CHAPTER VIII

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.