Part 18

Occasionally an abscess forms at the root of the large upper molar tooth; the face swells just under the eye. The abscess, after a few days, generally breaks. The swelling should be fomented with hot boracic lotion, but to effect a cure, the tooth must be removed. It is a difficult one to extract unless it is loose, and no amateur should attempt to do it. An anæsthetic ought always to be given.

=Teeth, Cutting the Tusks=:

It is sometimes necessary with sheep dogs, dogs used for catching deer, and dogs in the habit of biting and fighting, to cut the tusks level with the incisor teeth. This is best done with a pair of strong bone or wire nippers. The operation apparently causes very little inconvenience or pain, for the dog is always ready to eat immediately afterwards.

=Teeth, Tartar on the=:

_Symptoms_: Dogs always fed on soft food and never having anything hard to eat, get their teeth covered with brown-coloured tartar early in life, even sometimes before two years old. If this is not from time to time removed, it continues to increase, until at last the whole tooth becomes thickly encrusted, and to such an extent, in old pet dogs particularly, that the mouth is unable to be closed. As the result of the tartar, the gums become swollen, inflamed, and tender; they recede from the neck of the teeth, which become loose. A dog with teeth in this state is always dribbling, and eats with difficulty, and the breath is often most offensive.

_Treatment_: Dogs should always be encouraged to eat something hard daily—a piece of dog-biscuit does very well; if this is refused, a hard bone, one that cannot be eaten, should be given to gnaw. This, of course, is only a preventative, and when regularly attended to, the teeth and gums remain good and sound for years. When once tartar has accumulated, nothing will remove it but scraping; which should be done regularly two or three times a year, and if this is done, and the teeth daily cleaned with an ordinary tooth-brush, moistened with warm water and a little of the following powder sprinkled on it, they will keep clean and white, and the breath sweet so long as the dog lives:—

_Recipe: Tooth Powder_:

Powdered Boracic Acid, 10 grains. Camphorated Chalk, 1 ounce.

Well mix.

Removing the tartar from a tooth that is somewhat loose does not tighten it, though it preserves the tooth, and for a time often prevents it becoming looser. It is impossible to remove tartar from a very loose tooth, and for the dog’s comfort, it should be extracted at once.

=Temperature=:

To know the temperature of the body is very important in treating disease, more especially in cases of distemper; for it is a fact that so long as a dog does not have a high temperature when suffering from this complaint, the attack is not a severe one, and the dog, bar accident or relapse, has a good chance of recovery. When the temperature is high, say, 104 or 105, and continues so for some days, the case is always a serious one, and if it continues, complications, especially those of the nervous system, are almost sure to ensue. These remarks not only refer to distemper, but to all other diseases in which a high temperature is one of the symptoms; as, for instance, inflammation of the womb, blood poisoning, pneumonia, peritonitis, diseases of the brain, formation of abscesses, etc.

In many cases it is not necessary to take much notice of the temperature beyond watching it carefully, and keeping a daily record of its rising and falling, but when it keeps persistently high, say, such as over 104, then special medicine must be given to try and reduce it. There are many medicines which have the power of reducing the temperature, and when they are going to have a good effect they generally work quickly, and if they do not succeed in reducing the temperature, say, within forty-eight hours, they should not be persevered in, as then they only do harm.

Antipyrin, in doses from two[1] to ten grains, given in a cachet, is one of the best antipyretics. Phenacetin, given in doses varying from half a grain[1] to five grains; salicylate of soda, aspirin and salicine, in doses from two to fifteen grains[1] in a cachet, tablet, or dissolved in water, and repeated three or four times a day.

In some cases when these fail, salicylate of quinine will have the desired effect, in doses from one[1] to five grains, given in a cachet. If this fails to reduce the temperature, then an ice-bag may be tried, applied to the top of the head for an hour at a time, and then all medicines discontinued. A little brandy, say, from five drops[1] to a teaspoonful, given in water or milk every two, three, or four hours is advisable.

A very low temperature, say, when the thermometer will not rise above 95 degs. F., is much more dangerous than a very high temperature. In such cases, prompt measures must be taken to try and warm the animal. Hot sponges should be applied to the head; also hot-water bottles applied to the back and to the feet. From five[1] to twenty drops of sulphuric ether may be given every hour or so, in from a teaspoonful[1] to a tablespoonful of water. Strong coffee may also be given, from a teaspoonful[1] to a tablespoonful, repeated every half hour. If the dog is very much collapsed, and unable to swallow, strong coffee may be given as an enema, say, from a dessertspoonful[1] to two ounces, and repeated every half hour. Brandy may also be given, injected under the skin, say, from ten drops[1] to a teaspoonful, or very minute doses of strychnine may be given, from the four hundredth part of a grain[1] for a small dog to the one hundred and fiftieth part of a grain for a large one. This medicine may be given dissolved in from two[1] to ten drops of tincture digitalis.

In such cases as these the dog must be given, if he will swallow, small doses of some strong beef essence, as from ten drops[1] to a teaspoonful of Valentine’s beef juice, in from a teaspoonful[1] to a tablespoonful of milk, and repeated every half hour or so.

=Testicle (Inflammation of)=:

_Symptoms_: The gland is swollen and very painful to the touch, the scrotum is generally inflamed, red, and thickened. The dog walks with stiffness in the hind legs, and there is generally a rise of two or three degrees of the temperature.

_Treatment_: Frequent hot poppy-head tea fomentations, made by boiling for ten minutes two crushed poppy-heads in a quart of boiling water and then straining the solid matter out through fine muslin. Aperient medicine should be given and the dog kept on a light diet for a few days.

=Testicles (Enlargement of)=:

_Symptoms_: The gland or glands are more or less enlarged, and they have become so as the result, in most cases, of some injury; but occasionally the causes cannot be traced: this is especially so with old dogs. The condition is not of an uncommon occurrence. It is not often that both glands are affected.

_Treatment_: Medicinal treatment in these cases is useless. If the gland is much enlarged and continues to increase in size, it should be removed by operation; but very often after getting to a certain size it ceases to increase, and if it does not cause any discomfort by hanging very low and interfering with the dog’s walking, or looks very unsightly, it may be left alone, especially if the patient is an aged one, and it is an old dog’s complaint.

=Tetanus=:

_Symptoms_: A rare disease in dogs, but does sometimes follow a bad wound, particularly to the eye. Often it is difficult to account for the cause. The disease, when it attacks dogs, generally only affects the muscles of the jaw (_see_ LOCK-JAW), but when the whole body is affected, it commences with stiffness of the muscles of the limbs and neck, followed shortly afterwards by violent spasms of the whole body, including the muscles of the jaw, which cannot be forced open, and the throat is also affected, making it impossible to swallow. The pain during the spasms is acute and the temperature very high, often over 107. The disease generally terminates fatally.

_Treatment_: Keep patient quiet in a dark place, and relieve spasms by giving from one-twelfth[1] to one-fourth of a grain of acetate of morphia, with from ⅟₂₅₀th[1] to ⅟₁₀₀th of a grain of sulphate of atropine in a few minims of water, injected under the skin. The dose may be repeated every six or eight hours.

To keep up the strength, try and get the patient to swallow white of egg and milk; also Sanatogen mixed with milk or water. When unable to swallow the strength must be maintained by nutritive enemas, as peptonised milk, from one[1] to six tablespoonfuls given every three hours alternately with one or two peptonised beef suppositories. Brandy, if necessary, may be given with the milk.

=Thermometer=:

The little instrument for taking the temperature, or for ascertaining whether there is fever or not, is called a clinical thermometer. The kind used for animals is the same as used for people. Those that register the heat of the body in half a minute are certainly the best for dogs.

The temperature is best taken in the rectum—bowel, for here there is less danger of breaking the instrument, but it may also be taken in the mouth, as well as under the arm or inside the thigh. The normal temperature in the mouth is 99·6, under the arm 100·4 to 101, in the bowel 101·4.

When it is intended to take the temperature in the bowel the point of the thermometer should be greased, and inserted into the bowel for an inch and a half, so as to be sure the mercury is quite covered. When the temperature is taken under the arm or inside the thigh, care must be taken that the point of the instrument is well buried in the skin, or a wrong temperature may be taken. At least a minute and a half should be allowed when taking the temperature in these parts, even when a half-minute registering thermometer is used.

=Thirst=:

_Symptoms_: Excessive drinking of water in large quantities when it can be obtained. A dog, when he is suffering from catarrh of the stomach or diabetes, which induces great thirst, will drink anything, the craving for fluid being so great, even soapy or muddy water, and he will even lick up his own urine when other fluid cannot be found. There is loss of condition, the appetite is poor, the muscles waste, particularly about the neck and limbs, whilst the stomach often becomes full and pendulous.

_Treatment_: The quantity of water allowed in these cases must be regulated. Dogs in health drink very little except in hot weather, or when taking hard exercise, but under the abnormal circumstances in question, much more than what is taken in health may be allowed. Small dogs may be given half a pint a day, divided into four or five lots, and big dogs two quarts a day, similarly divided into small quantities. For medicine give half a drop[1] to two drops of liquor arsenicalis (P.B.) three times a day, mixed with the drinking water. If after a week the thirst continues, give from the eighth[1] to a grain of powdered opium two or three times a day made into a pill.

_Diet_: Avoid meat, but you may offer stewed rabbit with rice, also fish, tripe, milk, pudding, etc.

=Throat (Sore)=:

_Symptoms_: The back of the throat (fauces) is inflamed and slightly swollen, causing some difficulty in swallowing; the lips are moist from excessive secretion of saliva, and the glands about the outside of the throat are enlarged. The dog is often off his food, dull and listless.

_Treatment_: Give a teaspoonful of following medicine frequently:—

_Recipe_:

Chlorate of Potash, 1 drachm. Water to 6 ounces.

Mix.

A light diet should be given for a few days, and the external enlarged glands rubbed gently, night and morning, with spirits of camphor. If the fauces remain inflamed after a few days, paint the parts night and morning for two or three days with a two-per-cent. solution of nitrate of silver.

=Ticks=:

_Symptoms_: These parasites are generally obtained from sheep in England. They are small, blue-coloured little creatures with pointed heads, with which they dig into the dog’s skin and suck the blood, and as they do so they gradually increase in size to a tick bean. They naturally cause a good deal of irritation, and make the dog bite and scratch.

_Treatment_: They should be carefully picked off the dog with forceps, avoiding breaking them if possible. The little spot caused by the bite of the tick soon heals, and does not require any special treatment.

=Tongue (Chorea in the)=:

_Symptoms_: The tongue is continually being popped in and out of the front of the mouth for an inch or more. This is a rare disease, and I have only seen one case, and that was in a collie. As in ordinary chorea, it is the result of distemper.

_Treatment_: _See_ CHOREA.

=Tongue (Inflammation of)=:

_Symptoms_: Swelling and redness of the tongue; it often hangs out of the mouth, the result of temporary paralysis, and the dog is unable to lap. The condition is generally caused by injury from the teeth, as a bite during a fit, or a sharp tooth. Wasps’ stings will also induce the same condition.

_Treatment_: Wash the mouth and tongue thoroughly several times a day with a solution of borax, one teaspoonful to half a pint of water. To any wounds or ulcers apply sparingly night and morning a two-per-cent. solution of nitrate of silver. When the tongue is very swollen and protruding beyond the mouth, apply ice.

=Tongue (Paralysis of)=:

_Symptoms_: The tongue hangs out of the mouth generally, to one side sometimes, but not often, in front, and there is inability to retract it. The protruding part has a dead and cracked appearance, and loses its natural pink colour. There is a difficulty in eating and drinking. This condition may follow injury to the head; it is sometimes present in cases of general paralysis, the sequel of distemper or from other causes, and it is often seen in old dogs, especially those with a short face, as pugs and Japanese spaniels, due to loss of teeth.

_Treatment_: Medicine has little effect in these cases. When the result of injury or distemper, as the dog improves in general health the tongue regains strength. A course of Nux Vomica as recommended for general paralysis assists.

=Tongue (Warts on)=:

_Symptoms_: Small greyish-coloured excrescences appear all over the tongue, as well as on the cheeks and lips. Warts on the tongue and mouth are only seen in puppies. I do not remember seeing them in an adult dog. Sometimes they appear in such numbers as to inconvenience a puppy when feeding. Thick, dirty-looking saliva dribbles from the mouth; the breath is offensive. They are contagious from one puppy to another.

_Treatment_: Wash the mouth out two or three times a day with a teaspoonful[1] or a drachm of common washing-soda dissolved in half a pint of warm water. Do not cut the warts to make them bleed, as that only increases the number. When the solution of soda does not take them away dress the warts (only a few each day) with a five-per-cent. solution of chromic acid applied sparingly on the end of a wooden match.

In obstinate cases a course of Donovan’s solution of arsenic does good; give twice a day after food from one to five drops[1] in a little water, or it may be mixed with the food.

=Tongue (Wounds and Ulcers of the)=:

_Symptoms_: The wound may be a simple, punctured one induced by one of the tusks during a fit, or the tip of the tongue may be bitten off, the result of an accident. Abrasions and ulcers occur along the sides of the tongue, due to friction against the molar teeth when thickly encrusted with tartar. Very severe and dangerous ulcers appear on the sides and point of the tongue in cases of acute gastro-enteritis or German distemper, and occasionally in this disease the point of the tongue sloughs off.

_Treatment_: In ordinary wounds of the tongue, when there is no suppuration, simply washing the mouth often with borax and water—one teaspoonful to half a pint—several times a day is sufficient, but when there is suppuration and ulceration of the parts, besides keeping clean with the borax, the ulcers should be painted twice a day with a five-per-cent. solution of chromic acid. The teeth should be thoroughly cleaned by scraping, especially on the inside. When the point of the tongue dies—in which case it turns to a greyish-white colour—it should be clipped off with scissors and the wound caused by the operation dressed two or three times a day with the chromic acid lotion.

=Tonsilitis=:

_See_ THROAT (SORE).

=Toothache=:

_Symptoms_: Dogs’ teeth, as the result of their formation, do not often decay, but as the result of the accumulation of tartar the gums recede, the fangs become exposed, and suppuration takes place around the neck of the tooth, which extends into the socket or alveolar cavity. The adjoining gum becomes swollen and tender.

_Treatment_: As a rule, in these cases it is best to extract the tooth at once, which quickly gives relief, but this is sometimes objected to by the owner. In these circumstances the tooth should be thoroughly cleaned by scraping, and strong carbolic acid applied very sparingly around the neck of the tooth on a piece of sharp wood or a pointed wooden match. The mouth should be kept clean by being sponged night and morning with a saturated solution of boracic acid.

The offending tooth has to be extracted sooner or later.

=Tumours=:

_Symptoms_: New growths, causing swelling and enlargement of the part of the body in which they appear. A tumour, unlike an abscess, generally forms slowly, and is at first usually not painful, and moreover, is not accompanied during the early stages by a rise of temperature as is found when an abscess is forming.

_Treatment_: It is seldom that a tumour of any kind can be reduced or removed except by a surgical operation. I have sometimes thought that gently rubbing the tumours formed on the milk glands, especially when small, daily for some time with iodine vasogen has checked their growth.

Directly a tumour has been diagnosed, unless the patient is a very old one, it is best to have it removed before it has developed into a large growth; the operation, unless the tumour is situated in the neck, is a simple one, and the wound, with ordinary aseptic precautions, heals in seven or eight days. Of course there are some exceptions, as, when the tumour is a cancer or some other malignant growth, it is not always advisable to sew the wound up after operation, but then of course it takes much longer to heal.

=Ulcers=:

_Symptoms_: These are unhealthy wounds or sores left after decay or destruction of some superficial parts of the body.

_Treatment_: Keep them clean by sponging two or three times a day with Pearson’s fluid—one teaspoonful to half a pint of water. For a day or two apply either hot linseed-meal poultice dusted over with powdered charcoal, or a piece of lint soaked in a saturated solution of boracic acid, placed over the wound and covered with oil-silk, then bandage. When the wound looks cleaner, healthier, and discharges less, and there are signs of healing by the formation of new skin around the edges of the wound, simply cover it over with some carbolic gauze squeezed out in a solution of boracic acid, and apply a bandage.

When an ulcer is healing very slowly, lint dipped in the following lotion and applied to the ulcer stimulates healthy action and healing:—

_Recipe: The Lotion_:

Tincture Calendula, 3 drachms. Sulphate of Zinc, 1 scruple. Water to 6 ounces.

Mix.

Apply as directed two or three times a day. In some cases dusting the wound over with a powder made with one part of iodoform mixed with eight parts of boracic acid. Amyloform is also another good healing powder. It is necessary to keep the dog’s tongue away from it, otherwise he is continually licking off the new skin as it forms.

=Uræmia=:

_Symptoms_: This condition generally follows some severe illness affecting the kidneys or bladder when the suppression of the secretion of urine has occurred. Anything that stops the flow of water from the bladder, as stone or stricture, may cause it; it also occurs in bad cases of stone in the kidney. In these cases the dog is very ill, there is an entire loss of appetite and often severe vomiting; a heavy, sleepy condition soon comes on, and the temperature is very high. The white of the eyes are greatly congested, and any urine passed is of dark colour and may be mixed with blood. Sometimes there are convulsions, but the dog soon sinks into a comatose state. As a rule these cases terminate fatally.

_Treatment_: It is often difficult to give medicine by the mouth in these cases as the vomiting is generally so severe and frequent, but the dog is able, as a rule, to drink milk and Vichy water in equal parts. If possible, give a purgative, Epsom salts being about the best. The dose is from fifteen grains to one ounce,[1] given in water, or with milk and Vichy water if the dog can be persuaded to take it. Small doses of urotropine stimulates the action of the kidneys, from one[1] to eight grains in a cachet may be given every four or six hours. Hot linseed-meal poultices to loins relieve the kidney congestion.

As to diet, milk and Vichy water are quite sufficient to sustain the dog for two or three days, when, if patient is better, fish may be given, but when this cannot be digested, peptonised milk, from one to six[1] tablespoonfuls, may be given every two hours.

=Urethritis=:

_Symptoms_: Pain when passing water, or when handled; mattery discharge often tinged with blood from passage. The penis is swollen and red from the inflammation. This condition is generally caused by the passage of gravel, and it may also be the result of frequently passing a catheter.

_Treatment_: Hot poppy-head fomentations do good. For medicine give from three[1] to twenty grains of hyposulphite of soda in water three times a day. If there is much pain, from two[1] to ten drops of tincture of henbane may be given with each dose of the above.

Feed principally on a milk diet; some boiled fresh fish may be given, but meat must be avoided.

=Urine (Incontinence)=:

_See_ INCONTINENCE OF URINE.

=Urine (Sediment in)=:

_Symptoms_: The urine may be passed white and cloudy, or clear, but of a high colour, and when cold there is a thick, yellowish-white deposit.

_Treatment_: When accompanied by some illness with a high fever, no special treatment is necessary, as the condition will pass away as the health improves, but when the symptoms described are present and the dog seems otherwise apparently well, give a course of hyposulphite of soda, from three to twenty[1] grains two or three times a day in water or a little milk. A dog will generally take this medicine himself when mixed with milk.

_Diet_: Milk, tripe, stewed rabbit, etc., with rice or bread, but avoid red meat.

=Urticaria=:

_See_ NETTLERASH.

=Uterus, Inflammation of (Metritis)=: