3975. Feeding.—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.
3976. Sickness.—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 is called in.
3977. Remedies.—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 dogs, and it is best for unskillful persons to abstain from physicking them.
3978. Hydrophobia.—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.
3979. Treatment.—When a dog is suspected, he should be 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.