If nothing be done to restore the balance of power, the rectum speedily is so much distended that its walls become attenuated, and then a cure is hopeless; a sac is formed, and the gut is not only much stretched or enlarged, but it is also, by the excessive bulk of its contents, forced from its natural position, being carried either to one side or the other, but always to where the dropsy is most conspicuous.
In such cases, when the dropsy is first observed, our care must be to invigorate the system. Small doses of nux vomica, with iron, gentian and capsicums, made into a pill, will generally do this, and the following form may be employed:—
| Nux vomica, in powder | Five grains to a scruple. |
| Capsicums, in powder | Ten grains to two scruples. |
| Sulphate of iron | One to four scruples. |
| Extract of gentian | Two drachms to one ounce. |
| Cinchona powder | A sufficiency. |
Make into twenty pills, and give four in the course of the day. The liver is too often at this time unhealthy, and to correct it the subjoined may be administered:—
| Iodide of potassium | One drachm. |
| Liquor potassæ | Two ounces. |
| Simple syrup | Five ounces. |
| Water | A pint. |
Dose, from a tea-spoon to a table-spoonful three times a day. The food should be chiefly vegetables, or at all events only so much meat should be allowed as is required to induce the dog to eat the mess of boiled rice. Exercise is also essential, and a daily cold bath with a brisk run afterwards, will be of service. The dog will likewise be benefited if his skin be well brushed every morning; and perhaps it is hardly necessary to state that any symptoms denoting mange or skin disease, canker, &c., should be specially counteracted.
Hitherto, however, nothing has been said about any treatment of the part which is the immediate seat of the disease. If the fluid poured into the perinæum be excessive, the part must be laid freely open by two or three incisions being made along the entire length of the swelling. After this has been done, the liquid will not escape as from an abscess; for being held within the cells of the membrane that lies immediately under the skin, comparatively little of it is released from the knife. A fine pair of scissors will be required to snip the separate bags or bladders; but that operation must be performed with caution, else injury may possibly be done. The business being concluded, let the parts be afterwards dressed with the tincture of iodine, or a tincture of the iodide of potassium, of the strength of a drachm to the ounce of proof spirit; this being preferable to water for a solution in these cases. Into the rectum also injections should be thrown at least three times a day, and all of these ought to be of a tonic and stimulating kind, being used perfectly cold. Either of the following may be administered:—
| 1. | |
| Tincture of cantharides | One drachm. |
| Camphor mixture | One pint. |
| 2. | |
| Tincture of nux vomica | One drachm. |
| Tincture of tolu | One drachm. |
| Water | One pint. |
| 3. | |
| Tincture of cubebs | One drachm. |
| Liquor potassæ | One drachm. |
| Camphor mixture | One pint. |
| 4. | |
| Solution of nitrate of silver | One drachm. |
| Distilled water | One pint. |
Any of the above may be employed, from a tablespoonful to a common wine-glass full being used for a dose. The pile ointment will likewise be beneficial, by facilitating the passage of the fæces, allaying local irritability, and correcting that tendency to piles which is generally attendant upon, if not the original cause of the affection.