The Airedale

by Williams Haynes

Chorea, or, as it is sometimes called, St. Vitus's Dance, is generally a legacy of distemper. It is a peculiar nervous twitching, generally affecting the forelegs and shoulders. It is almost incurable, but good food, exercise, and a tonic may work wonders.

Cramps in the hindquarters may sometimes attack a dog who goes a great deal into the water and they are not unknown as a result of cold and damp kennels or great exposure to cold. The symptoms are a more or less complete paralysis of the hindlegs, accompanied by great pain. The dog should be given a hot bath and the affected parts, after a careful drying, should be rubbed well with chloroform liniment.

Diarrhoea, which may be caused by food or worms, can usually be stopped by a mild purge of half castor oil and half syrup of buckthorn, which may be followed by a dose of prepared chalk. Boiled rice is an excellent food for dogs suffering from disordered bowels.

Distemper is the bane of the dog owner's existence. It is a highly contagious disease generally attacking puppies, and is comparable to scarlet fever in that one attack successfully gone through usually means immunity. It was formerly thought that distemper could arise spontaneously from improper feeding or unsanitary kenneling, but the germ of the disease has been isolated, and while poor food and dirty kennels increase the chances of the disease by lowering the dog's resistance, they are not in themselves causes.

The distemper germ is possessed of remarkable vitality and may be transferred either directly from dog to dog or through the medium of crates, bedding, clothing, and even the air. Shows are a source of spreading the disease, though there is much less danger of this now than formerly for the veterinary inspection and proper disinfecting methods have improved conditions wonderfully. A bitch from an infected kennel may give distemper to the inmates of the kennels she visits for breeding purposes. Plenty of soap and water, disinfectant, and elbow grease make a distemper prevention that is much better than any cure.

The discovery of the distemper germ has naturally resulted in the making of an anti-toxin, by attenuating the virus till a weakened form is obtained. Using this to inoculate a well dog, a mild form of the disease attacks him, but this "vaccination" has not proved unqualifiedly successful, especially when used by amateurs.

The commonest form of distemper is catarrhal, with symptoms much like those of an ordinary cold, lack of appetite, fever, disordered bowels, vomiting, staring coat, rapid loss of flesh, and discharges from the nose and eyes. The distemper germ, however, may attack other organs than the nose and eyes. The lungs and bronchial tubes and the stomach and intestines are also seats of the trouble. These forms are harder to diagnose and harder to cure. The presence of dysentery and sometimes of jaundice are indications that the digestive tract is involved.

I know of no sure cure for distemper, and I never knew a dog owner who did, though, to be sure, they all have their favorite remedies. There are no end of patent specifics on the market, and some of these are very good, but the best thing for a tyro to do is to call a veterinarian. Leave the doctoring to him, at least till you have had the experience gained by a couple of good cases of distemper in your kennels. There will be plenty for you to do without bother about prescribing.

The dog with distemper must be isolated, and you must take the precautions that you would if there were smallpox in the neighborhood. Wash with disinfectants, burn sulphur candles, scrupulously destroy all bedding—use all the knowledge of antiseptic disinfecting that you have.

As for the patient, you will find that nursing is just as important as medicine—in fact, the more I have to do with the disease, the less medicine I administer and the more care I give to nursing. Keep up the dog's strength with almost any sick room food that he will eat. Raw meat, eggs, gruels, soups, milk, all these are good, and the dog should be fed often. The discharges from the nose and eyes should be wiped away regularly.