Part 14 (1/2)

In the early stage, a warm bath of 90 degrees, for half an hour, has been used with advantage; but the animal, when removed from it, must be wrapped well up in several hot blankets, and kept in them until it is perfectly dry.

On the second day from two to ten drops of the tincture of arnica, with half a drachm of the solution of the chloride of zinc, may be added to the ethereal drinks and injections, if the disorder has not been checked; and beef-tea, thickened with rice, may also be frequently administered, using it instead of water, both in the draughts and injections. No other food is admissible, and the return to solids must, if the animal survives, be very gradual.

DYSENTERY AND DIARRHOEA.--These diseases, which in works on human pathology are advantageously separated, I cannot here treat of as distinct disorders. In the dog they are so connected and blended that the line which divides them cannot be discovered; and for every practical purpose, they may be here considered as one and the same affection.

The young and the old are most liable to these complaints. Puppies are very subject, as also are aged gross favorites; things so fat that it becomes hard work to live are very generally attacked with diarrhoea. The pup, however, usually exhibits it in the acute form, whereas in the other description of animal it mostly appears in the chronic type.

When acute, colic may accompany or precede it. In proportion to the spasm will be the violence and the danger of the disorder. Sickness is mostly witnessed a little time prior to the attack, and the matter vomited has a peculiarly disagreeable and acrid odor. The dog does not again consume that which the stomach has thrown off, but sneaks away dejected, and afterwards seems dull. Sickness will occasionally continue throughout the complaint, but in general it departs as the disease appears. Thirst, however, is always present; and there is also a disposition to seek cold things and places. The pulse is quicker, but not stronger, and hardly at first less thin than during health. There is no pain on pressure being applied to the abdomen. The membranes of the eye are not injected; they may be a little deeper in color than is strictly natural, but occasionally they are the reverse. If, however, the a.n.u.s be gently forced open, so as to expose the terminating surface of the r.e.c.t.u.m, the membrane there will be found more red, and perhaps less clear in tint, than it ought to be; and the presence of purgation, attended with a violent resistance to the administration of clysters, will leave no doubt as to the character of the affection.

In the chronic form, the membrane of the eye is pallid; the nose often moist; the breath offensive; the appet.i.te ravenous; the pulse quick and weak; the a.n.u.s inflamed; mostly protruding, and usually disfigured by piles; the faeces liquid, and of various hues; sometimes black, occasionally lighter than usual, very generally mixed with much mucus and a small quant.i.ty of blood, so that the leading symptoms are those of weakness, accompanied with purgation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SUPERPURGATION.]

Acute diarrhoea may terminate in twenty-four hours; the chronic may continue as many days. The first sometimes closes with hemorrhage, blood in large quant.i.ties being ejected, either from the mouth or from the a.n.u.s; but more generally death ensues from apparent exhaustion, which is announced by coldness of the belly and mouth, attended with a peculiar faint and sickly fetor and perfect insensibility. The chronic more rarely, ends with excessive bleeding, but almost always gradually wears out the animal, which for days previous may be paralysed in the hind extremities, lying with its back arched and its feet approximated, though consciousness is retained almost to the last moment. In either case, however, the characteristic stench prevails, and the lower surface of the abdomen, as a general rule, feels hard, presenting to the touch two distinct lines, which run in the course of the spine. These lines, which Youatt mentions as cords, are the recti muscles, which in the dog are composed of continuous fibre, and consequently, when contracted under the stimulus of pain or disease, become very apparent.

On examination after death, the stomach, especially towards the pyloric orifice, is inflamed, as are the intestines, which, however, towards the middle of the track, are less violently affected than at other parts. The caec.u.m is enlarged, and may even, while all the other guts are empty, contain hard solid faeces. The r.e.c.t.u.m is generally black with inflammation, and seems most to suffer in these disorders. Occasionally its interior is ulcerated, and such is nearly always its condition towards the a.n.u.s. Signs of colic are distributed along the entire length of the alimentary tubes.

In the acute disease, the case in the first instance should be treated as directed for colic, with turpentine enema and ether, laudanum and water, followed by mild doses of grey powder and ipecacuanha, or chalk, catechu and aromatics, in the proportions directed below:--

Powdered opium Half a grain to two grains.

Powdered prepared chalk Five grains to a scruple.

Catechu Two grains to half a scruple.

Liquor pota.s.sae Half-a-drachm to two drachms.

Powdered ginger Three to twelve grains.

Powdered caraways Three to twelve grains.

Powdered capsic.u.ms One to four grains.

This may be given every second hour. The carbonate of ammonia, from two to eight grains, is also deserving of a trial, as are the chlorides and chlorates when the odor is perceived.

Applications, as before directed, to the abdomen are also beneficial; but frequent use of the warm bath should be forbidden, for its action is far too debilitating. The ether, laudanum, and water should be persisted with throughout the treatment, and hope may be indulged so long as the injections are retained; but when these are cast back, or flow out as soon as the pipe is removed, the case may be p.r.o.nounced a desperate one.

In the chronic form of diarrhoea there is always greater prospect of success. Ether, laudanum, and water will often master it, without the addition of any other medicine; but the liquor pota.s.sae and the chalk preparation are valuable adjuncts. To the a.n.u.s an ointment will be useful; and it should not only be smeared well over the part, but, by means of a penholder or the little finger, a small quant.i.ty should thrice in the course of the day be introduced up the r.e.c.t.u.m. For this purpose the following will be found to answer much better than any of those which Blaine orders to be employed on similar occasions:--

Camphor powdered } Mercurial ointment } Of each equal parts.

Elder ointment }

Cleanliness is of the utmost importance. Thrice daily, or oftener if necessary, the a.n.u.s and root of the tail should be thoroughly cleansed, with a wash consisting of an ounce of the solution of chloride of zinc to a pint of distilled water. The food should be generous; but fluid beef tea, thickened with rice, will const.i.tute the most proper diet during the existence of diarrhoea.

A little gravy and rice with sc.r.a.ped meat may be gradually introduced; but the dog must be drenched with the liquid rather than indulged with solids at too early a period. All the other measures necessary have been indicated when treating of previous abdominal diseases, and such rules as are therein laid down must, according to the circ.u.mstances, be applied.

PERITONITIS.--In the acute form this disease is rarely witnessed, save as accompanying or following parturition. Its symptoms are, panting; restlessness; occasional cries; a desire for cold; constant stretching forth at full length upon the side; dry mouth and nose; thirst; constipation; hard quick pulse; catching breathing, and--contrary as it may be to all reasonable expectation--seldom any pain on pressure to the abdomen, toward which, however, the animal constantly inclines the head.

The treatment consists in bleeding from the jugular, from three to twelve ounces being taken; but a pup, not having all its permanent teeth, supposing such an animal could be affected, should not lose more than from half-an-ounce to two ounces. Stimulating applications to the abdomen should be employed, an ammoniacal blister, from its speedy action, being to be preferred. Ether, laudanum, and water ought to be given, to allay the pain, with calomel in small but repeated doses, combined with one-fourth its weight of opium, in order to subdue the inflammation. A turpentine enema to unload the r.e.c.t.u.m, and a full dose of castor oil to relieve the bowels, should be administered early in the disease. The warm bath, if the animal is after it well wrapped up, may also be resorted to.

A second bleeding may be necessary, but it should always be by means of leeches, and should only be practised upon conviction of its necessity, for no animal is less tolerant of blood-letting than the dog.