Part 16

A rabid dog is generally depicted with a quantity of frothing saliva flowing from the mouth, like one suffering from epilepsy. This is a mistake, the mouth may certainly be a little moister than usual at first, but it soon becomes dry and of a dark red colour. The rabid dog is much inclined to attack others, the small, timid pet will, without provocation, bite both small and large dogs, and it is generally done cunningly, for he will often go quietly up to his victim and smell him, in the usual doggy way, and then suddenly bite him, and perhaps give a sort of howl immediately afterwards.

A rabid dog’s voice is quite altered, and it is very characteristic of the disease, but it is rather difficult to describe on paper; it is half a bark and half a howl; it commences with a bark and finishes up with a dismal howl. A rabid dog is much disposed to wander if he can only get his liberty, and once he gets out he often goes for miles on a sort of jog-trot, with head and tail down, going out of his way to attack other dogs, but not so much people, unless they get directly in his way, or interfere with him. He may wander for hours, or perhaps a day and a night, and then return home. A rabid dog, though he refuses good food, will gnaw and eat all sorts of foreign substances; for instance, if he is in a kennel, he will gnaw and eat the woodwork; if behind railings or chained up, the ironwork, even to the extent of breaking his teeth. If confined in a room, he will gnaw the door, legs of chairs, carpets, curtains, etc. I have known one to eat his way through a two-inch door in a couple of hours. A rabid dog is not afraid of water; in fact, he drinks a good deal at first, before the symptoms are fully developed, and even during the latter stages, though he is unable to swallow, he will thrust his muzzle into a basin of water and try to drink.

As the disease advances, he becomes weak in the back legs, and ultimately quite paralysed, and if not killed, dies within four or five days; but some have been known to live as long as seven days.

In dumb rabies, so called, the lower jaw is dropped in the early stages through paralysis, and the dog is unable to close the mouth. This is sometimes rather deceiving, as a person may think, perhaps, there is a bone fixed on the teeth, and opening the mouth to see, may get wounded by the teeth.

It is not often a rabid dog will attack his owner unless the person tries to restrain him; but he will generally go for a stranger without hesitation or provocation. Rabies cannot arise spontaneously, or from any other cause whatever but inoculation by a bite from a dog suffering from the disease. The inoculative period varies from a fortnight to six weeks; it has been known to extend for three months. There is no doubt that the saliva from a rabid dog’s mouth, going into the eye of another dog, would in all probability induce the disease.

_Treatment_: There is no cure for this disease. Directly it is established, the dog should at once be destroyed, and shooting is the best and safest way of destroying such an animal.

I wish to dispel the idea which so many people have, that if a dog bites another, or even a person, and that dog should ever go mad, the dog and also the person will go mad too; such a thing is impossible, even though the disease may be lying latent in the dog the time he inflicted the bites. Pasteur, who was a great authority on rabies, used to say that a bite from a dog, even two days before there were any visible symptoms of the disease observed, was not dangerous.

=Ranula=:

_Symptoms_: A large, bladder-like swelling under the tongue, which prevents the dog eating properly. Saliva, as a rule, flows freely from the mouth, and in some cases the dog is unable to close the teeth together. The cause, in some cases, is due to some blockage of the duct of the gland which is situated under the front part of the tongue.

_Treatment_: A probe passed through the duct generally allows the accumulated fluid to escape, but in some cases the fluid in the swelling has become so thick that it cannot escape through the natural passage, even though cleared with a probe; then the sac should be freely opened, and after squeezing out its contents, the cavity should be syringed well out with a solution of boracic acid—a teaspoonful of the acid to half a pint of warm water.

=Redness of Skin=:

_Symptoms_: A flushed or red condition of the skin often occurs in white dogs. It is particularly noticed on the inside of the flaps of the ears, the inner side of the thighs and skin of the belly, or it may be general. The redness disappears on pressure, but returns when pressure is removed.

_Treatment_: Dust the part over three or four times a day with finely-powdered boracic acid. Treat dog for worms, and give some tonic medicine, as following pills:—

_Recipe_:

Sulphate of Iron, 6 to 24 grains.[1] Sulphate of Quinine, 3 to 18 ” Confection of doses, _q.s._

Mix.

Divide into 12 pills—one to be given twice a day.

A mild saline aperient should be given once a week.

=Respiration (Artificial)=:

When a dog has been nearly drowned, before resorting to artificial respiration he should be held upside down for a few moments, to drain the lungs of water, and then placed on his back with head extended, and after drawing the tongue slightly forward between the teeth, so as to keep throat quite clear, apply pressure to the chest (just where it joins the abdomen) with the open hand, in a forward and downward direction, so as to expand the chest—this should be repeated from eighteen to thirty times a minute, according to the size of the dog. After pressure, the hand should be removed quickly, that the walls of the chest may assume their normal position. Whilst this is going on, another person should inject brandy under the skin, and rigorously work the legs so as to try and promote circulation. As soon as possible put hot-water bottles around the dog.

=Rheumatic Gout=:

_Symptoms_: There is no doubt that dogs do occasionally suffer from this disease, it affecting generally the knees and hocks, but other joints may be attacked. The dog is very lame, the joint swells and is very tender, and there is a difficulty in bending it. Even after the inflammation has dispersed, the joint remains thickened and stiff for some time, in some cases permanently.

_Treatment_: Give a brisk purge, and also from two to fifteen grains[1] of salicylate of soda three times a day in water after food. If joint very painful, use following lotion:—

_Recipe_:

Tr. Opium, 4 drachms. Water to 6 ounces.

Soak a strip of lint in the lotion, which wind round the joint; cover entirely over with oil-silk and bandage; change every six hours. When the inflammation and pain is less, cut the hair closely off over the joint, and paint with strong tincture of iodine, which repeat once in twenty-four hours. The iodine must not be applied to flexure side of joint.

When the joint remains enlarged and stiff for some time, a course of iodide of potassium, say from a quarter[1] to two grains, may be given three times a day in a little water after food.

=Rheumatism=:

_Symptoms_: This disease may affect almost any part of dog, and also dogs of all ages, though old ones are no doubt more liable to it. When it attacks the muscles of the neck, it often assumes a spasmodic form, and the pain is sometimes very acute; the dog is unable to move his head in any direction, the muscles, from contraction, appear swollen, are very tender to the touch, and the dog cries with the pain. The attack generally lasts some hours, then it gradually subsides, and the dog seems all right for a while, when it may come on again. Then, rheumatism often affects the shoulders, and when it does, it is called “Chest Founder”. The parts are painful and stiff, and the dog walks with difficulty, dragging the fore feet along the ground. Bitches, when in low condition after rearing a litter of puppies, often suffer from this form. Then the loins, again, are the frequent seat of this disease, and when it affects this part it is called lumbago. The dog walks with arched back, and very stiffly—and as when the other parts of the body are affected, there is a good deal of pain. As the result of lumbago, a dog often loses the use of the hind legs for a time, and in fact becomes quite paralysed.

The disease is not confined only to these parts mentioned, as the joints of the fore and hind legs are liable, and a very characteristic symptom of rheumatism is its changing about quickly from one part to another, which is unlike any other disease. For instance, one day the dog may be going dead lame in one of the back legs, the next day the other hind leg may be affected, and the one that was bad the previous day quite free of pain, or the disease may leave the hind parts and go to one of the fore limbs. But this is not always the case, as the disease may settle in a joint, or some muscles, say of the loins, and remain stationary for a long time.

_Treatment_: This is practically the same at first, at any rate, whatever part may be affected. The thing is to try and get the disease out of the system. It is always a good plan to commence with a good purge; after this has worked off, give a course of salicylate of soda, from two to fifteen grains[1] three times a day, either in tabloid form, put up in cachets, or even dissolved in a little water. If this medicine does not give relief in twenty-four hours, try aspirin or salicine, the doses are the same. When the muscles of the neck are affected, the pain is often very acute, as mentioned before. In such cases it is frequently necessary to administer some sedative medicine, and for this I find there is nothing better than giving, subcutaneously, from the twentieth to the eighth of a grain[1] of acetate of morphia, with from ⅟₃₀₀th to ⅟₁₅₀th of a grain[1] of sulphate of atropine, the two to be dissolved in from five[1] to ten minims of water. The dose should be repeated night and morning for a few days. At first these injections may cause vomiting, but this soon ceases.

In cases of chest founder, or rheumatism in bitches in a weak condition, which occurs after rearing puppies, salicylate of quinine is often the best medicine to give, in doses from half to three grains[1] (made into a pill), three times a day.

Dogs suffering from rheumatism should be kept quiet, the affected parts covered over with a thick layer of thermogen wool, and bandaged or rubbed with some liniment, as the following:—

_Recipe_:

Methylated Chloroform, 4 drachms. Laudanum, 4 drachms. Spirits of Camphor, 1 ounce. Soap Liniment, 1 ounce.

Well mix.

Apply with friction night and morning.

_Diet_: Unless the patient is in poor health, should be light, red meat being avoided; and so should meat extracts and soups to a great extent.

When the disease has assumed a chronic form, and settled in some joint, like the knee—a favourite place—strong tincture of iodine should be painted over the front and on each side of the joint every day for three days, or a strong blister applied, and iodide of potassium, in from half to two-grain[1] doses, be given two or three times a day.

=Rickets=:

_Symptoms_: A disease affecting puppies; if it does not commence before six months of age, it is not likely to occur. In some puppies it commences before they have left the nest, but, as a rule, it does not show itself before the puppy is two months old. The joints, especially the knees and hocks, become enlarged and irregular in shape; the pasterns weak, the puppy walks on the backs of his legs; the arms are bowed, the stifles enlarged and standing out, whilst the hocks turn inwards, giving a “cow-hock” appearance. The bones of the face may be swollen, and there may be a curvature of the spine.

The puppy, when suffering from rickets, is always dwarfed in growth, very thin and miserable-looking, with pot belly, and always more or less in pain. The cause of rickets is improper feeding, want of sufficient fresh air, light, and liberty; also worms.

_Treatment_: Puppies suffering from this disease, when much below their normal size and weight, and badly crippled, should be destroyed. When it is decided to treat a case, give worm medicine, also some chemical food, from ten drops[1] to a teaspoonful twice a day after eating, either in water or mixed with cod-liver oil. Bathe the limbs with sea water, or a solution of sea salt twice a day; but if very weak, bandage with strips of adhesive plaster, applied so that it does not interfere with the bending of the joints. The puppy should live out of doors, in a big gravelled yard if possible, and where there are people about to attract attention and to encourage movement. Give plenty of raw meat on a bone, if possible—the act of gnawing it off much improves the digestion; also give Spratt’s malt and cod-liver oil biscuits, dry, as well as soaked in good soup. The puppy may have milk to drink instead of water. No treatment is of any use without fresh air, sunshine, and liberty.

=Ringworm=:

_Symptoms_: Almost bare and nearly circular patches of skin, which is rough and scaly, and sometimes there are a few small red pimples on the places and a few short stumps of broken hair. The disease is very contagious to other animals, and also to people. Rats and mice are very subject to ringworm, and frequently infect dogs.

_Treatment_: Dress all the spots daily with sulphurated calcium lotion, applied with a brush. After a week, dress the spots daily with borate of glycerine.

=Rupture=:

_Symptoms_: A swelling in the groin, navel, scrotum perineum, etc.; and it may occur at any part of the abdomen, the result of an injury, when it is called ventral hernia. The swelling may be round or elongated; it is generally broader at its free extremity than at its point of connection with the abdominal surface. It becomes enlarged when the dog strains, or when constipated, and it also has a tendency to increase in size as the dog gets older.

_Treatment_: Navel rupture, which is generally congenital, has a tendency to become smaller as the puppy gets older; and often by the time he or she is a year old it may have quite disappeared. Trusses are useless in the treatment of hernia in dogs, they fidget the animal so; but a radical cure can be effected in most cases, with every chance of success, by a surgical operation, which is not a dangerous one. (_See_ HERNIA.)

=Scalds=:

_Symptoms_: Skin inflamed and red, and very painful; blisters appear, which break, and matter forms. Unhealthy wounds are the result, which take a long time to heal. Hair removed, the result of a burn or scald, never grows again.

_Treatment_: To remove the pain and inflammation, dab the parts freely with a dressing made of lime-water one part, linseed-oil two parts, mixed together. Later apply boracic ointment on lint and bandage. The wounds must be kept clean by being occasionally sponged with warm boracic lotion.

=Sea Sickness=:

_Symptoms_: Depression, loss of appetite and vomiting. Some dogs, when on a voyage or living on a yacht, the first few days appear very listless and dejected in spirits; and although there may be no sickness, food is refused, and they get very thin and miserable-looking.

_Treatment_: It is not a serious matter, as a rule, for the nausea generally soon passes off, and the dog starts to eat; but if it continues more than a couple of days, a small dose of bromide of potassium, say from two[1] to ten grains, may be given in a little water three or four times a day, and the dog encouraged to take Vichy water and milk in equal parts; and some tempting food, as a little chicken and stale bread-crumbs, or stewed rabbit with rice, may be offered. Once the dog commences to eat, he generally quickly regains his former condition.

=Seton, How to put in a=:

Clip the hair closely over the parts of the skin for about the size of half-a-crown where the needle is to enter the skin, and also where it is to pass out; then wash with warm water and soap, and dry. The needle should be slightly curved and sharp-pointed, and threaded with a piece of half-inch tape, which should be smeared over with a little turpentine ointment for about two inches in the centre, which is the part that is to be left under the skin. _The dog being muzzled_, a fold of skin from an inch and a half to four inches[1] should be well raised between the forefinger and thumb from the muscles underneath; then the point of the needle should be passed quickly through the raised skin where the hair has been removed; then draw the needle right through, and detach the tape. A knot should be tied at each end of the tape, about half an inch from the wounds, to prevent the seton coming out. The ends of the seton must be drawn backwards and forwards twice daily to allow the discharge to escape, and a little turpentine ointment rubbed on the tape every day for three or four days. The wounds must be kept very clean. A seton may be allowed to remain in from one to four weeks.

A seton placed on the back of the neck, running from just behind the back of one ear to the other, is a useful form of counter irritant in cases of chronic epilepsy, also for distemper fits.

In cases of general paralysis, when all four legs are affected, a seton placed on either side of the neck, running along the course of the spine, often do good; and so they do when placed in the loins, one on either side of the spine, in paraplegia or paralysis of the hind quarters.

In pneumonia a seton may be placed in front of the chest, running from the inside of one shoulder-joint to the other.

Troublesome cysts that are difficult to disperse, like those found in the flaps of the ear, may often be cured by running a seton through it, and keeping it there for a few days.

A small seton placed in the throat, just in front of the larynx, is useful in cases of chronic cough.

=Sexual Excitement=:

_Symptoms_: Some dogs are constantly worrying themselves, getting on people’s feet and legs, and working their body, which is, to say the least, most disagreeable. Very often any amount of chastising fails to stop the disagreeable habit, but if the dog is young, there are always hopes that he will improve with time, for, as a rule, when he is a year old the disagreeable habit ceases; but there are dogs who continue to misbehave themselves whenever an opportunity occurs the whole of their lives, and the only cure is to have them castrated, which is a certain cure. This operation does not seem to affect a dog’s health or spirits.

=Shaking Palsy=:

_Symptoms_: Trembling of the limbs, particularly the back ones, when standing, although when walking the dog may go with a normal gait. It is a condition that is more often seen in big dogs than small ones, particularly those with straight hocks and stifle joints. It may also occur as the result of advanced age even in small dogs.

_Treatment_: Medicine is seldom of any use, although sometimes a course of Nux Vomica appears to do some good, and is worth a trial, unless there is some physical defect. The dose is from one to eight drops,[1] given in water after food, and repeated two or three times a day.

=Shock=:

_Symptoms_: The dog is generally in a semi-comatose or unconscious condition, lying on the side; the breathing is feeble and slow; the pulse almost, if not quite, imperceptible; the mouth and also the membranes of the eyes are quite white; the limbs are cold, and if the temperature be taken, it is often 5 or 6 degs. below normal. This condition may be due to loss of blood or the result of internal injury, as after an accident—for instance, being run over with some vehicle.

_Treatment_: Place the dog on his right side, and keep the head low; give stimulants, as brandy, from ten drops to a couple of teaspoonfuls[1] in a little water. If the dog is unable to swallow, inject from ten[1] to sixty drops under the skin. This may be repeated in half an hour, if necessary. Also apply hot-water bottles to the back, and well hand-rub the limbs.

=Snake Bite=:

_Symptoms_: Swelling, redness, and great pain at the part bitten. The breathing becomes heavy and laborious; paralysis sets in; and later, convulsions and death.

_Treatment_: A ligature applied as tightly as possible above the part bitten, and the application of a saturated solution of permanganate of potash (Condy’s fluid undiluted) to the wound. Give stimulants, as brandy or sal volatile, freely, the latter well diluted with water.

=Snoring=:

_Symptoms_: This condition is particularly noticed in old, fat dogs, especially pugs, and other dogs with a short nose.

_Treatment_: When a dog has naturally an exceptionally short nose, there is little to be done. Sometimes when the snoring is worse than usual, a dose of purgative medicine gives some relief. When the dog is very fat, take means to make him thinner. (_See_ article on STOUTNESS.)

=Snorting=:

_Symptoms_: The dog stands with all four legs outstretched and nose extended, and draws the air sharply through his nose as if trying to remove some obstruction in the nasal passages or throat. It may occur at any time, but more often when first going out of doors into the cool air. Snorting often occurs after a cold or distemper. It is also a symptom of a polypus in the nose, and worms in the nasal passages; and dogs suffering from stomach disorders often snort.

_Treatment_: When the result of some simple obstruction of mucus, as from cold or distemper, syringing the nose thoroughly with a solution of common salt (five grains to each ounce of water) gives relief. If the irritation proceeds from the fauces or throat, an emetic should be given, and purgative medicine is indicated if the stomach be deranged. When the condition is due to a polypus, a surgical operation is necessary. Parasites in the nose are difficult to dislodge, but sometimes an ounce of a solution of Pearson’s disinfectant fluid (one in a hundred) syringed up each nostril has the desired effect. I may add that worms in the nostrils of dogs living in England are of rare occurrence.

=Spaying=:

This is an operation occasionally performed on bitches to prevent breeding. Though it succeeds in this respect, it seldom prevents the bitch operated upon coming into heat to a more or less extent, and being troublesome with male dogs. For this and other reasons, the operation is not recommended.

=Sprains=:

_Symptoms_: Pain and swelling of the injured parts, followed, as a rule, by discolouration, lameness.

_Treatment_: If where a bandage can be applied, the following lotion on lint is recommended:—

_Recipe_:

Goulard’s Extract of Lead, 1 drachm. Laudanum, 2 drachms. Water to 6 ounces.

Mix.

A piece of lint should be soaked in the lotion, placed over or around the injured part; this should be covered with a piece of oil-silk, taking care that it entirely covers the lint, and then a bandage applied. Repeat every eight hours. If the injury has occurred where a bandage cannot easily be applied, the following liniment is recommended:—

_Recipe_:

Chloroform, 4 drachms. Tincture Hyoscyamus, 4 drachms. Spirits of Camphor, 1 ounce. Soap Liniment, 2 ounces.

Mix.

Apply with gentle friction twice a day.

In cases of sprains, keep the dog quiet for a week or so, and then give gentle exercise, swimming, for preference, if the weather is suitable, and the dog takes quietly to the water.

In these cases, a free dose of purgative medicine, given as soon after the accident as possible, is beneficial.

=Stifle Joint, Injury to=:

This joint appears to be a particularly weak one in dogs, and is very liable to injury, due from slipping, or twisting of the leg.