Treatment: A course of the following mixture is useful:—
Recipe:
| Tincture of Rhubarb, | 4 drachms. |
| Bicarbonate of Soda, | 2 drachms. |
| Tincture Nux Vomica, | 1 drachm. |
| Liquor Bismuth, | 4 drachms. |
| Water to | 6 ounces. |
Doses: From one half to four teaspoonfuls[1] two or three times a day after food. A little charcoal, say sufficient to cover a sixpence[1] to a teaspoonful, may also be mixed with the food twice a day.
Fractures:
Fractures of the different bones of the limbs, also of the body and head, are very common in the dog, especially of the first mentioned parts.
Symptoms: The symptoms of a fractured part are deformity, pain and swelling at the seat of fracture, with crepitus or grating together of the broken ends of the bone when the parts are moved. There are three kinds of fractures. Simple, when one or more bones are broken in two pieces, as in fracture of the two bones—radius and ulna—of the fore leg or arm, and an absence of serious injury to the skin. Compound, when besides fracture of the bones, the skin and other tissues are torn, exposing the bones; and comminutive, when a bone is crushed into several pieces. It is, of course, possible to have a compound comminutive fracture. There is a false form of fracture that occasionally occurs in puppies, especially of the larger breeds, more particularly when affected with rickets; that is, the separation of the epiphyses from the shaft of the bone. The epiphyses are the ends of the long bones, and in young animals they are joined to the main shaft by cartilage, later this becomes ossified or converted into bone.
Fracture of the Metacarpal and Metatarsal Bones: They are the bones running from the knee and hock to the toes respectively; one or more of these bones may be broken at a time.
Treatment: With the fingers bring the broken ends of bones together, and in the case of the fore leg apply a thin wood splint to the front of the leg, from just above the toes to an inch or more above the knee, according to the size of the dog. The splint should be made of thin wood, the same as is put to the back of pictures, and the part coming next to the leg should be padded with a thick layer of wool which is best kept in its place by winding a piece of bandage round it. In cases of fracture of the metatarsal bones, the splint should be taken from the foot to the point of the back of the hock. In either case, the splint must be kept in its place by the application of a thin bandage, wound several times round the leg, commencing (always) from the foot and working it upwards and then downwards several times.
In treating fractures, it is important to get them set and bandaged before the parts have had time to swell, otherwise in a few days when the swelling has disappeared, the bandage will be found loose and perhaps come off, necessitating resetting and bandaging. When the setting has been properly carried out, there is no occasion to remove the bandages in cases of simple fracture, at any rate for a month; but if the splints have not been properly padded, they may rub the prominent parts of the joints or bones, causing bad wounds. When such is occurring, the dog is restless, and shows unmistakable signs of discomfort by constantly licking the parts; then the splints and bandages must be removed, and the sores washed and dressed by sprinkling the wound over with powdered iodoform before applying the splints and bandages again. The wound may require dressing every other day, or even daily if it is a bad and deep one; in these cases a pad of some antiseptic gauze, as carbolic gauze, should be applied.