As you are well up in everything relating to diseases in dogs, I wish for your advice about my puppy. Some people tell me that by vaccinating him I shall ward off the distemper. Do you think it would prove efficacious? I should be sorry to lose him. Perhaps you will drop me a line when you have time. You are generally so occupied that it is scarcely fair to trouble you, but I think you will in this case excuse your old friend. Have you seen anything of Doxman lately? He was here last week.
Believe me,
Yours very sincerely,
H. M. E.
Reply to Letter relative to a Dog.
Tipnor, 10th March, 187—
Dear Purchase,
I have always leisure to give a friend a hint if I think it possible to be useful, so I lose no time in replying to you about your pup and the distemper. I have tried vaccination and found it a perfect fallacy, and many of my friends, real judges of dogs, and one of whom is frequently appealed to on matters of dispute with regard to their treatment, decidedly says he has no faith in it, and that the effects are nothing. One of my friends had some dogs which all escaped distemper, but that was attributed to his never giving them any animal food. I rarely have a case (among my dogs) of distemper, and if I do it is generally very mild, and I account for it from my mode of feeding them. Until they reach the age of twelve months I keep them entirely, or nearly so, on bread and milk, potatoes, cabbage, meal, and milk, with the very slightest quantity imaginable of flesh food. Do not keep your dog too closely confined; feed him as I advise, and he may escape distemper altogether. Should he not, it will not be so severe as if you had fed him entirely on meat. I shall be coming into your neighbourhood shortly, and will pay you a visit.
Believe me,