"Some attention should be paid to the method of applying these lotions. Two persons will be required in order to accomplish the operation. The surgeon must hold the muzzle of the dog with one hand, and have the root of the ear in the hollow of the other, and between the first finger and the thumb. The assistant must then pour the liquid into the ear; half a tea-spoonful will usually be sufficient. The surgeon, without quitting the dog, will then close the ear, and mould it gently until the liquid has insinuated itself as deeply as possible into the passages of the ear."
The warming of the fluid I find to be unnecessary; and there is something to be added to the above direction, when the wash I advise is employed. After one ear is done, let it be covered closely with the flap, and the other side of the head turned upward without releasing the dog. When both are finished, take a firm hold of the dog, and fling him away to any distance the strength you possess is capable of sending the animal; for the instant the dog is loose, it will begin shaking its head, and, as the canker-wash I employ contains lead, wherever a drop falls, a white mark or spot, as the liquid dries, will be left behind.
CANKER WASH.
| Liquor plumbi | } | Of both equal parts. |
| Aqua distil |
Youatt speaks of the liquor plumbi as a dangerous agent to the dog, and advises for canker that a scruple be mixed with an ounce of water; but in opposition to that esteemed author's recommendation, I have employed the liquor plumbi pure, with the best effect, in extreme cases; though, in ordinary disease, the above is sufficiently strong; and in medicine it is a maxim that a sufficiency is enough.
I give to the animal, as a general rule, no medicine to take; but invariably recommend the dog to be kept on vegetable diet; for, inasmuch as meat is the sole cause of the disorder, however potent may be the drugs employed for the cure, it is imperative for its eradication that the cause be removed.
Sometimes, in consequence of the violent shaking of the head, serous abscesses of considerable size form inside the flaps of the ears. This mostly happens with large dogs, and the abscesses are hot and soft, being excessively tender. The animal does not like them to be touched, or even looked at, but is frequently shaking the head, and howling or whining afterwards.
The remedy in these cases is equally simple and efficient. The person who undertakes to remedy the evil, first, by way of precaution, tapes the animal; that is, he forms a temporary muzzle, by binding a piece of tape thrice firmly round the creature's mouth. He then places the dog between his knees, and turning up the ear, with a small lancet makes quickly an opening in what then is the superior part of the sac in the inverted ear. This is necessary, because, if the opening were made inferiorly, all the fluid would escape, and the side of the emptied sac would collapse. If the point of the knife even could be introduced into an incision made upon the lower part of the ear, it would not be so easy to cut speedily from below upward, as to push the blade from above downwards. Well, the opening being made with the lancet, a little fluid escapes; but no pressure being put on the sac, the major portion is retained. The operator then takes a straight probe-pointed bistoury, and having introduced it into the orifice, by making only pressure, instantly divides the sac. Frequently considerable fluid escapes; the beast operated upon makes up its mind for a good howl; but, finding the affair over before its mouth was moulded to emit the sound, the cry is cut short, and the dog returns to have the tape removed, that it may lick the hand that pained it.
