Part 11 (1/2)
Cough is much more frequently a symptom than a disease. It, in fat dogs, usually proceeds from disordered digestion; and then to remove it the cause must be attacked. It accompanies worms; and if these are expelled, it will subside. It may, however, exist by itself, for the larynx of the dog early becomes ossified or converted into bone; and being then less yielding, the violent vibrations it is subjected to during the act of barking have a natural tendency to injure the delicate lining membrane.
Its irritability is excited, and cough is the consequence. The disposition of the creature to give tongue ought, therefore, to be as much as possible checked, and a mustard poultice applied to the throat, while the pills first recommended on page 205, are given; but if these fail, the others may be employed. The general measures would be pretty much the same, only the more severe need not be resorted to. Quiet, mild food, and a little care, will often, without medicine, remove the annoyance; but it is never well to trust too long to such dubious aids, when timely a.s.sistance will procure speedy relief, and delay may lead to further evil.
SNORING is often a heavy accusation brought against the dog. It may proceed from weakness; though, in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, it results from that debility which accompanies acc.u.mulated fat and sloth.
In the one case we apply the means advised to restore the strength,--in the other, we stint the food, enforce a vegetable diet, and see that sufficient exercise be taken.
SNORTING is another unpleasantness which the canine race display. The animals stand with their heads erect, and, drawing the air through the nostrils, produce a series of harsh loud sounds, which are sometimes continued till the dog falls from actual exhaustion. This is the result of irritability, in a low form, of the lining membrane of the nasal chambers. The sensation is probably that of itching, and the dog endeavors, by drawing the air quickly through the nostrils and energetically expelling it, to relieve the annoyance.
The treatment is not to be laid down; attention to the food, and medicines of an alterative nature calculated to affect or improve the secretions, are most likely to be of service. Worms may possibly be the provocative, and in that case of course they should be removed. The measures, therefore, are not to be arbitrarily pointed out. The judgment must be employed to discover in what particular the system is unsound, and the agents used must be selected with a view to the general health. Local applications have been tried without advantage, but there do not appear to be any specifics for the complaint. The snorting is to be regarded merely as an effect of some deep-seated derangement, and the remedies are to be such as the appearance of the animal suggests. I have generally been successful in these cases, but I remember no two of them which I have treated exactly in the same manner. Patience and perseverance are mostly required, but sometimes the affection will not yield to any remedy. When it appears to be obstinate, the use of medicine should not be pushed too far. The const.i.tution of the dog is so easily injured, and with so much difficulty restored, that where a mere unpleasantness is apparently all that exists, it is better to permit that to continue than hazard the health of the animal by over-strenuous attempts to get rid of it.
COLD or CORIZA is not frequent in the dog, but it will occasionally be seen. It comes on gradually, and often pa.s.ses off without any a.s.sistance being given. In pups it is apt to pa.s.s first into bronchitis, and then change into distemper, which in such instances, spite of our best endeavors, will often terminate in fits.
It springs from various causes, but neglect and improper lodging are generally those to which it may be traced. In adult animals it is not to be greatly feared, but in the young it requires immediate attention. The kennel must be looked to; the food and exercise be strictly watched.
Tonics, into which cayenne pepper, cubebs, or balsam of pepper enter, are to be tried, and cod-liver oil also is worth an experiment. The iodide of pota.s.sium is also not to be rejected; but the condition of the patient must decide which is the most likely to be of service in the case. When undertaken early, the symptoms yield in the majority of instances. The discharge, which at the commencement is thin, becomes more copious, grows thicker, and at last ceases. The sneezing stops and the spirits return; but should the disorder not be checked, the larynx becomes involved, and cough appears. If no relief be now sought, and the disease spreads, the breathing grows quick at first, and then laborious.
The pup may even at this stage be eager to feed, and when its attention is excited, be as playful as in health; but if watched it will be seen, when alone, to be oppressed and languid. In such cases, belladonna, combined with James's powder, an equal amount of each, should be administered. The dose should be exhibited every hour, for here the wish is to obtain the speedy effect of the drug without allowing its sedative property to seriously affect the strength. To a young pup, a quarter of a grain will be the proper quant.i.ty; and for a full-grown large-sized dog, two grains of the extract may be employed. The action, however, must be observed, and when a marked disinclination for food or drink, with a seeming wish for both, and signs of inconvenience in the throat are seen, the belladonna must be withheld. On the third day, if the cure be not complete, it may be a second time employed; and, after a like period, even a further trial may be made. At the same time, a little soap liniment may be rubbed into the throat, along the course of the windpipe, and over the chest. The bowels also should be regulated; but purgation is not to be desired. Should the liver be sluggish, mild alterative doses of the grey powder may be sprinkled upon the food, and will thus be taken without the necessity of forcing the animal. When the measures recommended do not succeed, the appearance of the patient must direct those which are next to be adopted.
Where weakness prevails, and s.h.i.+vering denotes the presence of fever, quinine and the sulphate of iron are required. Small blisters, or mustard poultices, to the chest, may with due caution be applied. An emetic may even be administered; but, if repeated at all, it must be only after two or three days have elapsed. Where the system is vigorous, expectorants and sedatives, with leeches to the chest, may be used. Turpentine liniment to the sides, throat, and under the jaws, may also be freely rubbed in, and the diet in quant.i.ty restricted. Tartar emetic in very minute doses may be exhibited three times daily.
[Ill.u.s.tration: INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.]
The chest of the dog is not in any remarkable degree the seat of disease.
The ribs of the animal being constructed for easy motion, and the muscles which move them being strong and large in proportion to the size of the bones, the lungs, therefore, are in general properly expanded; and this circ.u.mstance tends to preserve them in a healthy condition. They do not, however, always escape, but are subject to the same inflammations as those of the horse, though, from the causes stated, more rarely attacked.
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS is denoted by a quickened pulse and breathing, preceded by s.h.i.+vering fits. The appet.i.te does not always fail; in one or two instances I have seen it increased; but it is most often diminished.
The animal is averse to motion; but when the affection is established, the dog sits upon its hocks, and wherever it is placed, speedily a.s.sumes that position. As the disorder becomes worse, the difficulty of breathing is more marked. The creature also shows a disposition to quit the house, and if there be an open window it will thrust its head through the aperture.
The sense of suffocation is obviously present, and at length this becomes more and more obvious. The dog in the very last stage refuses to sit, but obstinately stands. One of the legs swells, and, on being felt, it is ascertained to be enlarged by fluid. There is dropsy of the chest, and the limb has sympathized in the disposition to effusion. The pulse denotes the weakness of the body; but the excitement of disease in a great measure disguises the other symptoms. The dog may even, to an unpractised eye, seem to possess considerable strength; for it resists, with all its remaining power, any attempt to move it, and its last energies are exerted to support the att.i.tude that affords the most relief to the respiration.
At length the poor brute stubbornly stands until forced to stir, when it drops suddenly, and for several moments lies as if the life had departed.
Again it falls, but again revives; and always with the return of consciousness gets upon its legs; but at last it sinks, and without a struggle dies.
The lungs have been, in the first instance, inflamed, but the pleura or membrane covering the lungs, and also lining the chest, has likewise become by the progress of the disease involved. The cavity has become full of water, or rather serum, and by the pressure of the fluid the organs of respiration are compressed. It is seldom that both sides are gorged to an equal degree; but one cavity may be quite full while the other is only partially so. One lung, therefore, in part remains to perform the function on which the continuance of life depends; and if, by any movement, the weight of fluid is brought to bear upon the little left to continue respiration, the animal is literally asphyxiated. It drops, in fact, strangled, or more correctly, suffocated; and as the vital energy is strong or weak, so may the dog more or less frequently recover for a time.
In the end, however, the tax upon the strength exhausts the power, and the acc.u.mulation of the fluid diminishes the source by which the life was sustained. After death, I have taken from the body of a full-sized Newfoundland one lung, which lay with ease upon my extended hand; while the two held together afforded a surface sufficient to support the other.
The condensation was so great that the part was literally consolidated, and the fluid which exuded on cutting into the substance was small in quant.i.ty. The blood-vessels were, with the air-cells, compressed, and while the arterialization of the blood was imperfect, the circulation was also impeded.
The causes usually a.s.signed to account for inflammation of the lungs will not, in the dog, explain its origin. I have usually met it where the animal had not been exposed to wet or cold; where it had not undergone excessive exertion, or been subjected to violence. Extraordinary care as rather seemed to induce, than the neglect of the creature appeared to provoke the attack. It is, however, easy to trace causes when we have a wish to explain a particular effect; but where the lungs have been inflamed I have never, to my entire satisfaction, been able to ascertain that the animal had been exposed to hards.h.i.+p, or subjected to labor which it had not previously sustained, and which, if the health had been good, it might not have endured.
Disease of the lungs is, in the early stage, very readily subdued; but, if allowed to establish itself, it is rarely that medicine can eradicate it.
The majority of persons who profess to know anything about the diseases of dogs, look upon the nose as an indication of the health. While the appet.i.te is good, or the nose is cold and moist, such people are confident no fear need be entertained. Of the uncertainty that attends the disposition to feed mention has been already made; but with regard to the condition of a part, the persons who a.s.sume to teach us are likely to be in such cases entirely deceived. I have known dogs with violent inflammation of the lungs; I have seen them die from dropsy of the chest; and their noses have been wet and cold, even as though the animals had iced the organs. From this mistaken notion, therefore, no doubt, are to be traced the numerous instances of dogs brought for treatment when no remedies can be of avail. They are submitted to our notice only that we may be pained to look upon their deaths; and often have my endeavors been thus limited to simple palliative measures, when an earlier application would have enabled me to employ medicine with a reasonable prospect of success.
In the commencement, when the breathing is simply increased and the pulse slightly accelerated, then if you place the ear to the side, there is merely a small increase of sound; and the animal exhibits no obstinate, or more properly, unconquerable disposition to sit upon the hocks; small quant.i.ties of belladonna, combined with James's powder, will generally put an end to the disease. The belladonna, in doses of from one to four grains, may be given three times a day; but where trouble is not objected to, and regularity can be depended upon, I prefer administering it in doses of a quarter of a grain to a grain every hour. By the last practice I think I have obtained results more satisfactory; but it is not always that a plan necessitating almost constant attention can be enforced, or that the animal to be treated will allow of such repeated interference.
The following formula will serve the purpose, and the reader can divide it if the method I recommend can be pursued.
Extract of belladonna One to four grains.
James's powder Two to eight grains.
Nitrate of potash Four to sixteen grains.
Extract of gentian A sufficiency for one pill.
If, on the second day, no marked improvement is perceptible, small doses of antimonial wine may be tried; from fifteen minims to half-a-drachm may be given every fourth hour, unless vomiting be speedily induced; when the next dose must, at the stated period, be reduced five or ten minims, and even further diminished if the lessened quant.i.ty should have an emetic effect. The object in giving the antimonial wine is to create nausea, and not to excite sickness; and we endeavor to keep up the action in order to affect the system. This is frequently very decisive in the reduction of the symptoms; but, even after the danger has been dispelled, the pills before recommended must be persevered with, and every means adopted to prevent a relapse.