In obstinate cases a course of Donovan’s solution of arsenic does good; give twice a day after food from one to five drops[1] in a little water, or it may be mixed with the food.
Tongue (Wounds and Ulcers of the):
Symptoms: The wound may be a simple, punctured one induced by one of the tusks during a fit, or the tip of the tongue may be bitten off, the result of an accident. Abrasions and ulcers occur along the sides of the tongue, due to friction against the molar teeth when thickly encrusted with tartar. Very severe and dangerous ulcers appear on the sides and point of the tongue in cases of acute gastro-enteritis or German distemper, and occasionally in this disease the point of the tongue sloughs off.
Treatment: In ordinary wounds of the tongue, when there is no suppuration, simply washing the mouth often with borax and water—one teaspoonful to half a pint—several times a day is sufficient, but when there is suppuration and ulceration of the parts, besides keeping clean with the borax, the ulcers should be painted twice a day with a five-per-cent. solution of chromic acid. The teeth should be thoroughly cleaned by scraping, especially on the inside. When the point of the tongue dies—in which case it turns to a greyish-white colour—it should be clipped off with scissors and the wound caused by the operation dressed two or three times a day with the chromic acid lotion.
Tonsilitis:
See [Throat (Sore)].
Toothache:
Symptoms: Dogs’ teeth, as the result of their formation, do not often decay, but as the result of the accumulation of tartar the gums recede, the fangs become exposed, and suppuration takes place around the neck of the tooth, which extends into the socket or alveolar cavity. The adjoining gum becomes swollen and tender.
Treatment: As a rule, in these cases it is best to extract the tooth at once, which quickly gives relief, but this is sometimes objected to by the owner. In these circumstances the tooth should be thoroughly cleaned by scraping, and strong carbolic acid applied very sparingly around the neck of the tooth on a piece of sharp wood or a pointed wooden match. The mouth should be kept clean by being sponged night and morning with a saturated solution of boracic acid.