The Dog Part 10

The treatment consists in searching for any stump or portion of tooth that may be retained. All such must be extracted, and also all the molars on the diseased side, without any regard to the few which may be left in the jaw. This done, the const.i.tution must be strengthened, and pills, as directed, with the liquor a.r.s.enicalis, should be employed for that purpose.

Iodide of iron One to four grains.

Powdered nux vomica A quarter of a grain to one grain.

Salicine One to four grains.

Extract of gentian Three to twelve grains.

Powdered qua.s.sia As much as may be required.

The above forms one pill, three or four of which should be given daily, with any other medicine which the case may require.

To the part itself a weak solution of the chloride of zinc may be used; but nothing further should be done until the system has been invigorated, and the health, as far as possible, restored. That being accomplished, if the tumor is still perfect, it should be cut down upon and removed. If any part of the bone is diseased, so much should be taken away as will leave a healthy surface.

However, before the dog is brought to the veterinary surgeon for treatment, very often the tumor has lost its integrity, and there is a running sore to be healed. To this probably some ignorant persons have been applying caustics and erodents, which have done much harm, and caused it to increase. In such a case we strengthen the const.i.tution by all possible means, and to the part order fomentations of a decoction of poppy-heads, containing chloride of zinc in minute quant.i.ties. Other anodyne applications may also be employed; the object being to allay any existing irritation, for the chloride is merely added to correct the fetor, which at this period is never absent. After some days we strive to ascertain what action the internal remedies have had upon the cancer; for by this circ.u.mstance the surgeon will decide whether he is justified in hazarding an operation. If the health has improved, but simultaneously the affected part has become worse, then the inference is unfavorable; for the disease is no longer to be regarded as local. The const.i.tution is involved, and an operation would produce no benefit, but hasten the death, while it added to the suffering of the beast. The growth would be reproduced, and its effects would be more violent; consequently nothing further can be done beyond supporting the system, and alleviating any torture the animal may endure. But if the body has improved, and the tumor has remained stationary, or is suspected to be a little better, the knife may be resorted to; although the chance of cure is rather against success.

The age of the animal, and the predisposition to throw out tumors of this nature, are against the result; for too frequently, after the jaw has healed, some distant part is attacked with a disease of a similar character.

WORMING, as it is generally called, is often-practised upon dogs, and both Blaine and Youatt give directions for its performance. I shall not follow their examples. It is a needless, and therefore a cruel operation; and though often requested to do so, I never will worm a dog. Several persons, some high in rank, have been offended by my refusal; but my profession has obligations which may not be infringed for the gratification of individuals. People who talk of a worm in the tongue of a dog, only show their ignorance, and by requesting it should be removed, expose their want of feeling.

Pups, when about half-grown, are sometimes seized with an inclination to destroy all kinds of property. Ladies are often vexed by discovering the havoc which their little favorites have made with articles of millinery; gloves, shawls, and bonnets, are pulled to pieces with a seeming zest for mischief, and the culprit is found wagging its tail for joy among the wreck it has occasioned. Great distress is created by this propensity, and a means to check it is naturally sought for. Mangling the tongue will not have the desired effect. For a few days pain may make the animal disinclined to use its mouth; but when this ceases, the teeth will be employed as ingeniously as before. Some good is accomplished by clipping the temporary fangs: these are very brittle, and easily cut through. The excision causes no pain, but the point being gone, the dog's pleasure is destroyed; and, as these teeth will naturally be soon shed, no injury of any consequence is inflicted. By such a simple measure, more benefit than worming ever produced is secured; for in the last case, almost in every instance, the obnoxious habit entirely ceases.

As to worming being of any, even the slightest, protection, in case rabies should attack the dog, the idea is so preposterous, that I shall not here stay to notice it.

The tongue of the high-bred spaniel is often subject to partial paralysis of one side. When such is the case, the muscles of the healthy side draw the tongue in that direction; and the member hangs out of the mouth, rendering the appearance somewhat unsightly. The organ from exposure becomes dry and hard; and not being properly used to cleanse the nose, this last becomes harsh and encrusted upon such portion of its surface as the disabled tongue cannot reach. The dog is disfigured, but it manages to live, and seems to endure more inconvenience than positive pain. The muscles on the paralysed side do not appear to be entirely deprived of nervous power. I infer this to be the case because they do not waste, and therefore attribute the affection to loss of tone rather than to actual palsy.

The cause is not known. Some dogs are pupped in this condition; others are only affected in this way when age has far advanced. In the latter case the symptom is sudden, and nothing previous has been observed which would denote the probability of the attack; but, arguing from the description of animals which are subject to this affection, and the periods when it mostly is exhibited, we may attribute it to weakness of the const.i.tution.

For the disease nothing of a local nature can be done. I have been induced to try various topical remedies, but not with any satisfactory result; and I am not very hopeful as to future experiments in the same direction.

Const.i.tutional remedies have more power; and by these, if we cannot cure, we may limit the evil. For pups, good nursing--not petting or pampering, but whatever can invigorate--wholesome diet, airy lodging, and sufficient exercise, will do much. For older animals, the same measures, combined with such medicines as correct the digestion and give tone to the system, will be proper. An operation of dividing the muscles of that side on which the tongue protruded was once successful; but on three subsequent occasions it failed, and I have therefore relinquished it; for it is not quite safe, and puts the animal to a great deal of suffering. Dog fanciers sometimes cut off the exposed portion of the tongue, and thereby conceal the defect; but this is a brutal custom, and should not be adopted. The animal so mutilated drinks with difficulty, and the nose ultimately becomes even more unsightly than was the appearance of the hanging tongue.

The tongue is sometimes injured by the teeth, especially during fits. In such cases the wounds generally heal quickly, and require no special attention. Should the sores not mend, the fault is in the system. To that, and not to the part, medicines should be directed, and the matter will be quickly settled.

Salivation should never be produced upon the dog. The largest and strongest of these animals can but ill sustain the const.i.tutional effects of mercury; while to those of a delicate kind it is nearly certain death.

It may be induced by inunction, or rubbing in of ointment, as surely as by calomel internally administered. Chemists mix up various ointments that are called black, blue, red, white, or yellow; and sell these as specifics for skin diseases, which are in the dog all denominated mange. Such things are applied to the entire surface of the body; and as they mostly contain either Turpeth or Ethiop's mineral calomel, or one of the preparations of mercury, no great time is required to produce their fullest effect. The operation of the metal is too frequently mistaken for an aggravation of the disorder; and when the chemist is next visited, he is told to make the stuff stronger, because the other made the dog worse. No warning nature can give will stop the proceeding. Night and day the dog is rubbed with the poison, till its gums are sore, or its teeth fall out; the saliva dribbles from the mouth; the glands enlarge, the dog refusing to eat, and is so weak that it can hardly stand; then, fearing death, a doubt is for the first time entertained, and a veterinary surgeon is requested to look at the animal, and say what it wants.

Chemists are not qualified to administer the drugs they sell to human beings; but they are fairly the murderers of a fourth part of the dogs they physic. They know nothing about these animals, and dispense poison under the name of medicine when they presume to treat them. I have had creatures brought to me in the most terrible condition; and when they have been under domestic treatment--that is, when the chemist has been consulted--I always look to find symptoms of salivation. The signs are not obscure; the gums are either soft, tender, and inflamed, or else very much retracted; the teeth are of a yellow or brownish color, loose and mottled on their surfaces, but not covered with tartar; the breath has a peculiar fetor, and the saliva flows from the lips, while the glands at the jaw are hard; the weakness is excessive, and the appearance dejected. Purgation may be present, and in some instances the whole of the hair has fallen off. One dog, a Scotch terrier, lost every portion of its coat, and was nearly a year before it regained the covering.

Here is a portrait of a Scotch terrier, and the reader will perceive the coat is by the artist truthfully depicted as remarkably long, full, and hairy.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The imagination can, from this likeness of the animal in health, conjure up the resemblance such an object as the poor dog must have presented without its coat. Nor was the loss of the hair the worst part of the business; it never afterwards grew to its proper length. The other symptoms which have been described were present. Fever also existed, though the debility in a great measure concealed it; nor was the issue of the case by any means certain for a week or even longer.

The health may be restored, but the teeth will never regain their whiteness, nor the breath recover its natural odor. A mild acidulated drink, made of sulphuric acid and sweetened water, will be the most proper remedy. It should be made pleasant, and tasted before given to the dog, which will prevent its being administered of too great a potency. Of this as much as can be conveniently got down may be given, from a quarter of a pint to a quart daily; and with it the sulphate of iron, the disulphate of quinine, and vegetable bitters, made into pills, may be joined. If the bowels are costive, injections of the sulphate of magnesia, or small doses of the salt, may be employed, while the food should be nourishing.

Sulphuric acid and the sulphates, with generous diet, will const.i.tute the treatment; and if the case be not too far advanced, these will ultimately restore the strength.

BRONCHOCELE.

This disease is usually seen in greatest severity in pups. It consists in an enlargement of the thyroid body, which increases so much as to destroy the life. In old dogs it is commonly stationary, or of a fixed size.

Spaniels and terriers, are much exposed to it; and of the last-mentioned breed, probably bull-terriers are, of all animals, the most liable to be attacked.

In pups, the thyroid body greatly and quickly enlarges, so as to cut short the life by when the sixth week is attained. The disease of itself, in old dogs, is rather annoying than fatal; but the manner in which it destroys the animal when very young, is by impeding the circulation and respiration. The enlarged thyroid body presses upon the trachea and jugular veins. The blood which should return from the brain and head is thereby prevented descending, and hindered from reaching the heart in a full current. The vessels enlarge so as to become obvious to the most indifferent observer. The veins not only look swelled, but they feel turgid, and cannot be compressed; the little beast is dull; the breathing is very laborious; the animal sleeps much, and at last dies without a struggle, casting off life as it were but a troubled dream. It never has perfectly enjoyed existence, and its departure is not to be regretted.

With the older animals, so far as my experience at present teaches me, the thyroid body, when enlarged, has not suddenly increased; yet this fact by no means proves that the diseased part is always quiescent, and cannot increase in size. Because of this possibility, and the safety of the process, the disease should be eradicated. This is to be done by administering iodine by the mouth, and painting over the enlargement (having the hair first closely shaved off the part) with some of the tincture of the same drug, applied by means of a camel's hair brush. As iodine soon separates and is thrown down to the bottom, all the preparations of it should be used as freshly made as may be convenient.

The mixture of which iodine is the active ingredient, and which is a week old, may be confidently said to have lost the major part of its virtue.

Every three or four days this medicine should be concocted; for even when put into pills, iodine, being very volatile, will evaporate. The quant.i.ty to be given to the dog varies, from a quarter of a grain four times a day to the smallest pup, to two grains four times daily to the largest dog.

The tincture used for painting the throat is made with spirits of wine, an ounce; iodide of pota.s.sium, a drachm.

RESPIRATORY ORGANS.

The Larynx of the dog is affected in various ways. It is called a "little box," and the projecting part of this organ is, in the throat of man, spoken of as "Adam's apple." It opens at the back part of the mouth, and is placed at the beginning of the windpipe. All the air that inflates the lungs must pa.s.s through it, but it will permit nothing else to enter with impunity. A drop of saliva, or the smallest particle of salt, will be sufficient to call forth the most painful irritability. In fact the lining membrane of the larynx is the most tender or sensitive structure in the body; and, as parts are exposed to suffering just in proportion as they are endowed with sensation, of course, the organ so finely gifted is often the seat of disease.

The dog's larynx has many peculiarities. It is very complicated, and exquisitely constructed. Few persons have, perhaps, much attended to the notes of the animal's voice; but those who will observe the sounds may find these take a range far more wide than is generally imagined. The dog's voice is remarkably expressive, and to my ear speaks very intelligible music. The deep growl is not without variety; for by the feeling of the animal that emits it the note is always modulated. The rumble of expostulation the favorite gives utterance to when the master pretends to take away its bone does not resemble the rattle of joy with which the child's playmate accompanies a game of romps. Both, however, are distinct from the suppressed warning with which the watchdog announces the advancing stranger, or the sharp defiance by which he signifies his determination to attack. The bark also is not by any means monotonous, but is capable of infinite variety. The cries of the animal are remarkably modulated; but the soft and gentle sounds it can emit when inclined to coax its master, or answering to the excess of pleasure which his caresses create, are full of natural music. The dog's voice is not to my ear less beautiful than the song of a bird; but more delightful, because it is more full of meaning. The nightingale has but one song, which it constantly repeats. The cur has many tuneful notes, with which it responds to my attentions. Music has been recognised in the tongues of the pack, but I have heard harmony more delightful from the hound in my home. I like to hear the dog's voice, especially when not too loud, and having studied it, I have often wondered the animal did not speak. There can be little doubt it would be able to frame words if it possessed the power to comprehend their meaning; but the high intelligence of the creature unfits it for parrot-like mimicry. The dog is, in all it does, guided by its reason, and it performs no act without a reasonable motive. If any physical incapacity exist, it is to be found rather in the formation of the mouth than in the construction of the larynx, which presents no explanation of the dog's inability to frame definite sounds like words.

The part is rarely the seat of acute disease. In rabies, especially of the dumb kind, it is acutely affected; but of that form of disorder the writer will have to speak in another place. Of acute laryngitis, as met with commonly in the horse, I have not seen an example in the dog, and therefore I shall not here say anything about it. Of chronic disease of the larynx there is no lack of instances. These are brought to us frequently, and generally are submitted to our notice as cases of continued or confirmed cough. Cough, however, is but a symptom; and may be no more than a sympathetic effect induced by the derangement of a distant structure. When it is caused by the condition of the larynx, it has a deep sound, which is never entirely changed in character, however much pain induces the animal to suppress it. It is essentially the same in every stage, though it may be more or less full or loud, according to the state of the air pa.s.sage.

This cough may start up from sympathy; but then it is always less sonorous, harsh, and grating. It is also less spasmodic, and likewise less the consequence of particular causes. When the larynx is the seat of the affection, the cough, should it once begin, continues for a considerable time; and cold air or excitement will invariably induce it. In bad cases every act of inspiration is followed by a kind of noise intermediate between a grunt and a cough. Sometimes the breathing is accompanied by a species of roaring; and I have seen one case in which a blood-hound had every symptom of laryngismus stridulus, or the crowing disease of the human infant.

Laryngeal disorders are seldom brought under our notice until they are confirmed, and they are difficult to cure in proportion to the length of time they have existed. The food in every case must be rigidly regulated, and no solid flesh should be allowed; but if the animal be very old or weak, beef tea or gravy may be added to the rice or biscuit which const.i.tutes the chief portion of the diet. The condition of the stomach must so far as possible be ascertained, and the medicines necessary to correct its disease should be administered. The exercise must not be stinted, neither should confinement within doors be insisted upon. All must be done to a.s.sist the digestion and invigorate the health; such precautions being adopted as prevent the aggravation of the disease.

Sudden changes of atmosphere, as from a warm room to a frosty air during the depth of winter, should obviously be avoided; neither would it be prudent to race the animal about, or induce it to perform any action calculated to accelerate the breathing.

At the commencement a gentle emetic given every other morning until six or seven have been administered, with a laxative occasionally if the bowels are torpid, is often productive of speedy benefit. A mustard poultice to the throat is also to be recommended, but he who applies it must be attentive to remove it when it appears to seriously pain the animal. It may be repeated on each successive night, or even oftener, but should never be reapplied before the skin on which it was previously placed has ceased to be tender. Leeches to the throat are often of service, as also are small blisters to the chest. I found great improvement result from wearing a very wide bandage, which was kept wet, and covered with oil silk, round the neck. This is easily made, and strips of gutta percha, or stout leather, will prevent it being doubled up by the motions of the head; and it is scarcely a disfigurement, since it only looks like a large collar. A seton in the throat may be tried, but though often beneficial, it ought only to be inserted by a person acquainted with the anatomy of the dog; for the jugular veins in this animal are connected by several large branches, which run just where the seton would be introduced. These could not be pierced with impunity, nor ought the seton to be left in so long as might induce sloughing, when the vessels probably would be opened; for as the dog badly sustains the loss of blood, the result would surely be fatal.

Internal medicines are not to be neglected. All sedatives, balsams, expectorants, and peppers, with some alkalies and stimulants, may be tried, and even alterative doses of mercury with caution resorted to. Dogs are more peculiar with respect to the medicines that act upon individuals than any other animals I am acquainted with. That which touches one will be inoperative upon another; and what violently affects one, will on a second, apparently of the same bulk, strength, age, and character, be actually powerless. This renders dog-practice so difficult, and makes the explanation of any decided mode of treatment almost impossible. A great deal must necessarily be left to the discretion of the pract.i.tioner, who, despite his utmost care, will often have reason for regret, if he do not in every new instance proceed with caution. The following pills are likely to do good:--

Barbadoes tar Half a drachm to two drachms.

Powdered squills A drachm to four drachms.

Extract of belladonna Half a scruple to four scruples.

Liquorice powder A sufficiency.

Beat into a ma.s.s, and make into twenty pills; give four daily. Or,

James's powder One grain to four grains.

Dover's powder Six grains to a scruple.

Balsam of Peru A sufficiency.

Make into one pill and give as before. Or,

Extract of hyoscyamus One to four grains.

Powdered ammoniac.u.m, } Four to twelve grains.

and cubebs, of each } Venice turpentine A sufficiency.

Powdered capsic.u.ms and cantharides have also seemed to touch the disease; but no one medicine has to me appeared to have any specific influence over it. In these cases mere formulae could be extended almost indefinitely; but the reason must be exerted, and the prescription must be dictated by the symptoms. Thus, when there is much nervous excitability accompanied with gastric derangement, Prussic acid of Scheele's strength, in doses of half a drop to two drops, may be exhibited; and if the mouth be dry, and the disposition irritable, from five to twenty drops of the tincture of Indian tobacco may be administered. If the throat is very sore, the mouth may be held open, and ten grains of powdered alum mixed with four times its weight of fine sugar may be blown into it, or in severe instances, the fauces may be mopped out by means of a piece of soft sponge tied to the end of a probe, and saturated with a solution containing six grains of nitrate of silver dissolved in an ounce of water.

Ulceration of the interior of the larynx is to be dreaded if the symptoms do not yield. This will be denoted by the cough becoming weaker, less loud, more short, and also more frequent. Prior to it there are always intervals during which the animal enjoys repose; but after ulceration of the larynx is established every inhalation provokes the irritability of the organ. With it the const.i.tutional symptoms become more serious, and little can then by medicine be accomplished; for the pa.s.sage of the air which is necessary to life causes the affection we desire to cure to spread. Tracheotomy might be performed, though the dog is so very expert with its claws, and any tape around the neck would be probably so injurious, that hitherto I have not ventured to hazard the experiment.

Humanity has, in such cases, forced me to recommend the destruction of the life which I entertained no hope of comforting.