2175. Dogs
The best way to keep dogs healthy is to let them have plenty of exercise, and not to over-feed them. Let them at all times have a plentiful supply of clean water, and encourage them to take to swimming, as it assists their cleanliness. Naldire's soap is recommended as highly efficacious in ridding dogs of fleas. After using any soap rinse it well off with clean water. Properly treated, dogs should be fed only once a day. Meat boiled for dogs, and the liquor in which it is boiled thickened with barley meal, or oatmeal, forms capital food.
2176. Distemper in Dogs
The distemper is liable to attack dogs from four months to four years old. It prevails most in spring and autumn. The disease is known by dulness of the eye, husky cough, shivering, loss of appetite and spirits, and fits. When fits occur, the dog will most likely die, unless a veterinary surgeon be called in. During the distemper, dogs should be allowed to run on the grass; their diet should be spare; and a little sulphur be placed in their water. Chemists who dispense cattle medicines can generally advise with sufficient safety upon the diseases of dugs, and it is best for unskilful persons to abstain from physicing them. In many diseases dogs will be benefited by warm baths.
2177. Hydrophobia in Dogs
Hydrophobia is the most dreadful of all diseases. The first symptoms are attended by thirst, fever, and languor. The dog starts convulsively in his sleep, and when awake, though restless, is languid. When a dog is suspected, he should he firmly chained in a place where neither children nor dogs nor cats can get near him. Any one going to attend him should wear thick leather gloves, and proceed with great caution. When a dog snaps savagely at an imaginary object, it is almost a certain indication of madness; and when it exhibits a terror of fluids, it is confirmed hydrophobia. Some dogs exhibit a great dislike of musical sounds, and when this is the case they are too frequently made sport of. But it is a dangerous sport, as dogs have sometimes been driven mad by it.
2178. Mange in Dogs