The Dog. Dinks

Setter pups, same age as the last.– Case very bad. Fits had taken place more than once. Bodies hard, tumid head and belly hot, evidently much pain in body; ears and feet icy cold; nose hard and thick, pus in it; fæces not noticed. Gave instantly, vomit as before; Calomel and Tartar Emetic, half a grain. Repeated in one hour, not having operated. Half an hour after this had taken place, gave two teaspoonfuls No. two to each. This purged very quickly. One of the puppies appeared to be in much pain. Gave it a saltspoonful of mustard in a little milk. Fits constantly occurring, with intervals of one or two hours, repeated the mustard, and gave Spirits of Hartshorn, six drops, Camphor water, sixty drops, Sweet Spirits Nitre, twenty drops, Laudanum, six drops. Repeated this dose in six hours' time. Kept them all night by the kitchen stove. Slightly better next morning. Gave pill – Antimony, three grains, Calomel, one grain, Nitre, ten grains. Three hours after, two teaspoonfuls No. two. Fits had ceased before night. Gave pill – Antimony, two grains, Ipecacuanha, three grains, Nitre, ten grains, each night and next morning. Next day improvement visible. Wildness of the eye abated; fever in body and coldness of extremities much diminished: secretions, however, still irregular; nose dry and hard. At night gave pill – Ipecacuanha, three grains, Nitre, ten grains, Ginger Essence, five drops. Next morning gave two teaspoonfuls No. two. At night, half teaspoonful diluted Quinine Mixture. Next day gave Quinine twice. Day after, two teaspoonfuls No. one. Sent well to kennel. These were the worst cases of epileptic fits we ever saw. The pair could not have had less than twenty fits each, which lasted from a quarter to half an hour, during which they uttered most piercing howlings.

      FOURTH CASE

      Pointer puppy ten months old.– Brought in from kennel: food chiefly raw flesh. Condition high. Appearance – Eyes very dull; drowsy; nose hard, dry, with thick mucous effusion; evacuations very offensive. Should consider this the putrid type. Gave half an ounce of salts in warm water. Two days after, gave ten grains Compound Powder of Ipecacuanha. No better: nose running a thick, heavy matter; fæces very offensive. Two days after giving last medicine, gave four grains Antimonial Powder, night and morning, for two days. Dog died.

      Remarks.– This case happened years ago, when we were young. Our treatment was bad from the commencement, but the case was a vile one also. The following formulæ would have been more befitting: – Calomel, half a grain, Tartar Emetic, half a grain, repeated with intermissions of an hour, till a vomit was secured. Wineglassful of No. two in an hour afterwards. At night, Antimony, four grains, Nitre, ten grains, repeated next morning. If secretions then offensive, Calomel, two grains, followed by wineglass No. two, in three hours. Then use Antimony, Nitre, and Ipecacuanha, more or less, according as you wish to act on the skin, or on the lungs or kidneys. If the cough is bad, increase the Ipecacuanha. If fever prevails, add to the Antimony. Nitre acts on the bladder.

      FIFTH CASE

      A Terrier bitch in very low condition, pups having been lately weaned. Age, two or three years.– Symptoms very mild. Gave half an ounce of salts, and two days after, ten grains Ipecacuanha, followed up by four grains Antimonial Powder, for two days. Results: bitch was cured of distemper, but so dreadfully weak, could not feed itself. Gave one teaspoonful of Huxam's Tincture of Bark, three times a day. Hand-fed her frequently with rich beef soup, milk, and bread. After a very hard fight, brought her round.

      Remarks.– Could not have done better much, except would have given a combination of Antimony, Ipecacuanha, and Nitre at first, i.e. after purging with salts. Got great credit at the time for the cure, more deserved for nursing well.

      From these cases you will be able to see, that for a simple purgative we prefer salts, as being a very cooling dose, and suiting a dog's constitution well. In the earlier stages, it sometimes effects a cure. Where there is a discharge of the nose, you must, after purging, work on the lungs. Where there is fever, you must double your purging, i.e. clean them out front and rear as quickly as possible. Where to this is added a visible disorganization of the secretions, you ought to call in Calomel in large doses, one or two grains, repeated, and this you may continue with Antimony, and so at the same time subdue the inflammation of the lungs. In the earlier part of spring and in fall, there is little fear of diarrhœa supervening. A slight attack of it will not be of much consequence provided you take care to keep it well in hand. Opium must be used with great caution; it rather tends to epileptic fits, which, by the way, we consider to result from an almost stoppage of the bowels. Compound Powder of Chalk, Quinine Mixture, Rhubarb, Catechu, will generally be sufficient.

      In the Field Sports is the following receipt, and as we have invariably found Blaine and Youatt's horse and dog receipts the most reliable, we quote it. It is new to us, and so is a violent case of diarrhœa, for that matter.

      ℞ Magnesia, one drachm; powdered Alum, two scruples; Powdered Calumba,1 one drachm; P. Gum Arabic, two drachms. Mix with six ounces boiled starch, and give a dessert or table spoonful every four or six hours, pro re natâ.

      CASE

      We will now suppose a case, for our practice of late years has been confined to young puppies. Ears and feet cold; body and head very hot; body hard and distended; nose hard, dry, and almost stopped up with thick matter; dry, husky cough; fæces, hard; pulse rapid, evidencing much fever. Give instantly, Calomel and Tartar Emetic, half a grain each, repeating it with intermissions of an hour, till you get a vomit. One hour after, give wine glass No. two. Twelve hours after, if fever has not abated, give three grains Calomel, followed in three hours by wine glass of No. two. If the next day you find any fever still lingering, give Calomel, three grains, as before, Antimonial Powder, eight grains. This will, with, in three hours, the usual quantity of No. two, be pretty sure to be successful. You must now address yourself to the cold and other symptoms; and you may give large doses of Ipecacuanha and Nitre. Keep the bowels open, but avoid active purging, except in cases of fever. If you find at any time the body getting hard and distended, administer the emetic. Let the dog out into the air whenever it is fine and warm, keep his nose well cleaned out, and change his bed daily. Encourage him to drink fresh water, if he will.

      The receipts alluded to in the previous pages are as follows: —

      No. 1.—For young pups up to six months old.– Of Epsom salts, take two ounces; of water, one quart. Mix well, and keep close corked.

      No. 2.– Eight ounces of Saturated Solution of Epsom salts, in water; thirty drops Sulphuric Acid. Mix well, and cork close.

      Antimony is preferable, when there is fever. It is an antiphlogistic. Ipecacuanha, when there is much debility. The last also affects the lungs, and is more efficient in removing cold.

      Half an ounce of salts is a fair dose for a dog from nine months to any age. No. 2 is particularly recommended, whenever an early action is required. It is essentially short, sharp and decisive.

      FORM OF GAMEBOOK

      This will be found as convenient a form as any for recording the season's bag, and I would suggest as a means to accurately determine the number of shots, to put a given number, say 50 or 80 caps, into your cap pocket every day on going out, deducting any miss-fired and wasted ones from the balance left on returning. This will give you an exact idea of your average shootings, which will be found not to exceed three out of five shots. In the column of remarks you can state your companion, quantity of game seen, &c.; in fact, any point worthy of notice, and to which afterwards you can refer. The writer's book dates back to 1845, and records every head of game killed while he was out, by his own, as also his friend's gun, remarks on the weather, curious ornithological observations, &c.

      DOGS,

      AND THEIR MANAGEMENT;

      PREFACE

      In the following pages is laid before the public the result of several years' study. The Author hopes to be able, ultimately, to perfect a system of treatment which shall change only with the progress of the science, of which it can be no more than an offshoot. Saying this, the writer cannot be accused of self-glorification, since there is in the field no living author over whom he might appear

1

Catechu, one drachm, will be better than the Calumba. It is far more efficacious. —Dinks.