The symptoms of colic have been much confused by Blaine, who, when describing them, evidently alludes to many forms of disease with which abdominal spasm has no connexion. Youatt is far more clear; but he is too concise, and omits so much that the reader does not properly appreciate the importance of that affection which is thus slightly mentioned. Neither of the two authors seems to have carefully studied the subject; for in their writings is not to be found any account of those early symptoms which most readily yield to treatment.
Prior to evincing any sign of colic, the dog appears well; healthy in its body and easy in its mind. The appetite is good, or may be better than usual. The food has been eaten and relished; then the animal instinctively lies down to sleep and aid digestion. A moan is heard; the sound is half suppressed, and the dog that utters it appears to sleep. Another cry, as feeble, but of greater length, is noticed; and now the animal that made it changes its position. The next time it may rise, look round, and seek another place; which having found, it appears to settle itself and to go to sleep. The rest once more is broken, the voice grows more full and loud; the dog jumps up and runs about for a little while, then selects a spot where it curls its body tightly up, as if resolved to have out its nap. The interruption, however, constantly recurs; and at each return the exclamation is more emphatic—the starting more energetic—the movement more abrupt—and, contrasting these, the determination or desire to repose becomes more strong. Thus endeavoring to sleep, and being constantly disturbed by some sharp and shooting pain, the dog may continue for a day, or two, or three, its cries, during the whole period, offending a neighborhood.
During the continuance of colic, the general appearance of the animal may be but little affected. The eye is not injected, but the pupil may be slightly enlarged. The nose is cool and moist, but towards the end, irritation may render the part hot or dry. The appetite is generally slight—sometimes lost; and fluids are more readily accepted than solids. The cry, however, should be remarked; because, with the pulse, it gives the earliest notice when inflammation is commencing. While colic alone exists, the pulse may, from pain, be accelerated, and rendered more full, as well as strong, though not always to any marked extent. In inflammation, the pulse is greatly quickened, the artery becomes smaller, and its beat more jerking or wiry. During simple spasm the voice is natural, rich, sonorous, and almost musical; but in inflammation it is short, harsh, high, and broken, the exclamations not being continuous, but consisting of a series of disconnected "yaps."
For the treatment, in the first instance, a turpentine enema will frequently cut short the attack. Should it fail to so, injections of ether and laudanum should succeed, and doses of the mixture should also be given every half hour; the first three being exhibited at intervals only of a quarter of an hour each. The cathartic pills should be administered; and in three hours, if the bowels have not been acted upon, a dose of castor-oil should be resorted to; but where the cathartic has been responded to, the castor-oil should be delayed for eight or twelve hours.
When the pain ceases, the ether and laudanum should not be immediately discontinued; but they may be employed at longer intervals, and gradually reduced in quantity, until the bowels are thoroughly opened, when they may be withheld. Under this treatment, the affection is rarely fatal, and never so if taken in time. An injection of ether and laudanum should always be given to any pup that exhibits even the slightest symptom of uneasiness. I have never known it to do harm, but I am convinced it has often prevented danger.
In those cases where purging and other indications denote the coats of the bowels to be already involved, and spasm co-exists with enteritis, ether and laudanum must enter into all the remedies employed. On the dog their action is, in my opinion, always beneficial; and were they not directly so, the influence they possess in deadening pain would be sufficient reason to justify their adoption. The other measures consist of such as will be found mentioned under the head of enteritis; but it is essential to observe any fæces which may be ejected by the animal that has suffered colic; for by these we may sometimes guess the cause of the attack, and more often learn the means through which a return may be prevented.
As to the causes which induce colic, I can of my own knowledge offer no information. It has to me seemed to be regulated by none of those circumstances to which it is generally attributed; at all events, I think I have witnessed it in animals which have not been exposed to any of the causes that teachers and writers assert induce it. Dogs are, however, brought to us only when the cause has ceased; for we are sought for only to treat the effect. The declarations of authors may therefore be correct, although I am unable to corroborate them; and these gentlemen say colic is produced by cold, acrid food, chills, worms, hard water, &c. In cases of this kind, therefore, it may be well to inquire if the dog has been exposed, or badly fed, or is in any way unhealthy; and, so far as possible, to rectify these matters; for, even though they may not have provoked the spasm, nevertheless we shall do good by attending to the health, diet, and comfort of the animal.
Enteritis.—The doom of the dog which is really afflicted with this disease, is generally sealed. It is a painful and a fatal disorder—equally rapid and stubborn. I fear it more than any other affection to which the animal is subject, and more frequently than any other has it set my best endeavors at defiance.
In the dog, however, enteritis is rarely seen in a pure form. The mucous membrane of the intestines is mostly inflamed, but the serous covering, as a general rule, is in no degree involved. The stomach, however, is almost in every instance more or less implicated; its inner surface being inflamed, and its muscular coat so contracted, that the lining membrane is corrugated, and remains in that condition after death.
The incentives are, unwholesome food, which is the most frequent of the causes; exposure, especially after a dog has been in winter fantastically deprived of its long hair over the loins; and over-exertion, to which the dog is often exposed, no attention being paid to its condition. Anything which disorders the digestion, or violently shakes the constitution, will induce it; for in the dog every species of revulsion has a tendency to attack the bowels. Mange improperly treated has produced it; and this may be said of almost any skin disease; so that it has been caused not by true mange or itch alone but by a skin disease having been, under the pretence of working an immediate cure, driven into the system. Neglected impactments, or colic, are among its most frequent immediate causes; for at least three parts of those cases of enteritis submitted to my notice, have been clearly traced to have commenced with something of that kind.