Symptoms: The dog is very lame, and often carries the leg. If he puts it down, he stands with only the points of the toe touching the ground, and placed just behind the other leg. The joint becomes swollen, more particularly on the inside, and is very painful.
Treatment: These cases are always long ones, and a bad injury to this joint means the dog being lame very often for two or three months. If the case is taken in hand at once, hot poppy-head fomentation is the best application, which should be applied two or three times a day. After three or four days, the following liniment may be applied night and morning all around the joint, but particularly on the inside, where the principal swelling is:—
Recipe: The Liniment:
| Chloroform, | 4 drachms. |
| Tincture Hyoscyamus, | 4 drachms. |
| Spirits of Camphor, | 1 ounce. |
| Soap Liniment, | 2 ounces. |
When the inflammation has passed, the dog often continues to go lame for some time, due to the joint being stiff. This condition is relieved by rubbing the swelling, which will be found on the inside of the joint, daily with colourless tincture of iodoform.
In all cases of injury of the stifle joint, the dog should be, for the first two or three weeks, kept absolutely quiet, and then gentle walking exercises may be given, and later, it is a good plan to give the dog swimming exercise.
Stings:
Symptoms: Pain, swelling and redness of the part. A dog sometimes gets stung on the tongue with a wasp, and the swelling which afterwards occurs is often serious.
Treatment: When possible, extract the sting, and apply a solution of ammonia; ammoniated tincture of quinine is one of the best preparations for this purpose. When the tongue has been stung, after extracting the sting and applying the ammonia sparingly, ice should be applied to reduce the swelling.