Every affection of the skin in the dog is termed mange. This is very wrong; and receipts for the cure of mange are all nonsense, unless we can imagine that one physic is good for various disorders. The dog is very subject to mange; that is, the animal's system can hardly suffer without the derangement flying to and developing itself externally, or upon the skin. True mange is chiefly caught, being mainly dependent upon contagion; but all the other varieties have the seats internally, and are chiefly owing to the keep or lodging. Too close a kennel will give rise to mange, as will too spare or too full a diet; too much flesh or unwholesome food; too hard or too luxurious a bed. In fact, there is hardly a circumstance to which the animal is exposed which will not cause this malady to be developed. Peculiar kinds of bedding, as barley straw, will give rise to it; and particular kinds of diet, as subsisting entirely upon flesh food, will produce it. In short, I know a few, and only a few, of those things which will cause it; and my time has been so taken up that I have been able to observe but five distinct varieties; though my reason informs me there are many more than I here describe. However, as, in describing five kinds of mange, I do more than either of my predecessors, the public must be content with the moiety for the present; and wait till either I find time to accurately note, if possible, the different forms which mange in the dog will assume, or some more close observer comes forth to take the task from before me.
True mange is dependent, as in the horse, upon an insect; and though not commonly met with, is known by the same symptoms, as the similar affection in the more valuable animal. The skin is partially denuded of hair, but never perfectly so; for in the most bare place, hairs, either single or in small and distinct patches, will be seen adhering to the surface of the body: these remaining hairs are very firmly planted in the skin, have a coarse or unnatural feel, and look all awry and unthrifty. The skin appears very dry and scaly; it is corrugated, or thrown into ridges. The parts chiefly affected have been the back, eyes, neck, &c.; though no part of the body is exempt, for I have seen it virulent upon the feet, and the rest of the body comparatively untouched.
The animal appears dejected, though at seasons he may assume his usual liveliness; but when nothing attracts his attention, his time is nearly consumed in scratching himself violently. His appetite generally remains good, notwithstanding the torture he endures; but the heat of the body denotes fever, and his thirst may be excessive.
The treatment consists in rubbing the body over with some of the various dressings for mange; some of which, however, are compounded for the horse, and do not very well suit the canine race. Care should be taken that the dressing, of whatever nature it may be, reaches and is expended upon the skin, as simply anointing the dog or smearing the salve upon the hair is of no earthly use. The unguent which I have employed, and with such success as emboldens me to recommend it, is composed of—
| Ung. resini | As much as you please to take. | |
| Sulph. sub | } | A sufficiency to make the rosin ointment very thick. |
| Ol. junip. | } | Enough to make the unguent of a proper consistency, but not too thin. |
This is to be applied one day; washed off the next; and then the dressing repeated until the dog has been dressed three times, and washed thrice; after which the ointment may be discontinued; but again had recourse to if the animal exhibits the slightest signs of uneasiness; when the entire process may be gone through once more. Mercurial ointments are the most certain remedies for this disorder; but then they are not safe, and should always be avoided where the dog is concerned.
The second kind of mange is where hair partially falls off; and this kind of disorder is well marked by bare patches of small dimensions, showing themselves on the point of the elbow and any part which is prominent, and which the animal might be supposed to have rubbed as he lay in his kennel. The patches are small and free from hair; but at the same time the skin exposed is rough, scaly, thickened, and corrugated. The itching is intense; but it does not particularly affect the exposed part; it rather seems to reside in those portions of the body which are well covered with hair.
For this form of disease the cure begins with tonic medicine; and after this has been administered a week or a fortnight, as the strength may appear to require restoration, it is suddenly left off; and liquor arsenicalis in gradually increasing doses is administered. If it be a little dog, let the first day's dose consist of half-a-drop each time; and if for a large animal, of two drops each dose; three doses in either case to be given in the course of the day. In the former case, the quantity of arsenicalis is to be increased half-a-drop each day, and in the latter instance one drop daily is to be the advance; the quantity in both cases to be distributed over three doses, one to be given in the morning, one at noon, and the last at night.
The medicine is to be kept on increasing each day, until the dog loathes his food; has a running from the eyes; a scarlet conjunctiva; or exhibits some symptom that denotes the physic has hold of his system; when the arsenicalis is to be discontinued for three days, and then steadily persevered with at the dose which preceded the derangement. Thus, supposing it requires three and a half drops to throw the small dog off his appetite, the quantity to resume with will in that case be three drops.
There is no power I possess which can predicate the quantity of the liquor arsenicalis which an animal will bear; its effects on different creatures of the same species are so various, that what one can gorge with impunity would kill his companion. On this account no fixed quantity of the medicine can be recommended; but the practitioner must be satisfied to watch the symptoms induced, and be content to be guided by these. So soon as the physiological symptom is beheld, the good results of the medicine may be anticipated; and no compound in the pharmacopœia works with greater certainty. The disease will begin to decline; and in a month, six weeks, or two months at furthest, will be thoroughly eradicated. In the course of that period, however, it may be as well to give Nature a jolt every now and then, by occasionally increasing the dose, being always prepared to diminish it on the symptoms giving the slightest hint that it is prudent so to do. The arsenicalis should be used simply diluted with water; and during the period occupied by the cure, no other medicine whatever will be required.