By following this treatment as laid down, many cases of eczema will disappear. Some probably, may be accelerated by the use of a skin lotion in conjunction. Eczema in these cases is merely a symptom appearing in evidence of disordered digestion. Indigestion may be considered as a mild form of gastritis, which if not corrected, will be followed by true gastritis, the stomach then being in such condition that nothing is retained, even water being returned immediately after drinking. This will be accompanied by fever, colic, emaciation and only too often followed by death.
DISTEMPER.
We quote further from Dr. Glover's booklet, some practical information on another of the more common dog ailments:
The term distemper is particularly applied to animals of the brute creation; to the dog when afflicted with that disease somewhat resembling typhus fever in the human race. We have now become quite familiar with the nature of the disease and the remedies indicated; consequently the loss by death is comparatively small when proper treatment and attention are employed. In early days, those dogs that were fortunate enough to survive this disease did so merely through strength of constitution and not from the assistance of any remedial agent, as utter ignorance of the subject then prevailed. The disease doubtless then appeared in a much milder form than that with which our present highly bred animals are afflicted.
Owing to more or less inbreeding that has been indulged in to intensify certain forms and characteristics in dogs of most all breeds, constitution has to some extent been sacrificed. Animals bred in this way are in consequence less able to resist or combat disease than those with less pretentious claims to family distinction.
CAUSES — Bad sanitary conditions, crowded or poorly drained kennels, exposure to dampness, insufficient or over feeding, improper diet, lack of fresh air and exercise, all conduce to the development of distemper. It is contagious, infectious, and will frequently appear spontaneously without any apparent cause in certain localities, assuming an epidemic form. Age is no exemption from distemper, though it more frequently attacks young animals than adults. Very few dogs pass through life without having it at some period.
SYMPTOMS — In early stages, dullness, loss of appetite, sneezing, chills, fever, undue moisture of the nose, congestion of the eyes, nausea, a gagging cough accompanied by the act of vomition, though rarely anything is voided (if anything, it will be a little mucous), thirst, a desire to lie in a warm place, and rapid emaciation. This is quickly followed by mucopurulent discharge from the eyes and nose; later, perhaps, ulceration of either eyes or eyelids. Labored respiration, constipation or obstinate diarrhoea, usually the latter, which frequently runs into inflammation of the bowels.
In some cases many of the above symptoms will be absent, the bowels being the first parts attacked. The following, which sometimes, but not necessarily, occur with distemper, I classify as complications, viz.: Fits, Chorea, Paralysis, Pneumonia or Bronco-Pneumonia, Jaundice, and Inflammation of the Bowels, and will require treatment independent of any one remedy that may be given.
TREATMENT — The animal should be placed in warm, dry quarters, and hygienic conditions strictly observed. With puppies, at the start give vermifuge, as nearly all have worms which add greatly to the irritation of stomach, bowels and nervous system.
The bedding should be changed daily and the apartment disinfected twice a week.