It is very easy to tell when
a dog is the subject of distemper in the catarrhal form, and when in
this state he is, I think, much more likely to do well if carefully
nursed at home; but in the typhoid form it requires skilled nursing to
do the case justice, and the physical conditions are such that if--it is
a big "if"--the right sort of vet can be found, the dog has a better
chance with him.
The symptoms of catarrhal distemper are shivering,
feverishness--temperature generally not very high at first, but a degree
or two over the normal--profuse discharge from the eyes and nose, and,
in short, all those of a bad, feverish cold; and the treatment may be
exactly that which we should give a child under the same circumstances.
The great thing, in both forms, is to keep up the strength from the very
beginning; this is far more important than giving medicine of any kind,
and if the patient will not eat, he should be given food forcibly. I do
not by this mean that a large quantity of food should be forced upon the
unwilling animal; he should have about two teaspoonfuls of some invalid
nourishment every two hours, and this should be as varied as possible,
and kept as sweet and dainty as if for a human patient. A raw egg beaten
up with the smallest possible quantity of milk; a little good beef-tea,
made by cutting lean, raw beef into small cubes, and slowly drawing all
the goodness out of it in an earthenware jar, tightly covered, in the
oven, only two tablespoonfuls of water to the pound of meat being
added; veal broth similarly made; arrowroot, with a few drops of the
juice of raw meat added; strong chicken tea, with a little rice boiled
in it and strained out--all these may be rung upon for change. Some dogs
will eat solid food all through the disease, and this simplifies matters
immensely. Where there is no appetite, liquids or semi-liquids must be
given. Concentrated foods and other invalid preparations, though useful
on occasion, very soon pall and sicken the patient, and while it saves
trouble to use things like this, they have not the same effect in
keeping up the strength as good, honest home-cookery. The necessity for
thus dieting and feeding is the same in either form of distemper, and
the dog must not be left all night without attention, but fed at
intervals then also. Warmth and evenness of temperature come next in
importance. A little flannel jacket or cross-over, made of thick, new
flannel, is as good as poultices, and should be put, and kept, on well
into convalescence, when, of course, it must not be left off too
suddenly. I do not say anything about medicine, actual poulticing, etc.,
because a distemper patient, in view of the complications which are
always apt to arise in this disease, should be nursed under skilled
veterinary direction. I only insist on the need for feeding up and
warmth.
Distemper patients cannot go out of doors, in cold weather, unless there
is to be no regard to the great risk they run in such a change of
temperature; therefore, as soon as the disease declares itself, it is
well to settle the patient somewhere where a tray of earth can be
provided, absolute quiet maintained, and an even warmth kept up, and
here let the disease run its course.
Relapses from distemper are even more serious than the first attack, and
they are very apt to occur where the patient is allowed to go out, or
move about too soon or too much. Stimulants--brandy and port wine--are
very useful where the weakness is great, and champagne will often be
kept down where water or broth would be rejected.
The "new" disease, commonly called the Stuttgart disease, which has
created so much excitement among dog owners during the last year or two,
and is of the nature of gastritis, or inflammation of the lining
membrane of the stomach, spreading upwards and downwards, calls in some
ways for quite a different treatment to that of the typhoid form of
distemper. They are alike in this: that a teaspoonful or so of iced
champagne or iced soda and milk, will sometimes be retained where
nothing else will, but in gastric catarrh, or gastritis, the patient
must not be allowed to drink water, or to make the slightest exertion.
It may, perhaps, be as well to state what, I suppose, is not yet known
to all dog owners--namely, the fact that it is by no means a necessity
for a toy, or any other dog for that matter, to have distemper. Like
scarlet fever in the human subject, distemper may occur in a dog's life,
or may not. The child takes scarlet fever if it has been in the way of
infection, and the dog distemper if the contagion has been conveyed to
it either by some person who has been near an affected dog, by that dog
itself, or by some article on which infected discharges of any kind have
been deposited.
The one quarrel we all have with shows is that they certainly offer
opportunities of spreading distemper to people who do not consider its
existence in their kennels a sufficient reason for withholding entries,
and carry the contagion with them, although the dogs they exhibit may be
in themselves unaffected. An old-fashioned piece of advice in distemper,
and one always given, was that at the outset of the disease a dose of
castor oil, or some other aperient, should be administered. I have no
hesitation at all in saying that whereas castor oil--to the dog a
violent irritant purgative--has carried off many and many a puppy and
delicate adult that, if not so weakened just when all the reserve forces
of strength were most needed, might have pulled through, this practice
is a most mistaken one, to say the least of it. If there is any
probability of there being any collection in the intestine which needs
clearing away, pure olive oil will do all, and more than castor oil, and
will neither cause the pain at the time nor the subsequent constipation,
which will be the inevitable results, if there are no worse ones, of the
stronger, and, I must call it, vile, drug. Another fallacy is the
supposed desirability of constantly washing the eyes and nose with warm
water. This is often not properly dried off, and chill results, while
all the fuss and worry is quite needless and does no good. A little bit
of old linen rag may be torn up and the fragments used to clean off the
discharges and at once burnt. Once, or even twice, a day a sponge damped
with boracic lotion can be used, but very sparingly.
The watchword in distemper, as I said before, is nursing--good nursing
alone will pull most dogs through--and I deliberately refrain from
giving any prescriptions, because, as each case varies according to
circumstances and the patient's constitution, each should be prescribed
for on its merits.
For far too long we have gone on in a rough-and-ready rule-of-thumb
method of dosing dogs all in the same way, without regard to
idiosyncrasy, which all the time has been as marked in them as in human
kind--and the sooner we change all this and study each dog after its
kind, the better for them and for us.
=Skin Troubles.=--The most annoying thing about the skin complaints
which occasionally beset toy dogs is the difficulty to the amateur of
diagnosing them correctly. Even veterinary surgeons are sometimes hazy
in this respect, and it is therefore well when a skin trouble refuses to
yield to simple remedies, incapable of doing harm, to consult a man
really experienced in toys, and not some uninterested, and even rather
contemptuous, practitioner, who may even commit such a cruel barbarity
as I have heard of, in the advising of _sheep dip_!
The most common form of skin disease in adult dogs is eczema, which for
purposes of rough, or popular, classification, may be divided into two
forms, wet and dry. Weeping eczema is decidedly uncommon, but is the
only form of skin disease offering open sores and raw surfaces likely to
affect comparatively well-cared-for toy dogs. In this, as in the dry,
severer forms of eczema, it is useless to attempt cure by mere outward
applications. The mischief is in the blood, and until the blood is put
right the external symptoms will continue, unless, indeed, strong
mercurial lotion or ointment be used, which may fatally drive the
disease in, and by clearing up the skin and so depriving the body of the
safety-valve of outward lesions, eventually kill the animal. Such a
proceeding is occasionally resorted to by unscrupulous persons whose
only desire is to sell their mangy or eczematous dogs, for the immediate
effect of dressing with mercurial ointment is often almost miraculously
good to the eye. Therefore, my advice to the amateur is, under no
circumstances to purchase a dog which is known to have suffered from any
severe form of skin disease. Even if the complaint has not been doctored
in the way described, and has been cured by honest methods, it may
always break out again, for it is in the constitution. I must, of
course, except cases in which contagious eczema has been given to the
victim by some other dog, but in dealing with strangers, shops, or
professional dealers, it is wisest to avoid a purchase where skin
disease has existed.
Some breeds are very much more subject to skin trouble than others, and
all long-haired dogs are apt to suffer from simple eczema and erythema,
the latter especially when young; while distemper of a severe kind is
often followed by a disease of the skin, closely resembling mange, for
which it is often unfortunately mistaken. It should be simply treated
with a mild antiseptic ointment, while the constitutional weakness is
the focus for attention.
Puppies often teeth with a rash, called puppy-pox, which shows as
general redness of the skin, generally on the bare parts of the body,
under the forelegs, etc., and here and there groups of pustules, each of
which contains a drop of thin pus. This is a complaint allied to
chicken-pox in children, and by no means dangerous--in fact, a puppy
which teethes with such a rash has generally the making of a strong and
healthy dog. At the same time, whenever either this trouble, or bare
patches about the legs and face, are seen on puppies, the teeth should
be looked to, for it is probable they are in some way irritating the
system.
The existence of too many worms in puppies generally accompanies skin
trouble in the form of bare patches, which may be well rubbed daily with
a sponge dipped in an extremely simple, safe, and useful lotion, which I
can recommend to be given a trial in all forms of skin disease, as in no
case can it do harm, while in many cases it will effect a cure so far as
any outward application is capable of doing. It is known as the
Kanofelin lotion, a preparation of phenyl, which is not irritating, or
in any way poisonous or disagreeable to the nose, but has a taste which
prevents dogs from licking it off; should they do so, however, it will
not harm them. The lotion, after being applied and well rubbed in with
the sponge to smooth, bare places, where the skin is not broken, should
be wiped off with a towel or handkerchief, as it is not wise to leave
the dog wet. It should be used twice a day, and where the skin is
broken, very gently with a soft sponge, and, of course, no rubbing in.
Some dry and scaly skin eruptions, of which pityriasis is the most
common, need different treatment. Where-ever bare places appearing on
the toy dog look scurfy, and scales fall off, do not use any lotion, nor
rub, but lightly dab on a little zinc ointment if the dog is not given
to licking the parts; if he is, use a plain, rather thin, sulphur
ointment: Sublimated sulphur, 1 oz.; vaseline, 4 ozs. This latter may
also be used in cases where the Kanofelin lotion is useful, and then be
well rubbed in; but the rule is no rubbing when scales or scurf are
present. The Kanofelin ointment is harmless and useful in all cases.
Applications can be much varied to suit cases, and where violent
irritation is present, it is sometimes necessary to use a more complex
preparation than those mentioned. The poisonous nature of some of the
ingredients, included in the most efficacious of them, however, makes it
very undesirable to use them otherwise than under the advice of a
skilled surgeon. The following cream is a most useful application for
use in cases where the skin is not broken, where great irritation and
redness of the skin are present, and where the affected parts either
cannot be reached by the patient, or the latter can be muzzled during
treatment. It is, however, poisonous, on account of the carbolic acid
and lead it contains: Liquor plumbi diacet., 4 drs.; liquor carbonis
detergens, 40 mns.; boracic acid powder, 1 oz.; new milk, to 4 ozs.
Shake well before use, and apply frequently with a bit of sponge. Label:
_Poison_.
In the treatment of medicated baths, usually composed of that most
evil-smelling compound liver of sulphur and water--in professional
language, "a sulphuretted potash solution"--I own I have little or no
faith. A plain sulphur ointment is twice as efficacious, far easier to
apply, and has no disagreeable smell; while, if well rubbed into the
skin, as it and other skin ointments should be, and not left in the
hair, it is not in any way unpleasant.
In all cases where skin trouble is accompanied by a strong and most
unpleasant smell, mange (either follicular, or, more commonly,
sarcoptic), may be suspected. The latter is easier to cure than many
forms of eczema, but it is absolutely needful to keep the patient
smothered in a dressing of sweet oil and sulphur, than which there is
nothing better, for several days, then to wash and dress again; and such
cases are not suitable for home treatment, although no veterinary
surgeon should be permitted to apply strong dressings like paraffin,
mercurial ointment, or tar (otherwise creosote) to delicate toys.
Mercurial dressings, in all cases, are rank poison, the absorption of
the drug into the system having fatal effects for the future.
Follicular mange, in which the insect causing the trouble burrows deep,
is a horrible disease, about the worst a dog can have, and here skilled
veterinary assistance cannot be dispensed with. But it is safe for the
amateur, in all cases of commencing skin trouble, where there is no
smell and the bare patches do not spread rapidly, to use the phenyl
lotion or sulphur or Kanofelin ointment, according to the state of the
skin, and to begin the more important internal treatment by a complete
change of diet.
A very dry or confined diet, certain meals, as oatmeal or Indian corn
meals, either in biscuits or otherwise; too little food; more rarely too
much; absence of meat from the dietary, or too little of it; as before,
but very rarely too much--these are all incentives to skin trouble,
while heredity has much to say to a tendency thereto.
A dog which has not been having much meat, but has been chiefly fed on
dog biscuit, may, on the appearance of skin irritation, be given plenty
of good, underdone meat--roast mutton, sheep's head, and bullock's
heart, all being very suitable. In no case of skin disease should either
oatmeal or Indian corn be given; and sea air should be avoided, as it is
always aggravating to skin troubles. Tripe is nourishing and very
digestible, and fresh fish suits most of the invalids very well.
Together with the entire change of diet--the hours for meals need not,
of course, be altered--a course of iron and cod liver oil is always well
worth trying. Personally, I pin my faith to the following method, which
I have known most successful in difficult cases, and which, as I can say
of the other remedies advised in this little book, can do no harm.
Powerful drugs are often a source of danger in inexperienced hands, and
a good many of the medicines one sees advised are, so to speak,
extremely speculative.
Get, then, a bottle of cod liver oil and malt, and 1 oz.--or more, if
you please--of saccharated carbonate of iron. In your pet's dinner mix,
at first, well covered over with cut-up meat of extra daintiness, a
scant half-teaspoonful of the solution with a dust of the iron, which is
a sweet powder. Nearly all dogs will take this without any trouble, and
soon get very fond of the oil, even if they object to it at first; but
they must not see the dose introduced into the meal. Let them think it
an accident, or at any rate, in the natural way of things, and they are
far less likely to object than if they see you making a parade of mixing
and covering. The dose, given twice a day, in meat dinner and supper,
should be gradually increased, until a dog of 6 lbs. is taking a full
teaspoonful of the solution twice a day, with 3 grs. of iron to each
dose; and patience will be needed, for, to do any good, this dosing must
go on for at least a month. It may then be left off gradually, and
resumed again if necessary. In obstinate cases of skin disease, arsenic
is a most valuable remedy, and may with most effect be combined with the
system of cod liver oil, malt extract, and saccharated carbonate of iron
just described. Fowler's solution, which is generally recommended,
should not be used, because it contains oil of lavender, which is very
offensive to dogs, and sickens them; the British Pharmacopoeia solution
should be the one used. Of this the dose is from one drop twice a day,
to be gradually increased up to four drops twice a day for toys; the
best way is to get the B.P. solution from your chemist, mixed with such
a quantity of distilled water as that there are four drops in each
teaspoonful. This may be given with iron and without the cod liver oil,
or with cod liver oil without the iron, or alone, in food--it is
tasteless--but is far better given in combination with the two. Mr.
Appleby, Argyle Street, Bath, puts up the iron and arsenic together in a
very easily used form, known as the "Kanofelin Blood Mixture," This, my
own formula, I generally advise to my readers whose dogs do not or
cannot take cod liver oil; he also, _inter alia_, puts up the worm
capsules to my prescription as mentioned for the use of toy dog owners;
and it is sometimes an advantage to get your medicines ready made.
Arsenic is what is known as a cumulative drug; it produces no special
effect until a good deal is stored up in the system. When enough has
been given, the said system revolts, and now, when the dog's eyes begin
to look watery, and the mucous membrane lining the mouth may be a little
red, you have given enough, and must cease; for a time only if the
disease is not subdued--in permanence if it be. One last word--arsenic
is the _dernier ressort_, and should not be used until other means have
failed, whereas some people fly to it when a much simpler treatment
would have done all that was necessary.
Another skin complaint which, is much more common than is generally
supposed, is ringworm. I have often seen this diagnosed as eczema,
whereas it really is very easy to tell its true nature, as it has very
marked characteristics.
It begins with tiny, round, bare spots, about as large as the head of a
pin, which usually escape notice at first, but gradually spread round
the edges, not always in a circular form, but sometimes as irregular
patches, the skin appearing greyish, but not unhealthy. On looking
closely it will be seen that the hairs have been broken off short, close
to the skin, but are clearly visible, which is the chief feature of the
disease and the infallible sign. Ringworm may be caught at any time,
most frequently from a visit to some infested stable, but occasionally
from chance contagion in the streets. Horses are subject to the same
form of the complaint, and dogs generally catch it from them; it is
sporadic, and the spores may, of course, fall about anywhere from an
infected horse or another dog. It is extremely capricious in its
inception; dogs in the same house may or may not catch it from one
another, and sometimes a whole kennel will be infected, with the
exception of one or two dogs apparently immune. There is, however, no
excuse for allowing it to spread, as it is easy to cure. Some of the
strongest tincture of iodine available should be well soaked into the
spot, and round the edges thereof, using a little ball of cotton wool
tied on to the end of a tiny stick, or an aural sponge, and rubbing the
iodine somewhat in with this. Two applications will generally kill the
spores--the disease is a parasitic fungus--and should be made at an
interval of a couple of days. For some time fresh spots are likely to
appear, and should be touched up at once. The muzzle, legs, and chest
are generally most affected. If left quite alone the complaint would
disfigure the dog terribly, but would, after a time, die out of its own
accord. I have not found that human subjects were infected with this
disease from the dog. A little iodide of potassium ointment may be put
on the patches once or twice, to hasten the complete cure, or they may
be washed with the phenyl lotion, in which the proportion is 1 in 40.
The hairs are weakened, and take some little time to grow properly
again, but the disease is by no means a serious one, and it is not
necessary to use any such stronger and dangerous remedies as carbolic
acid, as sometimes suggested.
Erythema, a general redness and rash, most often seen over the inside of
the thighs, and sometimes all over a dog's least hairy parts, is about
the only skin disease--if we except the curious and rare condition,
"hide-bound"--from which dogs very occasionally suffer, that, in a
common way, arises from over-feeding. It is best treated by change of
diet, _small_ nourishing meat meals, and the avoidance of any heating,
farinaceous substances, milk, or greasy food of any kind. A small dose
of sulphate of magnesia twice a week in food--as much as will lie, not
heaped, on sixpence for a 6-lb. dog--is often all the medicine needful.
Want of exercise is a frequent producer of skin disease. Dogs not
sufficiently exercised, or kept much shut up in hot rooms, have inactive
livers, whence all kinds of evils.
I have never seen but one case of "hide-bound" in a house-dog, and that
not in a toy. The skin was thickened and hard. Although the complaint is
an interesting one from its rarity, that same fortunate quality renders
it unnecessary for me to enter into the question--a veterinary surgeon
must undertake such a case.
=The Ears.=--The ears in toy dogs are often the seat of a slight
congestion which has no particular cause, but is more common in some
individuals than others, and generally occurs at intervals in those
subjects which have once had it. If taken early, the cure of an attack
is very simple; but if neglected, the congested state may increase and
culminate in inflammation of the middle ear, otitis, and the bugbear
"canker," of which we hear so much, and which is really extremely rare.
There are many stages of the trouble, from the slightly hot and red
external ear, which causes the dog to put two claws in the passage and
try to scratch it, and sometimes succeed in making a sore place thereby,
through the phases of rubbing the side of the head on the carpet or
ground, groaning and shaking the head violently, and other
manifestations of pain, up to the existence of real canker, when there
is much soreness and redness externally, with swelling of the meatus, or
passage, a profuse and very dark brown discharge, and a very
disagreeable odour.
There is always a slight characteristic smell about a "bad ear," which
any experienced person can recognise in an instant, often before any
other sign of trouble is seen. Some dogs--most, in fact--need watching
in this respect. The moment the toy is seen to be a little one-sided as
to head, or evinces any disposition to scratch his ear, a small lump of
boric ointment should be put in the meatus, pushed in with the little
finger, and worked about until it melts down into the passage and
convolutions. Next day the ear may be cleaned out with the tip of the
little finger covered with a very soft handkerchief, and the ointment
again used, and this, in slight cases, will effect a cure. Never
attempt to put any hard instrument, or, indeed, any instrument at all,
other than the soft suppleness of a feeling finger, into a dog's ear.
If the trouble has gone on a good while, and there is much brown
discharge, it will be necessary to use a lotion. First of all use the
ointment, as described, and clear away as much of the softened discharge
as possible by this means, being, of course, exceedingly gentle in your
manipulation, for these, at best, are very tender parts. Then take the
following lotion: Warm water, 1/2 pt.; Goulard's extract of lead, 1
tablespoonful; powdered boracic acid, 1/2 dr. The boracic powder to be
added to the water first, and the Goulard after, and the whole on no
account to be used otherwise than nicely warm, or it will cause pain.
The bottle can, of course, be filled at once, and a little of the
contents warmed for use as needed. Lay the patient down on the sound
side, with the bad ear uppermost, and get someone to hold him firmly.
Then gently pour about half to one teaspoonful of the warm lotion into
the ear, and work it about from outside. Keep him lying still for three
or five minutes, then let him go, and fly! For he will shake the
superfluous lotion all over you if you are not cautious. A great deal of
remonstrant ploughing about generally follows, but the application does
not really cause any pain, and will soon cure if persevered with--twice
a day for a week or so. Such frightful and almost, if not quite,
incurable cases as one sometimes meets with in sporting dogs, where the
ears have become thoroughly diseased from, in the first place, getting
wet and dirty, and being subsequently neglected, are, I rejoice to say,
unknown among well-cared-for toys.
People are sometimes alarmed because their puppies' ears do not stand
erect when they should, or are pointing in all directions but the right
when they should drop. This is a common thing enough during teething,
and will generally come quite right later on. If it does not, no active
remedy--by operation--is permissible if the dog is to be shown, but a
good deal can be done by oiling the ears and manipulating them
constantly in the desired direction by massage, while, in the case of
youngish puppies, two or three thicknesses of horses' leg bandage
plaster, cut to fit the inside and point of the ear, will either, if
stuck in by warming it, help the ear to drop or to stand up, as is
desired. This is a legitimate "fake," I may remark. But, of course, the
process must not be used with any idea of deception, though it is
allowable to aid Nature in the way she should go.
=The Eyes.=--The eye of the dog is an even more delicate structure than
the ear, and only skilled surgical aid should approach it in any but the
simplest ailments. Of these are the simple catarrhal ophthalmia, the
symptoms of which are redness of the lining membrane of the lids, and a
greenish discharge, turning brown and dry later, which comes from cold
and weakness of constitution. The victim of this must be kept in an even
temperature, be not allowed to lie by the fire, or look into it, or to
go out of doors in wind, hot sunshine, or cold, and be well fed with
good nourishing meat and light, digestible food. The discharge should be
wiped away from the eyes at morning and evening with a bit of sponge
dipped in a warm boracic lotion which any chemist will supply of the
proper strength; and immediately afterwards a little bit of yellow oxide
of mercury ointment, about as large as a small split pea, should be
gently introduced under the lid of the affected eye with a camel's hair
brush. Do not, on any account, accept "golden ointment," if the chemist
happens to offer you this old-fashioned remedy (I believe) for styes! It
is made of the _red_ oxide of mercury, and is a very great deal stronger
than the yellow oxide of mercury ointment, which, by the way, should be
made in the strength of 2 grs. to the ounce. This latter ointment may
also be used where, after distemper, a bluish film lingers in the eye.
Amaurosis is not uncommon in the dog. The eyes look perfectly right,
but the dog is blind. This may be an hereditary condition, but sometimes
comes in as a result of weakness pure and simple. Iron tonics, cod liver
oil, nux vomica, etc., may be given, and sometimes prove effectual. Good
living is essential. These cases are occasionally cured rather suddenly,
but as a rule are incurable.
Simple cold in the eyes--or more often, only in one--is a very ordinary
ailment, but distressing both to sufferer and owner. The affected eye
waters more or less profusely, and is kept partly closed. Within, there
is the same appearance as in catarrhal ophthalmia, but in a less degree,
and there may be fever and constitutional disturbance, in which case the
patient must be treated for a coryza, or "common cold." A boracic and
poppy-head lotion is the quickest cure for cold in the eyes, and is also
useful in the ophthalmic condition. It soothes the pain greatly, and is
best applied by means of a small all-indiarubber ball syringe. On no
account must a syringe with a bone or glass or vulcanite point be used:
the indiarubber nozzle is soft, and from it one or two drops can easily
be inserted between the eyelids. The amount of resistance the patient
makes will be proportionate to the severity of the inflammation, and as
this lessens he will endure the operation with serenity. To make the
lotion at home, buy a poppy-head, price about a halfpenny, from any
chemist, and boil it for an hour or longer in half a pint of water,
adding to this as it evaporates. When the water is sherry-coloured,
dissolve 10 grs. of boracic acid powder in each fluid ounce, allow to
cool, and use as frequently as convenient--once every hour, while the
congestion of the lining membrane of the eyelids is active.
=Sore Feet.=--Eczema, or little boils between the toes and round the
dew-claw on the front legs, is a trouble which besets some dogs.
Constitutional treatment, as laid down for eczema, is needful, and as
the dog will invariably worry the sores incessantly by licking, they
should be dusted with zinc or ichthyol powder, and then bandaged or
socked. If a dog is constantly licking its dew-claw, look at it to make
sure it is not growing in. In this case it needs to be cut rather short,
preferably by a veterinary surgeon, and the sore dressed. Dew-claws on
the hind legs should always be removed by a veterinary surgeon in
puppy-hood.
=Colds and Coughs.=--Colds, or coryza, beset dogs as they do humans, but
in lesser degree. A chest cold needs a flannel cross-over, sometimes a
hot linseed poultice (in treating dogs it is much better to use, if
possible, some dry poultice which will not leave the dog sopping after
it is removed), or a mustard-leaf. Rubbing with white vaseline oil and
ten drops of turpentine to each ounce, if vigorously done, is as good
for colds as for rheumatism. Everyone knows what a cold is, and the toy
dog's cold should be treated like one's own. The clinical thermometer
should be used, and if the temperature exceeds 100 deg., a pill of 5 grs. of
nitrate of potash should be given every four hours until it is normal
again, or, if it cannot be got down thus, give 1/2 gr. of sulphate of
quinine and 1 gr. of phenacetin, using the tabloids, and dividing them
as desired. The strength must be well kept up. _Coughs_--the dog's
hollow, deep-drawn brand--are a sore trial to the hearer. They sound
terrible, but are seldom of much moment. If from cold, put a little
vaseline or glycerine on the nose three or four times a day. It will be
licked off, and give relief, while some dogs will eat glycerine lozenges
if not flavoured with lemon. Vaseline, again, is an excellent thing for
bronchial wheezing, such as pugs are especially subject to, and will
always be taken if put on the nose. Cream also is soothing, and where is
the dog that does not like it?
=Chest Diseases.=--The worst-sounding coughs are often the least
important, and may pass off in a few days without treatment, but a
bronchial rattling in the throat calls for care. Bronchitis in toy dogs
must be treated exactly as in children, and, needless to say, the dog
must not go out until the acute stage is passed. Most clean dogs will go
to a box of earth in a cellar. A bronchitis kettle must be kept going in
the room, and the patient will need an invalidish diet and much petting
and amusement to carry him through the dull hours of discomfort. Dogs
have congestion of the lungs, pleurisy, pneumonia, just as people do,
and need the same careful nursing. Medicine in such cases is usually
unnecessary, because it worries the patient and can do little good. A
mild fever mixture may be prescribed by the vet, who should always be
called in the moment the breathing goes wrong. Dulness, lassitude,
shivering, and a high temperature--the clinical thermometer is of all
things needed here--with troubled breathing, are symptoms of the highest
importance, and skilled aid should be immediately called to them. The
amateur cannot diagnose these lung and chest troubles.
=Stomach Coughs.=--Very dreadful coughs are sometimes heard proceeding
entirely from the stomach. For these a little course of indigestion
treatment often does wonders. Or, again, coughing _may_ be caused by a
fish-bone or something similar in the throat, though this is the rarest
of all causes in the dog, owing to his possessing a most tremendous
gullet, quite out of proportion to his size.
=Shivering.=--Shivering is a bad trick some dogs acquire, and others
have by nature. It generally, if unaccompanied by a high temperature,
means nothing whatever, unless it be nerves. But, short of the Weir
Mitchell treatment, I imagine nothing benefits these latter more than a
mild scolding, with admonitions "not to be so silly."
=Hysteria.=--There are, most certainly, hysterical dogs, and their
temperament is that of the habitual shiverer, though very thin-skinned
toys sometimes really shiver from cold. A hysterical dog will bark
itself quite out of breath at the least disturbance, and shriek exactly
like its prototype human. Nature cannot be changed, but a tonic
sometimes does good. Excitability and nervousness are characteristic of
some breeds. Poms are, perhaps, the most excitable of small dogs, and
pugs certainly the least so.
=Obesity.=--Extreme fatness may be a disease in the dog as in the human
being, and in this case it is cruel to accuse the poor creature of
systematic over-eating, as it is everyone's impulse to do. The bromides
and iodides are useful, but cannot be prescribed haphazard. Thyroid
gland tabloids may also be tried, beginning with one once a day, and
gradually creeping up to three a day, according to the dog's size. Their
effect on the digestion is not always happy, so that the dog must be
watched to assure the owner of its toleration of them.
=Poison.=--Not an ailment, but a subject which needs a few words, is the
taking of poison by toy dogs. Unluckily, there is always risk in a town,
not only of the wilful poisoner, who apparently exists, but of the
ingestion of poisoned meat or bread and butter put for rats or beetles,
and afterwards thrown out. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred a
poisoned dog has had strychnine, this being the favourite drug of all
those who employ poison at all. Arsenic is too slow, and of other
poisons, thank Providence! the vulgar have mostly no knowledge. The
symptoms of strychnine poisoning are, firstly, excitement--the patient
runs about, and barks with a peculiar strident shriek. According to the
quantity of the poison taken and the quantity of food in the stomach at
the time, this stage occupies a longer or shorter period. Taken shortly
after a good meal, the poison seems less rapid in action than when the
stomach is empty. Presently come convulsions, and constant shrieking;
then the limbs stick out and are perfectly stiff and rigid. Even at this
stage the dog can often be saved if means are at hand. Never be without
a bottle of syrup of chloral in the house; it will keep indefinitely.
First make the dog sick. Use sulphate of zinc in water, or weak mustard
and warm water, and give plenty of this latter. The best way is by
putting it in a phial, and running it down the throat by way of a pouch
of lower lip drawn out from the teeth at the angle of the mouth. As soon
as the patient has been sick, give a teaspoonful of the syrup of chloral
in water. This is the antidote to strychnine. If you cannot wait to make
the patient sick, give the chloral at once--but give it: and the dose
may be repeated every two hours until the convulsions cease. For a tiny
pup or dog under 5 lbs. the dose may be halved. Recovery from strychnine
is very rapid, and it leaves, as a rule, no ill effects, though there is
a widespread belief, and a mistaken one, that it subsequently affects
the kidneys.
All the other kinds of poison dogs are likely to get or be given work as
irritants, and these need veterinary diagnosis. Salt, I may here remark,
is so violent and irritating a purgative to the dog that it is next door
to a poison, and the effects of castor oil in his intestine are not so
very far behind. Constant drugging is a thing as much to be avoided in
dogs as in their owners, and I cannot too strongly deprecate the foolish
practice--foolish or worse--of giving doses of castor oil after shows,
or as so-called prophylactics--preventives of illness. If a dog has been
much confined at a show, and is likely to be irregular in consequence, a
little pure olive oil with his dinner (not the nut oil often sold by
grocers as olive oil) will do no harm, although a dinner of oatmeal
gruel or boiled sheep's liver would be much more sensible and act
better; if he seems well and lively, leave him alone. Some people
actually go the length of dosing their puppies with castor oil at
intervals, for no reason that I can ascertain beyond a vague idea that
it "clears the system." So it does--of strength and the healthy mucoid
secretion of the intestine, without which natural functions cannot be
properly performed. Syrup of buck-thorn, or cascara sagrada, is another
medicine that should never be given to small dogs: it is far too
irritating and severe. When we have such excellent aperients as olive
oil, magnesia, and rhubarb among drugs, and boiled sheep's liver among
meats, we want no semi-poisonous irritant and violent drugs like castor
oil, which, in the end, produce the very condition they were supposed to
cure, and by pulling down the system, open the door to illness.
=Fits.=--Of these, epileptic fits are the most dangerous and by far the
least common. A dog suffering from epilepsy which is thoroughly
established, is practically incurable, in the present state of canine
medical science. Later, perhaps, the Roentgen rays may be beneficially
applied to this disease in dogs, as in human beings. In a popular manual
it is scarcely necessary to go further into the subject than to say that
epilepsy need not be suspected unless the convulsive attacks are more or
less recurrent, and so frequent as to exhaust the animal. Not until we
have tried such treatment as an amateur can safely give, which is quite
enough to cure ordinary teething or suckling fits due merely to some
reflex irritation affecting the brain, and found it fail, need we fear
epilepsy; and when we do fear it with any reason, skilled advice and
diagnosis is absolutely needful, since the case must be watched and
treated on its merits.
Suckling fits are exceedingly common among small, highly-organised, and
sensitive bitches. They generally begin about the end of the second week
of nursing puppies, and do not seem to be in any way caused by
overstrain; that is, a small female suckling five puppies is not more
likely to suffer from these fits than one only bringing up a brace.
Their exact cause is difficult to determine, since very healthy,
well-fed animals may have them in common with those that are weak and
miserable from under-feeding (which in this case is synonymous with
feeding on a non-meat diet) or kennel life.
Whatever the cause, the symptoms are always easy to recognise. The bitch
first loses interest in her litter, though her milk-supply is seldom, if
ever, lessened. She twitches, and her eyes look dull and filmy, or
glassy and staring. She wanders restlessly about, and sometimes pants in
the same way as she did when expecting her confinement. Now is the time
to intervene, and give one teaspoonful of syrup of chloral with an equal
quantity of water. If this is not done, the attack will proceed to
staggering, shrieking, and more or less violent convulsions. The
administration of the chloral generally causes the symptoms to subside
gradually; but should the patient be no better in two hours, repeat the
dose, and if giving bromide of potassium in 5-gr. doses twice or three
times a day, immediately after food, does not keep her right, she must
go on taking the chloral.
Neither chloral nor bromide affects the milk; if any of it passes
therein, the quantity is so very minute as to make no difference to the
puppies. It is not at all necessary to take the bitch away from her
litter; in fact, it is better to let her go on feeding them. Some will
wish to leave their babies, and these should be taken to them and shut
in with them, four times a day, and during the night. If she is
thoroughly well fed, it never does the bitch any harm to bring up her
family, and it would be a very great pity for the puppies to be lost
when it is not necessary. But it is exceedingly important that she
should be kept in a state of hyper-nutrition--that is, that she should
have as much good, underdone meat as she can digest. Bromides are
lowering, and besides this, the state of the nerves demands the highest
possible feeding. It may be expensive to feed a "fitty" bitch on good
beefsteak or roast mutton four times a day, giving her a sponge cake the
last thing at night and a little milk, or, what is much better and more
digestible, a raw new-laid egg or raw fresh cream, in the early morning;
but it is, on the whole, a cheap way of saving a litter of valuable
pups. If there are a large number of pups, some may be given to a
foster-mother; but as a rule these are difficult to get, and not often
satisfactory. Bromides should always be given immediately after food; on
no account when the stomach is empty. Chloral may be given at any time
when there is a necessity for it. The 5-gr. bromide tabloids obtainable
at any chemist's are very useful; it is unnecessary to dissolve them in
water for dogs, but, as before stated, they _must_ be given with or
directly after food.
Teething fits should be treated, as far as medicine goes, exactly as
suckling fits. Just as a badly-reared, non-meat-fed bitch who, by reason
of an anaemic habit, harbours worms, is a poor subject for the latter
trouble, so is a puppy that has been brought up on milky slops and
large, wet messes of oatmeal and bread and milk, and thus has a weakened
digestion, very likely to suffer badly from fits that in a strong young
dog would pass off with small trouble. There is usually some warning of
teething fits, as staring eyes, etc.; but sometimes, and especially if a
puppy of from six to ten months has been much excited, taken out walking
on a hot day, allowed to play in the sun, or dragged unwillingly on a
lead, they come on very suddenly. While out in hot sun, the dog may
suddenly give a shriek and begin to run with all his might, taking no
notice of calls. As a general rule, he has the sense to run home, unless
some officious person on the way imagines him mad and acts as silly
people do under such circumstances.
If it is possible to catch the runaway, he should have his head covered
to keep the light out of his eyes, and be taken home as quickly and
quietly as possible to be shut in some cool and perfectly dark place
until the fit passes off sufficiently to give him a dose of chloral.
Afterwards he should have a diet of minced, underdone meat, with bromide
of potassium to follow, for a day or two. A plunge into cold water will
often stop a fit like this, but is too heroic a remedy to be safe unless
the circumstances are very urgent. Cold sponging to the head is good,
and quiet and darkness are essential. Some times teething fits go on
increasing in frequency and severity until they merge into epilepsy, and
the dog is lost. This is occasionally caused by allowing a very young,
highly nervous, and excitable dog to be with others of the opposite sex,
when these should be in seclusion.
Fits, very much like mild teething fits, are not uncommon in run-down
dogs suffering from anaemia and the likely corollary, worms. These are
often very transient, and a course of tonic treatment, with rest from
excitement, and good feeding, will banish them.