Biliousness:
Symptoms: Severe vomiting, great thirst, occasionally diarrhœa, refusal of food. In bad cases the skin, eyes, and mouth turn yellowish.
Treatment: First give dose castor oil, say half teaspoonful to two tablespoonfuls,[1] with from two[1] to ten drops of laudanum, or a pill containing from a quarter to two grains of calomel, with the eighth to one grain of powdered opium. Later, if sickness is persistent, give from three to ten grains of carbonate of bismuth shaken dry on the tongue, or the following mixture may be tried:—
Recipe:
| Diluted Hydrocyanic Acid, | 20 drops. |
| Liquor Bismuth, | 1 ounce. |
| Water to | 6 ounces. |
From one[1] teaspoonful to a tablespoonful every three or four hours.
To keep strength up give occasionally every hour, from a quarter[1] to a teaspoonful Brand’s beef essence, allow Vichy water and milk in equal parts to drink—no plain water—but the patient may have some ice to lick. When sickness is very persistent, the stomach should be given complete rest for about twelve hours, and the dog’s strength kept up during this time with peptonised meat suppositories (B and W), one being given every three or four hours. When these cannot be obtained, an enema of peptonised milk with from five[1] drops to one teaspoonful of brandy, may be given every three hours. Hot linseed meal poultices to the stomach are sometimes useful.
Bites:
A deep punctured wound caused by the bite of a dog, if allowed to scab over, usually results in the formation of an abscess; so the wound should be kept open for a few days by being fomented often with a warm solution of boracic acid lotion. When not fomenting, the wound should be covered over with a piece of lint (once doubled) soaked in a solution of boracic lotion; this should be entirely covered with a piece of oil silk, and a bandage applied. This treatment may be continued until the wound has healed. When the wound consists of a tear of the skin, after thoroughly cleansing the parts with some disinfectant—as a solution of Pearson’s fluid—the wound may be sewn up, a few layers of carbolic gauze laid over the wound, and a bandage applied. It is best to renew the dressing daily in these cases, as there is always a danger of suppuration, and if such occurs, two or three stitches should be removed at the lowest part to allow the pus to escape. After an abscess has formed, the parts require keeping very clean, and should be kept covered with carbolic or other gauze. A dog should not be allowed to lick a wound.