The fourth kind of mange is where the hair falls suddenly off in circular patches. For this any simple ointment, as the ung. cest. or no application at all is sufficient.
The fifth kind is the worst, especially where it attacks young pups. Almost all the hair falls off; and the poor little creature is thin, and nearly naked, while the surface of the body is covered with dark patches, and comparatively large pustules. If the dark patches be punctured, a quantity of venous and grumous blood exudes; but the wound soon heals. In full-grown dogs, the same form of disease seldom involves more than the top of the head, neck, and the entire length of the back; but it is precisely of the self-same character as in the more juvenile animal.
In both cases the treatment is the same. The dark pustules are to be cut into, which produces no pain; and the pustules are to be freely opened, which operation is attended with no apparent effects. The bare skin is to be then washed tenderly with warm water and a soft sponge, after which the body may be lightly smeared over with the ointment of camphor and mercury; see p. 265. This operation must be repeated daily. The liquor arsenicalis may be administered as drops, and pills of the iodide of sulphur likewise exhibited.
Where the dog is old, a cure invariably results; but it takes time to bring it about. Perhaps months may be thus consumed; and the practitioner will require a goodly stock of patience before he undertake the treatment of such a case. The proprietor, therefore, must be endowed with some esteem for the animal, before he can be induced to pay for all the physic it will consume. I cannot account for so virulent a form of skin disease affecting pups; but certain it is, that they have scarcely left the dam before its signs are to be detected. Probably it may be owing to their being weaned upon garbage or putrid flesh. Certain it is that the cure of creatures at this tender age greatly depends upon their previous keep. If it has for any known length of time been good and generous, the practitioner may undertake the case without fear; but if, on the other hand, the pup, though of a valuable breed, had lived in filth, never enjoyed exercise, and been badly nurtured, no entreaties should tempt the veterinarian to promise a restoration. It will certainly perish, not perhaps of the skin disease, but of debility.
Here I may for the present conclude my imperfect account of mange; again insisting that in every form of the disorder the food is to consist of vegetables, and every kind of flesh is to be scrupulously withheld, unless to pups in a very weakly condition. Blaine and Youatt speak of alteratives as necessary towards the perfection of a cure; but as I am simply here recording my experience, all I can say is, I have not found them to be required. Cleanliness—the bed being repeatedly changed—free exercise—wholesome, not stimulating food—and fresh water—are essential towards recovery. In no case should the dog suffering under these complaints be allowed to gorge or cram itself; but the victuals must be withdrawn the instant it has swallowed sufficient to support nature.
CANKER WITHIN AND WITHOUT THE EAR.
Blaine treats of these two as different diseases. Youatt speaks of them as the same disease situated on different parts. As they differ in their origin and in their effects, however closely they may be united, I hold Blaine's arrangement to be the soundest, and therefore to that I shall adhere. Water-dogs are said to be the most liable to attacks of these disorders; but I have not found such to be the case. At the mouth of the river Ex, near Exeter, Devonshire, for instance, there are numerous dogs kept for the purpose of recovering the wild fowl, by shooting of which their masters exist during winter. Here is rather a wide field for observation; but among the many water-dogs there to be found, the canker both internal and external is unknown; whereas there is scarcely a dog kept in town, especially of the larger size, that does not present a well-marked case of canker. The London dog is, for the most part, over-fed on stimulating diet (flesh), and kept chained up, generally in a filthy state. The country dog gets plenty of exercise, being allowed to sleep in the open air where he pleases outside of his master's cottage, and has but little food, and very seldom any flesh. I scarcely ever have a sporting dog sent to me, on the approach of autumn, suffering from what their masters are pleased to term "foul," but canker within and without the ear are found to be included in the so-called disorder. Often am I desired to look at both long-haired and short-haired dogs, and find both kinds victims to these diseases; but canker without the ear, or on the flap of the ear, I never see without canker within the ear being also present. Canker on the flap of the ear, it is true, becomes the worst in short-haired dogs, because these animals have this part by nature more exposed to injury. Long-haired dogs, on the other hand, have the disease within the organ worst, because the warmth of their coats serves to keep hot and to encourage the disorder.
Therefore, we find on inquiry that neither breed of dogs is more liable or more subject to be attacked by a particular kind of canker; though in each kind there exist circumstances calculated to give a direction to the disease when once established. Authors speak of rounding the ear for external canker; that is, of taking a portion of the border away, so as to leave the flap of the ear the less for the operation; and fox-hounds are said to have the ears rounded to escape the ravages of the disorder. There are said to have been poor dogs subjected to a second and third rounding; till at length the entire ear has been rounded away, and the wretched beast has been at last destroyed; because man first fed it till it was diseased, and then was too heartless properly to study the nature of the affection which tormented the animal.
Let those who may feel disposed to question this view of external canker, ask themselves what it is which induces the dog to shake his head violently at first? For the brute must shake the head violently and frequently, before canker in the flap can be established. The disease is, in the first instance, thus mechanically induced. It has its origin in the violent action of the beast; and that action is the very one which ensues upon the animal being attacked by internal canker.