APOPLECTIC FITS

Are caused by the pressure of blood upon the brain.

Symptoms.-The dog lies motionless, breathing heavily and audibly. There is no foaming at the mouth, but the eye is fixed and bloodshot.

Treatment.—Bleed freely; afterwards reduce the system by strong purgatives, such as Epsom salts (dose 2 drachms), given morning and evening; feed on a reduced vegetable diet. The attack is generally fatal.

SUCKING FITS

Take place in the bitch when she is suckling, and are often the consequence of allowing her to rear too many puppies.

Symptoms.-The bitch lies down, panting heavily; there sometimes are only slight spasms passing over the diaphragm, but in severer cases the whole body is convulsed. The fit lasts from three to ten minutes.

Treatment. These fits are caused by exhaustion, and are preceded by more or less emaciation and weakness; bleeding and the giving of purgatives are therefore clearly out of the question, and have probably caused the death of many animals suffering from these fits. When in the fit, the bitch may be placed for five minutes in a bath heated to a temperature of 96 degrees Fahr., after which she

must be dried quickly and kept warm. All the puppies but one or two must be taken away. She will, in most cases, gain flesh and strength from the day that her puppies are removed; if she does not, a tonic ball may be given. (See receipt for Tonic Pills, p. 184.)

FITS FROM DISTEMPER

Are caused by inflammation of the substance or membrane of the brain. Fits in distemper are usually a fatal symptom. (See DISTEMPER.)

CHOREA.

Symptoms. A constant convulsive jerking or twitching; sometimes confined to the muscles of the legs, sometimes extending to the shoulders and neck. Chorea mostly occurs during recovery from distemper, being probably a derangement of the nervous organization. Except in extreme cases, there is no very great disturbance of the system, though there is often considerable debility where the disease is of long standing.

Treatment. The general health and diet must first be attended to. A few doses of castor oil are usually necessary; accompanied by blue pill (dose 5 grains) if the liver is deranged, as shown by the clay colour of the fæces. The food should be given twice a day, and should consist principally of vegetables, potatoes, oatmeal porridge, &c. When a

better state of health is established, it will be time to give medicines to remove the disease itself. For this purpose, it is best to begin with Liquor arsenicalis, mixing 2 drops with each meal, so that the dog will take 4 drops in the day. The quantity must be gradually and cautiously increased by 1 drop daily, and so increased for a week. The same quantity must then be continued, and will often have to be given regularly every day for a month, before a perfect cure is effected. As soon as the dog rejects his food, is bloodshot in the eyes, or has a running at the nose, it is necessary to stop the medicine, at least for a time. If it has had no perceptible effect in subduing the convulsive jerkings of the muscles, it would be advisable to try, night and morning, a ball containing

Palsy in the dog attacks many different parts; sometimes it is confined to the hind quarters, sometimes it affects the fore-legs and neck. It gradually extends, and sometimes includes every limb and muscle.

Symptom.-A staggering gait; the dog falling about, from a loss of power in the muscles.

Treatment.-Gentle and regular exercise, and

friction. Give purgatives, followed, when the bowels are in good order, by nux vomica (dose from grain to 2 grains, according to size, daily, cautiously administered).

KENNEL LAMENESS.

Symptoms.-A lameness occasioned by rheumatic pain in the shoulder, brought on by exposure to wet and cold.

Treatment.-An embrocation of equal parts of laudanum, hartshorn, and oil of turpentine, to be rubbed in every day, after a warm bath of the temperature of 96 degrees. The bowels to be kept in order by doses of castor oil; and 2 grains of the iodide of potash with a dessertspoonful of sarsaparilla to be given morning and evening. In most cases an essential part of the treatment consists in removing the dog to a warmer and drier kennel.

PALSY OF THЕ ВАСК.

Symptoms.-The hind legs are affected with rheumatism, and drag painfully after the dog. Treatment.-The same as for kennel lameness.

CHAPTER XX.

WORMS.

The Round Worm-The Maw Worm-The Tape Worm. WORMS are of three sorts; the round worm, the maw worm and the tape worm.

THE ROUND WORM.

The round worm (Ascaris lumbricoides) is from 2 to 8 inches in length, and somewhat resembles the common earth worm, except in being of a pinkish-white colour, and pointed at both extremities.

Symptoms.-When the dog is observed to be dull, to have a ravenous appetite, an offensive breath, a staring coat, the belly hard, large, and of a dull, livid green colour, and to be losing flesh, the presence of worms may be suspected. Occasional attacks of diarrhoea, alternating with constipation, and the evacuation of small portions of mucus, are generally sure signs of worms. These symptoms, however, are not always present; and a dog may be afflicted with worms for a long time, with very little disturbance of the system. The