The Dog Part 21

At length the poor b.i.t.c.h pants, staggers, falls, and writhes in convulsions, which on an average continue about five minutes. The struggle subsides, to leave the animal in a sad state of weakness. The pulse then is quick and feeble; the pupil of the eye is dilated; and if the teats be tried, the milk they ought to contain will be found absent.

For the fit itself little need be done. While they are violent, an injection of ether and laudanum may be thrown up; and when the consciousness is in some degree recovered, a dose of the same, with from a quarter of an ounce to an ounce of sherry may be administered. Afterwards a few tonics may be given; but the mother must never be permitted to visit her young ones as before. Either a foster-parent must be found (and a cat will rear a small pup very tenderly), or the litter must in part be brought up by hand.

This last is more troublesome than difficult to do. The pups want to be fed early and late; consequently, they must be taken into the bed-room; and when the feeding time arrives, the soundest sleeper will be reminded of his duty. A bottle, such as is used for infants of the human kind, must have a sort of nipple made of wash-leather fitted to it. The leather is to be p.r.i.c.ked all over with a fine needle, and within it is to be placed a small piece of sponge to give substance and form to it. There is need to do that, because the pup when it sucks wraps the tongue round the teat; and unless the body it thus grasps has bulk, it cannot extract the liquid.

This, therefore, being attended to, the little creatures very soon learn their lesson, and all that is subsequently to be done will be to hold them to the bottle, and the bottle to them. Each pup occupies from ten to fifteen minutes at a meal; and they may be allowed to decide the quant.i.ty that will do them good, unless one should obviously be morbidly gluttonous, when the indulgence of its appet.i.te should be restrained.

During the night the b.i.t.c.h must be kept away from her hungry tormentors; but in the day-time she may be allowed to go to them every time after they have been fed; and she may remain to enjoy their society for half-an-hour on each occasion. The small gluttons, though full of cow's juice, will nevertheless find appet.i.te for such a luxury as mother's milk; but their energies being blunted, they will have power to do no more than to prevent an acc.u.mulation within the glands. The little, however, which they can swallow seems to do them much good; for after this manner I have brought up many pups, though, when I have attempted to rear them wholly upon cow's milk, success has not always rewarded my care.

There is only one circ.u.mstance needed to be pointed out when pups are brought up by hand. The sponge and leather of the false nipple is apt to become sour; and therefore, after they have been used, they should be kept in water rendered slightly alkaline with the carbonate of soda.

At three weeks old, puppies may be brought to lap a little; and they not only learn quickly where their bellies are concerned, but they never, like other children, forget what they once acquire. After a month a little sc.r.a.ped meat or boiled rice may be added to their diet; and by five weeks old they will feed themselves. Therefore, if the trouble be great it does not last long; and to those who can make an amus.e.m.e.nt of the business, the pleasure repays the labor. I do not know whether feeding pups is quite as agreeable a pastime as killing birds; but I am sure it is far less dangerous to him who follows it; though the difference of name given to such recreations may, to weak eyes, invest them with very opposite attractions.

At this place it is not intended to enter at length into the plan to be pursued in rearing the pups; but the method in which they ought to be weaned must be pointed out. Some persons remove the entire litter at a stated period; various dates being fixed by different individuals when the young ones can do for themselves. A pup can survive if taken from the mother at the expiration of the third week; but it must be a strong animal, or it will feel such an early separation from the source of its natural nourishment.

The stronger the pup, the more attached is the b.i.t.c.h to it; and I have known these animals to pine and neglect the rest, when the favorite has been taken from her. If, however, the healthy are beloved, the weakly, in almost a stronger degree, are the objects of dislike. In many breeds where the value is regulated by the lightness of the weight, the one most prized by the owner is the one that too frequently dies. The causes of this disappointment are many. Pups have neither politeness nor generosity. They scramble at their meals; and the one that is not able to contest for his share is certain to get the least. Thus the debilitated hope of particular litters comes but badly off. It is pushed aside by its brothers and sisters, whose vigorous greediness appears to endear them to their mother.

For the boisterous gluttons she will accommodate her position, and fondly lick them in return for their energetic appet.i.tes; but to the poor sickly thing she has given life to, she lends no a.s.sistance, and bestows no attention upon. She seems to be ashamed of, and disgusted with, its degeneracy and while the others grow fat and sleek from positive repletion, it becomes thin and dirty from actual starvation. Where, therefore, it is desirable to rear the smallest of the litter, the proprietor must take care to see it properly fed. The b.i.t.c.h may need to be held, in order that the little one may suck her; and often have I placed her under such restraint.

In order that the small one may be nurtured, some persons have taken away from the mother the rest of the family; but this practice, though successful with regard to the life, generally disappoints with respect to the diminutiveness, which made the existence precious. Upon the abundance which such single blessedness secures, the growth is generally rapid; and it is not very long before Nature makes up for her previous stint. The better method is, to let the companions continue; care being exercised only to see that at meal-times all share alike.

The b.i.t.c.h, also, requires our attention to observe that all the glands are properly emptied. Puppies, like children, are apt to be fanciful where plenty prevails; and it is no very rare occurrence for a litter to combine in refusing to draw the most forward of the teats. These are situated under the sternum or breast-bone; and repeatedly have animals with young ones recently born been brought to me, because their owners perceived symptoms which could not be interpreted. The animal is restless; the nose is dry; the tongue hot; the appet.i.te is either lost, feeble, or capricious; and the dog is disinclined to move, often crying out when obliged to walk.

If the teats are examined, all those posteriorly situated will be found fairly drawn. On these the pups can take a firm hold; and as they are the most capacious, no doubt they present temptations against which the lesser glands anteriorly placed cannot compete. The smaller are therefore rejected; and will be found to be distended with their secretion. If this is removed, and, as necessity arises, afterwards withdrawn, no more need be done, but the symptoms will subside.

To milk the b.i.t.c.h requires only a little patience. The gland should be taken between the finger and thumb, when any degree of pressure, not designed to create pain, may be made, and the fluid squeezed out. The animal submits with pleasure to have this operation performed, and seldom moves before it is perfectly accomplished. Where any appearance of hardness is detected, the place should be kneaded between the finger and thumb; for pains should be taken to remove the coagulated milk, which is generally the cause of the induration. Frequent and thorough milking will do more good in these cases than any of the active remedies sold by chemists and dog-fanciers, for the purpose of immediately curing them.

To dry up the milk of a b.i.t.c.h is a duty we are often called upon to perform; but it is one I invariably decline to accept. The animal will always soon cease to yield its secretion if it be let alone; for if dog's milk were valuable, we should in vain use our utmost art to prolong its continuance. When the pups are removed, Nature takes away that which is no longer required; but if the litter be suddenly separated from the mother, or all the young should be born dead, Nature may not immediately accommodate herself to the circ.u.mstances. In such cases, the milk should be withdrawn three times daily; a dose of opening medicine should be administered, and the food should be spare. A few days' attention will be required; but the matter, if neglected, causes much suffering, and very frequently lays the foundation for future evil.

Falling of the v.a.g.i.n.a, or membrane lining the pa.s.sage to the womb, is sometimes witnessed in animals that are much confined, and consequently of a debilitated habit. Creatures so savage as to be dangerous, and which, therefore, cannot be properly exercised, are most subject to it; and I have in the greater number of instances met with it in high-bred bull-b.i.t.c.hes of that disposition.

The reason of this is, the bull-dog ranks as an entirely artificial creation. In proof of this stands the well-known fact, that unless the breed be sedulously kept up, it is apt to degenerate, or to become extinct. Old breeders even now say, the ancient kind of English bull-dog is nowhere to be found. But take another proof. We want no anatomical knowledge or prejudice: in him formation is to be judged. Let the reader look at the head of the animal depicted on page 404. Is not the cranium a malformation? Do not the habits of the animal prove it to be a pampered creation? It is not generally known, that the disposition of the genuine bull-dog is too fond. It will fondle upon any stranger; and yet, contrary to the general custom of its race, it displays small preference for its master. It will fondle a human being as though its heart would burst with affection; but upon the slightest excitement--often upon a sudden sound--it will fly at and mangle the hand that was caressing it. Then the hold taken by this animal is more retentive than is strictly natural. It will fix upon an object, and frequently suffer itself to be dismembered before it will let go its hold, although its master's voice be energetically raised to command it. Do not these traits bespeak the being formed rather by man's malice, than created by Nature's goodness? Look at the likeness of the beast, and say how far it resembles the mild, graceful, and generous race to which it outwardly belongs.

It is the high, or rather perverted, state in which the breed is kept, that subjects them to accidents; it is the pampered condition in which these antipodes to beauty are reared that renders them so liable to afflictions that do not affect the ordinary run of their kind--such as falling of the v.a.g.i.n.a. It comes on generally when heat is present, and mostly disappears when the excitement subsides. A red bag is seen to be pendulous from the orifice of the part; and if no care be taken to prevent it, this by exposure gets injured; becomes hard; bleeds freely, and is difficult to return. It often presents a pitiable aspect; but however painful it may be to look at, there seems to be but little suffering attending it. The animal permits it to be freely handled, and does not resist even when sharp dressings are applied.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BULL-DOG.]

In such cases cleanliness is to be strictly observed. If the protruded membrane should be thickened and excoriated, it must be well washed with a sponge and warm water. Afterwards it may be bathed with a lotion, (made of nitric acid one drachm, to proof-spirit one ounce,) and then returned. A cold injection, composed of alum one drachm, dissolved in spring water one pint, may be used thrice daily; and from a quarter of a grain to a grain of powdered gallic acid may be given three times a-day.

The inversion of the womb is more serious; but it is generally more speedily restored. In the larger animals, that produce one or two young at a time, the uterus is commonly inverted subsequent to parturition; but in the dog I have known it only when the womb had for some period been unimpregnated. Blows may cause it; so also may excessive weakness; and the earlier it is attended to, the more readily will it be restored. The treatment is described in the following narrative, which was published by me in the _Veterinarian_.

"I began by having a soft clean cloth spread upon a table, and, placing the dog on this, with a sponge the uterus was gently moistened. No friction was employed, but with tepid water the part was carefully sopped. This process was not quick. An hour and a half expired before all the extraneous matter was by it removed. This accomplished, with a pair of scissors the fibrinous tumors were snipped off. The hemorrhage was trivial; but there yet remained marks of bruises and signs of laceration which could not be cut away.

To these a spirituous solution of nitric acid--a drachm to the ounce--was applied, and the entire of the exposed surface dressed with it.

"Knowing the peculiar form of the pa.s.sage, I was able to return the womb, and met with little obstruction. Up to this point I had succeeded better than at first I hoped; but here came the difficulty. The uterus was replaced, but how was it to be retained? The irritability of the system would have a natural tendency to reject the viscus, and the lotion I had used was not of a soothing quality. To render the case more desperate, there was the knowledge of the temperament and habits of the animal--its manner of sitting--its mode of curving the spine to void its faeces--the marked excitability of its generative organs--and its peculiar sensitiveness to suffering.

"To own the truth, I had done so much more than, seeing the hardened and lacerated condition of the parts, I had in the first instance antic.i.p.ated was possible, that I was not exactly prepared for my good fortune. I remained for some time thinking--and, really puzzled, requested those present not to speak. I wanted some combination of medicine which I could not satisfactorily procure. A sedative to the general system was required, but not one that should depress; as, after operations of this description, the vital powers are disposed to sink, and therefore generally require to be stimulated. I moreover wanted an excitant to the uterus.

Many things were hastily thought of, and as quickly rejected; and, in my difficulty, I was at last obliged to ask advice of those about me. A bandage or harness to pa.s.s over the parts was suggested; but the almost impossibility of fixing it properly, and the mischievous ingenuity the dog exhibits with its teeth, rendered this plan obviously inappropriate. One person proposed to adopt the custom--sometimes, I am sorry to say, followed by cow-leeches--of pa.s.sing st.i.tches through the l.a.b.i.a. The brutal and unjustifiable practice was of course rejected, and, I trust, by the members of the veterinary profession, it is never embraced.

"Fairly at my wits' end, I suddenly determined to try how the injection of cold water into the uterus would act. I knew of no case in which this agent had been employed, and could not feel confidence concerning the consequences of the experiment; but, in despair, I resolved to hazard it. A quant.i.ty fresh from the pump was therefore obtained, and it was thrown up, being allowed to flow back. A stream of cold water was thus made to pa.s.s over the interior of the uterus, and about two quarts had been used before the animal appeared to be at all affected, excepting that the injection seemed to induce a sensation of discomfort. At last a feeble moan was uttered, which, when another pint or thereabouts had been injected, burst into something approaching to a cry. I then desisted. The tube was withdrawn, and, hoping that the symptom of pain resulted from the contraction of the organic fibre under the stimulating effects of the cold, the animal was ordered to be placed where nothing could disturb it.

"Having pa.s.sed an hour in the company of my friend, when about to leave I requested to see the dog once more. The animal had been put into a hayloft, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear it give tongue on our approach: it came to meet us, and the change was such as I could not have antic.i.p.ated. The parts had regained almost their natural appearance; certainly they presented nothing to indicate the aspect they had exhibited only a few hours before.

"A mild aperient was given. The animal had no other medicine, neither was any local application used. For three days a slight discharge of a blackish color ensued; but when this stopped, the animal was returned to its owner cured."

Hardened swellings, or indurated tumors in the teats, are very common in the b.i.t.c.h. They are caused by the milk being allowed to acc.u.mulate in the glands, and there to curdle or act as a foreign body on the parts immediately around it. The b.i.t.c.h will secrete milk, although she has had no pups; and a virgin b.i.t.c.h will do so quite as actively as one that has been a mother. When heat has subsided, although no intercourse has been permitted at the period, when the birth would have taken place the glands will swell; and on squeezing them, a full stream of thick milk will flow forth. Nine weeks, therefore, after oestrum, whether the desire has been gratified or denied, the teats should be examined and relieved. If this should not be done, small lumps will appear. These are round, not sensitive; but generally roll under the fingers, and appear at first to be perfectly detached, though more or less deep seated. No time should be lost in removing them; for if allowed to remain they rapidly increase, and often become of an enormous size. Others also appear until the whole of the glands are involved; and the extent of the implication renders an operation, which in the first instance would have been both simple and safe, so complicated and hazardous as not to be risked. The tumors, moreover, as they enlarge, by their weight and size, become exposed to numerous accidents; either they are excoriated by the movements of the legs, hurt by blows, or lacerated by being dragged along the ground.

Anything that interferes with their integrity seems to change their character. From having been dormant they start into activity, and the slightest wound degenerates into a wide-spreading ulcer. When this last appearance is established, no treatment I know of can effect a cure. If there be a hope, it lies solely in the skilful use of the knife; but generally the const.i.tution is so much exhausted, and the disease so firmly established, that surgery is but a desperate resort.

When taken in time, the situation of the tumor being ascertained, the skin is divided and the growth dissected out. This is easily done, and it is seldom that a vessel requiring ligature is divided. The care required is to spare the skin, no portion of which, unless it should be implicated, ought to be excised. Neither plaster nor suture will afterwards be wanted.

The b.i.t.c.h would with her teeth remove either; and as the healing process is established, the integument will contract and unite.

When there is more than a single tumor to take away, or one of large dimensions to remove, though there may be no important vessels to ligature, the oozing of blood is sometimes greater than may with safety be disregarded. In such cases, the application of cold water, or of oil of turpentine, or the tincture of ergot of rye, or blowing upon the part by means of a pair of bellows, will be of service, and may each be tried; but the actual cautery, though held in high esteem by veterinarians, is not suited to these instances.

After the tumor or tumors are cleanly removed, a course of iodine should be enforced; and it should be persevered with for several months, nor given up simply because all present symptoms have disappeared. The tendency has been exhibited, and the medicine is now employed to prevent its development for the future; and, by the continued use of the agent, we hope to accomplish that intention.

SKIN DISEASES.

Every affection of the skin in the dog is termed mange. This is very wrong; and receipts for the cure of mange are all nonsense, unless we can imagine that one physic is good for various disorders. The dog is very subject to mange; that is, the animal's system can hardly suffer without the derangement flying to and developing itself externally, or upon the skin. True mange is chiefly caught, being mainly dependent upon contagion; but all the other varieties have the seats internally, and are chiefly owing to the keep or lodging. Too close a kennel will give rise to mange, as will too spare or too full a diet; too much flesh or unwholesome food; too hard or too luxurious a bed. In fact, there is hardly a circ.u.mstance to which the animal is exposed which will not cause this malady to be developed. Peculiar kinds of bedding, as barley straw, will give rise to it; and particular kinds of diet, as subsisting entirely upon flesh food, will produce it. In short, I know a few, and only a few, of those things which will cause it; and my time has been so taken up that I have been able to observe but five distinct varieties; though my reason informs me there are many more than I here describe. However, as, in describing five kinds of mange, I do more than either of my predecessors, the public must be content with the moiety for the present; and wait till either I find time to accurately note, if possible, the different forms which mange in the dog will a.s.sume, or some more close observer comes forth to take the task from before me.

True mange is dependent, as in the horse, upon an insect; and though not commonly met with, is known by the same symptoms, as the similar affection in the more valuable animal. The skin is partially denuded of hair, but never perfectly so; for in the most bare place, hairs, either single or in small and distinct patches, will be seen adhering to the surface of the body: these remaining hairs are very firmly planted in the skin, have a coa.r.s.e or unnatural feel, and look all awry and unthrifty. The skin appears very dry and scaly; it is corrugated, or thrown into ridges. The parts chiefly affected have been the back, eyes, neck, &c.; though no part of the body is exempt, for I have seen it virulent upon the feet, and the rest of the body comparatively untouched.

The animal appears dejected, though at seasons he may a.s.sume his usual liveliness; but when nothing attracts his attention, his time is nearly consumed in scratching himself violently. His appet.i.te generally remains good, notwithstanding the torture he endures; but the heat of the body denotes fever, and his thirst may be excessive.

The treatment consists in rubbing the body over with some of the various dressings for mange; some of which, however, are compounded for the horse, and do not very well suit the canine race. Care should be taken that the dressing, of whatever nature it may be, reaches and is expended upon the skin, as simply anointing the dog or smearing the salve upon the hair is of no earthly use. The unguent which I have employed, and with such success as emboldens me to recommend it, is composed of--

Ung. resini As much as you please to take.

Sulph. sub } A sufficiency to make the rosin ointment } very thick.

Ol. junip. } Enough to make the unguent of a proper } consistency, but not too thin.

This is to be applied one day; washed off the next; and then the dressing repeated until the dog has been dressed three times, and washed thrice; after which the ointment may be discontinued; but again had recourse to if the animal exhibits the slightest signs of uneasiness; when the entire process may be gone through once more. Mercurial ointments are the most certain remedies for this disorder; but then they are not safe, and should always be avoided where the dog is concerned.

The second kind of mange is where hair partially falls off; and this kind of disorder is well marked by bare patches of small dimensions, showing themselves on the point of the elbow and any part which is prominent, and which the animal might be supposed to have rubbed as he lay in his kennel.

The patches are small and free from hair; but at the same time the skin exposed is rough, scaly, thickened, and corrugated. The itching is intense; but it does not particularly affect the exposed part; it rather seems to reside in those portions of the body which are well covered with hair.

For this form of disease the cure begins with tonic medicine; and after this has been administered a week or a fortnight, as the strength may appear to require restoration, it is suddenly left off; and liquor a.r.s.enicalis in gradually increasing doses is administered. If it be a little dog, let the first day's dose consist of half-a-drop each time; and if for a large animal, of two drops each dose; three doses in either case to be given in the course of the day. In the former case, the quant.i.ty of a.r.s.enicalis is to be increased half-a-drop each day, and in the latter instance one drop daily is to be the advance; the quant.i.ty in both cases to be distributed over three doses, one to be given in the morning, one at noon, and the last at night.

The medicine is to be kept on increasing each day, until the dog loathes his food; has a running from the eyes; a scarlet conjunctiva; or exhibits some symptom that denotes the physic has hold of his system; when the a.r.s.enicalis is to be discontinued for three days, and then steadily persevered with at the dose which preceded the derangement. Thus, supposing it requires three and a half drops to throw the small dog off his appet.i.te, the quant.i.ty to resume with will in that case be three drops.

There is no power I possess which can predicate the quant.i.ty of the liquor a.r.s.enicalis which an animal will bear; its effects on different creatures of the same species are so various, that what one can gorge with impunity would kill his companion. On this account no fixed quant.i.ty of the medicine can be recommended; but the pract.i.tioner must be satisfied to watch the symptoms induced, and be content to be guided by these. So soon as the physiological symptom is beheld, the good results of the medicine may be antic.i.p.ated; and no compound in the pharmacopoeia works with greater certainty. The disease will begin to decline; and in a month, six weeks, or two months at furthest, will be thoroughly eradicated. In the course of that period, however, it may be as well to give Nature a jolt every now and then, by occasionally increasing the dose, being always prepared to diminish it on the symptoms giving the slightest hint that it is prudent so to do. The a.r.s.enicalis should be used simply diluted with water; and during the period occupied by the cure, no other medicine whatever will be required.

The next form of mange attacks very fat and cruelly overfed animals. The poor dog is very foul. He, as it were, smells aloud; and his hide is enormously thickened, being everywhere devoid of sensation. Pinch it as hard as you can--even until the moisture be forced through the pores by the pressure--and the operation which should inflict pain, will only communicate pleasure.

The animal, instead of crying out or endeavoring to snap, will stand altogether quiet, the expression of the face announcing the perfect delight it experiences; or the head turns round to lick the hand of the pincher, thereby entreating him to continue the delicate recreation.

The hair is generally more or less removed from the back; and the thickest portions of the skin are either above the neck, or just before the tail. The animal is the whole day dull, never being alive except at meal-times, when it is all activity; the rest of the day is pa.s.sed in sleeping, licking, scratching, biting, and gnawing its person--to the infinite annoyance of an indulgent master, who looks on the ma.s.s of disease before him, and with regret pictures the animated creature which it once was.