administering of medicines to dogs is, generally speaking, simple and safe, if a little care is taken about the matter, and especially if two persons are employed in the operation. The one should be sitting with the dog between his knees, and the hinder part of the animal resting on the floor. The mouth is forced open by the pressure of the fore-finger and thumb upon the lips of the upper jaw, and the medicine can be conveniently introduced with the other hand, and passed sufficiently far into the throat to insure its not being returned. The mouth should be closed and kept so, until the bolus has been seen to pass down. Mr. Blaine thus describes the difference between the administration of liquid and solid medicines:
"A little attention will prevent all danger. A ball or bolus should be passed completely over the root of the tongue, and pushed some way backward and forward. When a liquid is given, if the quantity is more than can be swallowed at one effort, it should be removed from the mouth at each deglutition, or the dog may be strangled. Balls of a soft consistence, and those composed of nauseous ingredients, should be wrapped in thin paper, or they may disgust the dog and produce sickness."
Dogs labouring under disease should be carefully nursed: more depends on this than many persons seem to be aware. A warm and comfortable bed is of a great deal more consequence than many persons who are fond of their dogs imagine. Cleanliness is also an essential point. Harshness of manner and unkind treatment will evidently aggravate many of their complaints. I have sometimes witnessed an angry word spoken to a healthy dog produce instant convulsions in a distempered one that happened to be near; and the fits that come on spontaneously in distemper, almost instantly leave the dog by soothing notice of him.
| [Medication] | Application |
| Acidum Acetum (Vinegar) | [This] is useful for sprains, bruises, and fomentations. |
| Acidum Nitricum (Nitric Acid; Aqua Fortis) | [This] may be used with advantage to destroy warts or fungous excrescences. A little of the acid should be dropped on the part and bound tightly down. The protuberance will slough off and healthy granulations will spring up. A surer application, however, is the nitrate of silver. |
| Acidum Hydrocyanicum (Prussic Acid) | [This] is an excellent application for the purpose of allaying irritation of the skin in dogs; but it must be very carefully watched. I have seen a drachm of it diluted with a pint of distilled water, rapidly allay cuticular inflammation. The dreadful degree of itching which had been observed during the last two or three years yielded to this application alone; and to that it has almost invariably yielded, a little patience being used. |
| [Acupuncturation] | is a practice lately introduced into veterinary surgery. It denotes the insertion of a needle into the skin or flesh of a person or animal suffering severely from some neuralgic affection. The needle is small and sharp: it is introduced by a slight pressure and semi-rotating motion between the thumb and forefinger, and afterwards withdrawn with the same motion. This should always employ a quarter of an hour at least, and in cases of very great pain it should continue two hours; but when the object is to afford an exit to the fluid collected, mere puncture is sufficient. It is attended with very little pain; and therefore it may be employed at least with safety if not with advantage. The operation was known and practised in Japan, many years ago; but it was only in the seventeenth century that its singular value was ascertained. In 1810 some trials of it were made in Paris, and M. Chenel look the lead. He had a young dog that he had cured of distemper, except that a spasmodic affection of the left hind leg remained. He applied a needle, and with fair success. He failed with another dog; but M. Prevost, of Geneva, relieved two mares from rheumatism, and an entire horse that had been lame sixteen months. In the Veterinary School at Lyons acupuncturation was tried on two dogs. One had chorea, and the other chronic paralysis of the muscles of the neck. The operation had no effect on the first; the other came out of the hospital completely cured. In the following year acupuncturation was tried without success in the same school. Four horses and two dogs were operated upon in vain. |
| [a]Adeps] (Hog's Lard) | forms the basis of all our ointments. It is tasteless, inodorous and free from every stimulating quality. |
| Alcohol (Rectified Spirit) | [This] is principally used in tinctures, and seldom or never administered to the dog in a pure state. |
| Aloes, Barbadoes | [From] these are formed the safest and best aperients for the dog — consisting of powdered aloes, eight parts; antimonial powder, one part; ginger, one part; and palm oil, five parts; beaten well together, and the size of the ball varying from half a drachm to two drachms, and a ball administered every fourth or fifth hour. Mr. Blaine considers it to be the safest general purgative. He says that such is the peculiarity of the bowels of the dog, that while a man can take with impunity as much calomel as would kill two large dogs, a moderate-sized dog will take a quantity of aloes sufficient to destroy two stout men. The smallest dog can take 15 or 20 grains; half a drachm is seldom too much; but the smaller dose had better be tried first, for hundreds of dogs are every year destroyed by temerity in this particular. Medium-sized dogs usually require a drachm; and some large dogs have taken two or even three drachms. |
| Alteratives | are [medicines] that effect some slow change in the diseased action of certain parts, without interfering with the food or work. The most useful consist of five parts of sublimed sulphur, one of nitre, one of linseed meal, and two of lard or palm oil. |
| Alum | is a [powerful] astringent, whether employed externally or internally. It is occasionally administered in doses of from 10 to 15 grains in obstinate diarrhœa. In some obstinate cases, alum whey has been employed in the form of a clyster. |
| Oxide of Antimony | in [the] form of a compound powder, and under the name of James's powder, is employed as a sudorific, or to cause a determination to the skin. |
| [Antimonii] Potassio Tartras (Tartar Emetic) | besides its effect on the skin, is a useful nauseant, and invaluable in inflammation of the lungs and catarrhal affections of every kind. The Black [Sesquisulphuret] of Antimony is a compound of sulphur and antimony, and an excellent alterative. |
| Argenti Nitras — Nitrate of Silver (Lunar Caustic) | I [have] already strongly advocated the employment of this caustic for empoisoned wounds and bites of rabid animals. In my opinion it supersedes the use of every other caustic, and generally of the knife. I have also given it internally as a tonic to the dog, in cases of chorea, in doses from an eighth to a quarter of a grain. A dilute solution may be employed as an excitant to wounds, in which the healing process has become sluggish. For this purpose, ten grains or more may be dissolved in a fluid ounce of distilled water. A few fibres of tow dipped in this solution, being drawn through the channel which is left on the removal of a seton, quickly excite the healing action. Occasionally one or two drops of this solution may be introduced into the eye for the purpose of removing opalescence of the cornea. In cases of fungoid matter being thrown out on the cornea, the fungus may be touched with a rod of nitrate of silver, and little pain will follow. |
| [Peruvian Bark] | or its active principle the disulphate of quina, is a valuable tonic in distemper, especially when combined with the iodide of iron; the iron increasing with the general tone of the system, and the iodine acting as a stimulant to the absorbents. |
| Blisters | are occasionally useful or indispensable in some of the
casualties and diseases to which the dog is liable. They are mostly of
the same description, and act upon the same principles as in the horse,
whether in the form of plaster, or ointment, or stimulating fluid.
[Blisters] can be kept on the dog with difficulty: nothing short of a wire
muzzle will suffice; Mr. Blaine says, that for very large dogs, he used
to be compelled to make use of a perforated tin one. The judgment of the
practitioner will determine in these cases, as well as with regard to
the horse, whether the desired effect should be produced by severe
measures or by those of a milder character, by active blisters or by
milder stimulants; the difficulty of the measures to be adopted, and the
degree of punishment that may be inflicted, being never forgotten by the
operator. [We] have stated in our work on the Horse, that "the art of blistering consists in cutting or rather shaving the hair perfectly close; then well rubbing in the ointment, and afterwards, and, what is the greatest consequence of all, plastering a little more of the ointment lightly over the part, and leaving it. As soon as the vesicles have perfectly risen, which will be in twenty or twenty-four hours, the torture of the animal may be somewhat relieved by the application of olive or neat's-foot oil, or any emollient ointment. "[An] infusion of two ounces of the cantharides in a pint of oil of turpentine, for several days, is occasionally used as a languid blister; and when sufficiently lowered with common oil, it is called a sweating oil, for it maintains a certain degree of irritation and inflammation on the skin, yet not sufficient to blister; and thus gradually abates or removes some old or deep inflammation, or cause of lameness."[1] Iodine in various cases is now rapidly superseding the cantharides and the turpentine. |
| Calomel | [Sufficient] has been said of this dangerous medicine in the course of the present work. I should rarely think of exhibiting it, except in small doses for the purpose of producing that specific influence on the liver, which we know to be the peculiar property of this drug. In large doses it will to a certain extent produce vomiting; and, if it finds its way into the intestines, it acts as a powerful drastic purgative. |
| Castor Oil (Oleum Ricini)' | [This] is a most valuable medicine. It is usually combined with the syrup of buckthorn and white poppies, in the proportions of three parts of the oil to two of the buckthorn and one of the poppy-syrup; which form a combination of ingredients in which the oleaginous, stimulant, and narcotic ingredients happily blend. |
| Catechu | [This] is an extract from the wood of an acacia-tree (Acacia catechu), and possesses a powerful astringent property. It is given in cases of superpurgation, united with opium, chalk, and powdered gum. A tincture of it is very useful for the purpose of hastening the healing principle of wounds. Professor Morton says, that he considers it as the most valuable of the vegetable astringents. |
| Clysters | [Professor] Morton gives an account of the use of clysters.
The objects, he says, for which they are administered, are:
To empty
the bowels of fæces: thus they act as an aperient. Also, to induce a
cathartic to commence its operations, when, from want of exercise or due
preparation, it is tardy in producing the desired effect. Clysters
operate in a twofold way: first, by softening the contents of the
intestines; and, secondly, by exciting an irritation in one portion of
the canal which is communicated throughout the whole; hence they become
valuable when the nature and progress of the disease require a quick
evacuation of the bowels. The usual enema is warm water, but this may be
rendered more stimulating by the addition of salt, oil, or aloes. For the purpose of killing worms that are found in the rectum and large intestines: in this case it is usually of an oleaginous nature. For restraining diarrhœa: sedatives and astringents being then employed. For nourishing the body when food cannot be received by the mouth. Gruel is generally the aliment thus given. For allaying spasms in the stomach and bowels. |
| Copper | [Both] the verdigris, or subacetate, and the blue vitriol of sulphate of copper, are now comparatively rarely used. They are employed either in the form of a fine powder, or mixed with an equal quantity of the acetate of lead in order to destroy proud flesh or stimulate old ulcers. They also form a part of the ægyptiacum of the farrier. There are many better drugs to accomplish the same purpose. |
| Creosote | is [seldom] used for the dog. We have applications quite as good and less dangerous. It may be employed as a very gentle excitant and antiseptic. |
| Creta Preparata (Chalk) | in [combination] with ginger, catechu, and opium, is exceedingly useful; indeed, it is our most valuable medicine in all cases of purging, and particularly the purging of distemper. |
| Digitalis | is [an] exceedingly valuable drug. It is a direct and powerful sedative, a mild diuretic, and useful in every inflammatory and febrile complaint. |
| Gentian and Ginger | are [both] valuable; the first as a stomachic and tonic, and the last as a cordial and tonic. It is occasionally necessary, or at least desirable, to draw this distinction between them. |
| Chloride of Lime | is a [useful] application for ill-conditioned wounds and for the frequent cleansing of the kennel. |
| Epsom Salts, or Sulphate of Magnesia | are [mild] yet effective in their action: with regard to cattle and sheep, they supersede every other aperient; for the dog, however, they must yield to the castor-oil mixture. |
| Mercury | The [common] mercurial ointment is now comparatively little used. It has given way to the different preparations of iodine. In direct and virulent mange, it is yet, however, employed under the form of calomel, and combined with aloes, but in very small doses, never exceeding three grains. It is also useful in farcy and jaundice. The corrosive sublimate is occasionally used for mange in the dog, and to destroy vermin; but it is a very uncertain and dangerous medicine. |
| Palm Oil | [would] be an excellent emollient, if it were not so frequently adulterated with turmeric root in powder. It is far milder than the common lard. |
| Nitrate of Potash | is a [valuable] cooling and mild diuretic, in doses of eight or ten grains. |
| Sulphur | is [the] basis of ihe most effectual applications for mange. It is a good alterative, combined usually with antimonials and nitre, and particularly useful in mange, surfeit, grease, hide-bound, and want of condition. |
| Turpentine | is an [excellent] diuretic and antispasmodic; it is also a most effectual sweating blister and highly useful in strains. |
| The Sulphate of Zinc | is [valuable] as an excitant to wounds, and promotes adhesion between divided surfaces and the radix. |
- To empty
the bowels of fæces: thus they act as an aperient. Also, to induce a
cathartic to commence its operations, when, from want of exercise or due
preparation, it is tardy in producing the desired effect. Clysters
operate in a twofold way: first, by softening the contents of the
intestines; and, secondly, by exciting an irritation in one portion of
the canal which is communicated throughout the whole; hence they become
valuable when the nature and progress of the disease require a quick
evacuation of the bowels. The usual enema is warm water, but this may be
rendered more stimulating by the addition of salt, oil, or aloes.
- For
the purpose of killing worms that are found in the rectum and large
intestines: in this case it is usually of an oleaginous nature.
- For
restraining diarrhœa: sedatives and astringents being then employed.
- For nourishing the body when food cannot be received by the mouth. Gruel
is generally the aliment thus given.
- For allaying spasms in the stomach and bowels.
The Horse