When the animal is fat, the visible mucous membranes may be pallid; the tongue white; the pulse full and quick; the spirits slothful: the appetite good; the fœces natural: the bowels irregular; the breath offensive; the anus enlarged, and the rump denuded of hair, the naked skin being covered with a scaly cuticle, thickened and partially insensible.
When death has been the consequence of hepatic disorder, the symptoms have in every instance been chronic. I am not aware that I have been called upon to treat a case of an acute description, excepting as a phase of distemper. It would be too much to say such a form of disease does not exist in a carnivorous animal; but I have hitherto not met with it. Neither have I seen it as the effect of inveterate mange; though I have beheld obstinate skin disease the common, but far from invariable, result of chronic hepatitis. I have also known cerebral symptoms to be produced by the derangement of this gland, which, in the dog, may be the cause of almost any possible symptom, and still give so little indication of its actual condition as almost to set our reason at defiance.
It is, however, somewhat strange that, notwithstanding the almost universality of liver disease among petted dogs, the symptoms which denote its existence are in these creatures so obscure and undefined as rarely to be recognised. Very few dogs have healthy livers, and yet seldom is the disordered condition of this important gland suspected. Various are the causes which different authors, English and foreign, have asserted produced this effect. I shall only allude to such as I can on my own experience corroborate, and here I shall have but little to refer to. Over-feeding and excessive indulgence are the sources to which I have always traced it. In the half-starved or well-worked dog I have seen the liver involved; but have never beheld it in such a state as led me to conclude it was the principal or original seat of the affection which ended in death. On the other hand, in fatted and petted animals, I have seen the gland in a condition that warranted no doubt as to what part the fatal attack had commenced in.
Liver complaints were once fashionable. A few years ago the mind of Great Britain was in distress about its bile, and blue pill with black draught literally became a part of the national diet. At present nervous and urinary diseases appear to be in vogue; but, with dogs, hepatic disorders are as prevalent as ever. The canine liver is peculiarly susceptible to disease. Very seldom have I dipped into the mysteries of their bodies but I have found the biliary gland of these animals deranged; sometimes inflamed sometimes in an opposite condition often enlarged seldom diminished rarely of uniform color occasionally tuberculated and not unfrequently as fat with disease as those are which have obtained for Strasburg geese a morbid celebrity.
Food is of all importance. It must be proportioned to the size of the patient, and be rather spare than full in quantity. Flesh should be denied, and coarse vegetable diet alone allowed. The digestion must also be attended to, and every means taken to invigorate the system. Exercise must be enforced, even though the animal appear to suffer in consequence of being made to walk. The skin should be daily brushed, and the bed should not be too luxurious. Sedatives are of service; and as no one of these agents will answer in every case, a constant change will be needed, that, by watching their action, the one which produces the best effect may be discovered. Opium, belladonna, hyoscyamus, assafœtida, and the rest, may be thus tried in succession; and often small doses produce those effects which the larger one seems to conceal. A pill containing any sedative, with an alterative quantity of some expectorant, may be given three times daily; but when the fit is on, I have gained the most immediate benefit by the administration of ether and opium. From one to four leeches to the chest, sometimes, are of service; but small ammoniacal blisters applied to the sides, and frequently repeated, are more to be depended upon. Trivial doses of antimonial wine or ipecacuanha wine, with an occasional emetic, will sometimes give temporary ease; but the last-named medicines are to be resorted to only after due consideration, as they greatly lower the strength. Stomachics and mild tonics at the same time are to be employed; but a cure is not to be expected. The treatment cannot be absolutely laid down; but the judgment must be exercised, and whenever the slightest improvement is remarked every effort must be made to prevent a relapse.
Asthma is spasm of the bronchial tubes, and when it is thoroughly established it is seldom to be cured. All medicine can accomplish is the relief of the more violent symptoms. The fits may be rendered comparatively less frequent and less severe; but the agents that best operate to that result are likely in the end to destroy the general health. Between two evils, therefore, the proprietor has to make his choice; but if he resolves to treat the disorder, he must do so knowing the drugs he makes use of are not entirely harmless.
Asthma is a frequent disease in old and petted dogs. It comes on by fits, and, through the severity of the attack, often seems to threaten suffocation; but I have not known a single case in which it has proved fatal. The cause is generally attributable to inordinate feeding, for the animals thus afflicted are always gross and fat. The disorder comes on gradually in most instances, though the fit is usually sudden. The appetite is not affected, or rather it is increased often to an extraordinary degree. The craving is great, and flesh is always preferred, while sweet and seasoned articles are much relished. On examination, the signs denoting the digestion to be deranged will be discovered. Piles are nearly constantly met with; the coat is generally in a bad condition, and the hair off in places. The nose may be dry; the membrane of the eyes congested; the teeth covered with tartar, and the breath offensive. The dog is slothful, and exertion is followed by distress. Cough may or may not exist; but it usually appears towards the latter period of the attack.
The above will make two pills; and it is better to make these the more frequently, as they speedily harden, and we now desire their quickest effect, which is sooner obtained if they are soft or recently compounded.
During recovery the food must be mild, and tonics must be administered. Exercise should be allowed with the greatest caution, and all excitement ought to be avoided. The dog must be watched and nursed, being provided with a sheltered lodging and an ample bed in a situation perfectly protected from winds or draughts, but at the same time cool and airy.
After dropsy of the chest has been established, the chance of cure is certainly remote; but tapping at all events renders the last moments of life more easy. It is both simple and safe, and does not seem to occasion any pain; but, on the contrary, to afford immediate relief. The skin should be first punctured, and then drawn forward so as to bring the incision over the spot where the instrument is to be inserted. The place where the trocar should be introduced is between the seventh and eighth ribs, nearer to the last than to the first, and rather close to the breast-bone. The point being selected, the instrument is pushed gently into the flesh; and when the operator feels no resistance is offered to the progress of the tube, he knows the cavity has been pierced. The stilet is then withdrawn, and the fluid will pour forth. Unless the dog shows signs of faintness, as much of the water as possible ought to be taken away; but if symptoms of syncope appear, the operation must be stopped, and after a little time, when the strength has been regained, resumed. When this has been done, tonics must be freely resorted to. The following pill may be administered three or four times a day; and the diet should be confined to flesh, for everything depends on the invigoration of the body, and the inflammation is either gone, or it has become of secondary importance.
| Iodide of iron | One to four grains. |
| Sulphate of iron | Two to eight grains. |
| Extract of gentian | Ten grains to half a drachm. |
| Powdered capsicums | Two to eight grains. |
| Powdered quassia | A sufficiency. |
A dose of castor oil may also be administered, and the food should be composed entirely of vegetables, if the animal can be induced to eat this kind of diet. Exertion should be prevented, and quiet as much as possible enjoined. The tincture of aconite, it is said, sometimes does wonders in inflammation of the lungs; but in my hands its operation has been uncertain, though the homœopathists trust greatly to its action in this disease. They give it singly, but I have not reaped from its use on the dog those advantages which tempt me to depend solely on its influence. When employed, it may be given in doses of from half a drop to two drops of the tincture, in any pleasant vehicle, every hour.
