The Dog

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About five o'clock she got rid of one dead and two living puppies.

'2d'. She is still very ill; she evinces great pain when pressed upon
the abdomen; and it is manifest that she has another foetus within her.
I ordered a dose of the ergot, and in about twenty minutes a large puppy
was produced, nearly dying. She survived with due care.

I cannot refrain from inserting the following case at considerable
length.

'Sept.' 4, 1820.--A very diminutive terrier, weighing not 5 lbs. was
sent to my hospital in order to lie in. She was already restless and
panting. About eight o'clock at night the labour pains commenced; but
until eleven scarcely any progress was made. The 'os uteri' would not
admit my finger, although I frequently attempted it.

At half-past eleven, the membranes began to protrude; at one the head
had descended into the pelvis and the puppy was dead. In a previous
labour she had been unable to produce her young, although the ergot of
rye had been freely used. I was obliged to use considerable force, and
she fought terribly with me throughout the whole process. At half-past
one, and after applying considerable force, I brought away a large
foetus, compared with her own size. On passing my finger as high as
possible, I felt another foetus living, but the night passed and the
whole of the following day, and she ate and drank, and did not appear to
be much injured.

Several times in the day I gave her some strong soup and the ergot. Some
slight pains now returned, and by pressing on the belly the nose of the
foetus was brought to the superior edge of the pelvis. The pains again
ceased, the pudenda began to swell from frequent examination, the bitch
began to stagger, and made frequent attempts to void her urine, with
extreme difficulty in accomplishing it. I now resorted to the crotchet;
and after many unsuccessful attempts, in which the superior part of the
vagina must have been considerably bruised, I fixed it sufficiently
firmly to draw the head into the cavity of the pelvis. Here for a while
the shoulder resisted every attempt which I could make without the
danger of detruncating the foetus. At length by working at the side of
the head until my nails were soft and my fingers sore, I extracted one
fore leg. The other was soon brought down; another large puppy was
produced, but destroyed by the means necessary for its production. This
was the fruit of two hours' hard work.

She was completely exhausted, and scarcely able to stand. When placed on
the ground she staggered and fell at almost every step. Her efforts to
void her urine were frequent and ineffectual.

At four o'clock I again examined her; the external pudenda were sore and
swelled, and beginning to assume a black hue. It was with considerable
difficulty that I could introduce my finger. A third foetus irregularly
presented was detected. I could just feel one of the hind legs. No time
was to be lost. I introduced a small pair of forceps by the side of my
finger, and succeeded in laying hold of the leg without much difficulty,
and, with two or three weak efforts from the mother,--I could scarcely
call them pains,--I brought the leg down until it was in the cavity of
the pelvis. I solicited it forward with my finger, and, by forcibly
pressing back the 'labia pudendi', I could just grasp it with the finger
and thumb of the right hand. Holding it there, I introduced the finger
of the right hand, and continued to get down the other leg, and then
found little difficulty until the head was brought to the superior edge
of the pelvis. After a long interval, and with considerable force, this
was brought into the pelvis, and another puppy extracted. This fully
occupied two hours.

The bitch now appeared almost lifeless. As she was unable to stand, and
seemed unconscious of every thing around her, I concluded that she was
lost: I gave her one or two drops of warm brandy and water, covered her
up closely, and put her to bed.

To my surprise, on the following morning, she was curled round in her
basket; she licked my hands, and ate a bit of bread and butter; but when
put on her legs staggered and fell. The pudendum was dreadfully swollen,
and literally black. In the afternoon she again took a little food: she
came voluntarily from her basket, wagged her tail when spoken to, and on
the following day she was taken in her basket a journey of 70 miles, and
afterwards did well; no one could be more rejoiced than was her master,
who was present at, and superintended the greater part of the
proceedings.

'The beneficial effect of Ergot of Rye in difficult Parturition'.--The
following case is from the pen of Professor Dick:

On the 10th instant, a pointer bitch produced two puppies; and it was
thought by the person having her in charge that she had no more. She was
put into a comfortable box, and with a little care was expected to do
well. On the next morning, however, she was sick and breathed heavily,
and continued rather uneasy all the day.

On the forenoon of the following day I was requested to see her. I found
her with her nose dry, breath hot, respiration frequent, mouth hot and
parched, coat staring, back roached, pulse 120, and a black fetid
discharge from the vagina. Pressure on the abdomen gave pain. A pup
could be obscurely felt; the secretion of milk was suppressed, and the
skin had lost its natural elasticity.

Tepid water with a little soap dissolved in it was immediately injected
into the uterus, which in a considerable degree excited its action; and
this injection was repeated two or three times with the same effect.

After waiting for half an hour, the foetus was not discharged nor
brought forward; therefore a scruple of the ergot of rye was then made
into an infusion with two ounces of water, and one-third of it given as
a dose; in half an hour, another one-third of it; the injections of warm
water and soap being also continued. Soon after the second dose of the
infusion, a dead puppy was expelled; the bitch rapidly recovered, and,
with the exception of deficiency of milk, is now quite well.

This case would seem to prove the great power of the ergot of rye over
the uterus; but, until more experiments are made, it is necessary to be
cautious in ascribing powers to medicines which have not been much tried
in our practice. It is not improbable that the warm water and soap might
have roused the uterus into action without the aid of the ergot; and it
is therefore necessary that those who repeat this experiment should try
the effects of the medicine unaided by the auxiliary.

The Professor adds, that the great power which this drug is said to have
on the human being, and the apparent effect in the case just given,
suggest the propriety of instituting a further trial of it, and of our
extending our observations to cattle, amongst which difficult cases of
calving so frequently occur.

Mr. Simpson thus concludes some remarks on ergot in difficult
parturition. This medicine possesses a very great power over the uterus,
rousing its dormant or debilitated contractility, and stimulating it to
an extra performance of this necessary function after its natural energy
has been in some measure destroyed by forcible but useless action. The
direct utility of the ergot was manifested in cases where the uterus
appeared quite exhausted by its repeated efforts; and certainly it is
but fair to ascribe the decidedly augmented power of the organ to the
stimulus of the ergot, for no other means were resorted to in order to
procure the desired effect. Its action, too, is prompt. Within ten
minutes of the administration of a second or third dose, when nature has
been nearly exhausted, the parturition has been safely effected.

'Puerperal Fits'.
Nature, proportions the power and resources of the mother to the wants
of her offspring. In her wild undomesticated state she is able to suckle
her progeny to the full time; but, in the artificial state in which we
have placed her, we shorten the interval between each period of
parturition, we increase the number of her young ones at each birth, we
diminish her natural powers of affording them nutriment, and we give her
a degree of irritability which renders her whole system liable to be
excited and deranged by causes that would otherwise be harmless:
therefore it happens that, when the petted bitch is permitted to suckle
the whole of her litter, her supply of nutriment soon becomes exhausted,
and the continued drain upon her produces a great degree of
irritability. She gets rapidly thin; she staggers, is half unconscious,
neglects her puppies, and suddenly falls into a fit of a very peculiar
character. It begins with, and is sometimes confined to, the respiratory
apparatus: she lies on her side and pants violently, and the sound of
her laboured breathing may be heard at the distance of twenty yards.
Sometimes spasms steal over her limbs; at other times the diaphragm and
respiratory muscles alone are convulsed. In a few hours she is certainly
lost; or, if there are moments of remission, they are speedily succeeded
by increased heavings.

The practitioner unaccustomed to this fearful state of excitation, and
forgetful or unaware of its cause, proceeds to bleed her, and he seals
her fate. Although one system is thus convulsively labouring, it is
because others are suddenly and perfectly exhausted; and by abstraction
of the vital current he reduces this last hold of life to the helpless
condition of the rest. There is not a more common or fatal error than
this.

The veterinary practitioner is unable to apply the tepid bath to his
larger patients, in order to quiet the erythism of certain parts of the
system, and produce an equable diffusion of nervous influence and
action; and he often forgets it when he has it in his power to save the
smaller ones. Let the bitch in a fit be put into a bath, temperature 96 deg.
Fahrenheit, and covered with the water, her head excepted. It will he
surprising to see how soon the simple application of this equable
temperament will quiet down the erythism of the excited system. In ten
minutes, or a quarter of an hour, she may be taken out of the bath
evidently relieved, and then, a hasty and not very accurate drying
having taken place, she is wrapped in a blanket and placed in some warm
situation, a good dose of physic having been previously administered.
She soon breaks out in a profuse perspiration. Everything becomes
gradually quiet, and she falls into a deep and long sleep, and at length
awakes somewhat weak, but to a certain degree restored.

If, then, all her puppies except one or two are taken from her, and her
food is, for a day or two, somewhat restricted, and after that given
again of its usual quantity and kind, she will live and do well; but a
bleeding at the time of her fit, or suffering all her puppies to return
to her, will inevitably destroy her.

A bitch that was often brought to my house was suckling a litter of
puppies. She was foolishly taken up and thrown into the Serpentine in
the month of April. The suppression of milk was immediate and complete.
There was also a determination to the head, and attacks resembling
epilepsy. The puppies that were suffered to remain with the mother, were
very soon as epileptic as she was, and were destroyed. A seton was
inserted on each side of her neck. Ipecacuanha was administered; and
that having sufficiently worked, a small quantity of diluted sulphuric
acid was given. A fortnight afterwards she was perfectly well.

'Inversion of the Uterus in a Bull Bitch after Pupping. Extirpation
and Cure.'

By M. Cross, M. V., Milan.--In July, 1829, I was desired to attend a
small bull bitch six years old, and who had had puppies four times. The
uterus was completely inverted, and rested all its weight on the vaginal
orifice of the urethra, preventing the discharge of the urine, and thus
being the cause of great pain when the animal endeavoured to void it, or
the faecal matter. The uterus was become of almost a black colour,
swelled, softened, and exhaling an insupportable odour. Judging from
this that the preservation of the uterus was impossible, and reckoning
much on the good constitution of the patient, I warned the proprietor of
the danger of its reduction, even supposing that it was practicable, and
proposed to him the complete extirpation of the uterus as the only means
that remained of saving the bitch.

Armed with his consent, I passed a ligature round the neck of the
uterus, at the bottom of the vagina, and drew it as tight as I possibly
could. On the following day I again tightened the ligature, in order to
complete the mortification of the part, and the separation of the womb.
On the third day I extirpated the womb entirely, close to the haunch.
There was very slight loss of blood, but there ran from the walls of the
vagina a small quantity of ichorous fluid, with a strong fetid smell.
The operation was scarcely completed ere she voided a considerable
quantity of urine, and then searched about for something to eat and to
drink.

The portion of the uterus that was removed weighed fourteen ounces. The
mucous membrane by which it was lined was in a highly disorganized
state. From time to time injections of a slight infusion of aromatic
plants were introduced into the vagina, and the animal was nourished
with liquid food of easy digestion.

The first day passed without the animal being in the slightest degree
affected; but, on the following day, in despite of all our care, an
ichorous fluid was discharged, which the dog would lick notwithstanding
all our efforts to prevent it. The general health of the animal did not
seem to be in the slightest degree affected.

On the fourth day after the operation, the cords that had served as a
ligature fell off, and all suppuration from the part gradually ceased.

'October 20th'.--Three months have passed since the operation, and she
is perfectly well.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XIV.

THE DISTEMPER.

By this singular name is distinguished a prevalent disease now about to
come under our consideration, which was first observed on the continent.
The rapidity with which it spread, the strange protean appearances which
it assumed, and its too frequent fatal termination, surprised and
puzzled the veterinary surgeons; and they called it "la maladie des
chiens," the disease or distemper in dogs.

It is comparatively a new disease. It was imported from France about one
hundred years since, although some French authors have strangely
affirmed that it is of British origin. Having once gained footing among
us, it has established itself in our country, to the vexation and loss
of the sportsman, and the annoyance of the veterinary surgeon. However
keepers, or even men of education, may boast of their specifics, it is a
sadly fatal disease, and destroys fully one-third of the canine race.

Dogs of all ages are subject to its attack. Many, nine and ten years
old, have died of pure distemper; and I have seen puppies of only three
weeks fall victims to it; but it oftenest appears between the sixth and
twelfth month of the animal's life. If it occurs at an early period, it
proves fatal in the great majority of cases; and, if the dog is more
than four years old, it generally goes hard with him. It is undeniably
highly contagious, yet it is frequently generated. In this it bears an
analogy to mange, and to farcy and glanders in the horse.

One attack of the disease, and even a severe one, is no absolute
security against its return; although the dog that has once laboured
under distemper possesses a certain degree of immunity; or, if he is
attacked a second time, the malady usually assumes a milder type. I
have, however, known it occur three times in the same animal, and at
last destroy him.

Violent catarrh will often terminate in distemper; and low and
insufficient feeding will produce it. It frequently follows mange, and
especially if mercury has been used in the cure of the malady. When we
see a puppy with mange, and that peculiar disease in which the skin
becomes corrugated, and more especially if it is a spaniel, and
pot-bellied or rickety, we generally say that we can cure the mange, but
it will not be long before the animal dies of distemper; and so it
happens in three cases out of four. Whatever debilitates the
constitution predisposes it for the reception or the generation of
distemper. It, however, frequently occurs without any apparent exciting
cause.

That it is highly contagious cannot admit of doubt. A healthy dog can
seldom, for many days, be kept with another that labours under distemper
without becoming affected; and the disease is communicated by the
slightest momentary contact. There is, however, a great deal of caprice
about this. I have more than once kept a dog in the foul-yard of my
hospital for several successive weeks, and he has not become diseased.
Inoculation with the matter that flows from the nose, either limpid or
purulent, and in an early or advanced stage of the distemper, will, with
few exceptions, produce the disease; yet I have failed to communicate it
even by this method. Inoculation used to be recommended as producing a
milder and less fatal disease. So far as my experience goes, the
contrary has been the result.

Distemper is also epidemic. It occurs more frequently in the spring and
autumn than in the winter and summer. If one or two dogs in a certain
district are affected, we may be assured that it will soon extensively
prevail there; and where the disease could not possibly be communicated
by contagion. Sometimes it rages all over the country. At other times it
is endemic, and confined to some particular district.

Not only is the disease epidemic or endemic, but the form which it
assumes is so. In one season, almost every dog with distemper has
violent fits; at another, in the majority of cases, there will be
considerable chest affection, running on to pneumonia; a few months
afterwards, a great proportion of the distempered dogs will be worn down
by diarrhoea, which no medicine will arrest; and presently it will be
scarcely distinguishable from mild catarrh.

It varies much with different breeds. The shepherd's dog, generally
speaking, cares little about it; he is scarcely ill a day. The cur is
not often seriously affected. The terrier has it more severely,
especially the white terrier. The hound comes next in the order of
severity; and after him the setter. With the small spaniel it is more
dangerous; and still more so with the pointer, especially if he has the
disease early. Next in the order of fatality comes the pug; and it is
most fatal of all with the Newfoundland dog. Should a foreign dog be
affected, he almost certainly dies. The greater part of the northern
dogs brought by Captain Parry did not survive a twelvemonth; and the
delicate Italian greyhound has little chance, when imported from abroad.

Not only does it thus differ in different species of dogs, but in
different breeds of the same species. I have known several gentlemen who
have laboured in vain for many years, to rear particular and valuable
breeds of pointers and greyhounds. The distemper would uniformly carry
off five out of six. Other sportsmen laugh at the supposed danger of
distemper, and declare that they seldom lose a dog. This hereditary
predisposition to certain kinds of disease cannot be denied, and is not
sufficiently attended to. When a peculiar fatality has often followed a
certain breed, the owner should cross it from another kennel, and
especially from the kennel of one who boasts of his success in the
treatment of distemper. This has occasionally succeeded far beyond
expectation.

It is time to proceed to the symptoms of this disease; but here there is
very considerable difficulty, for it is a truly protean malady, and it
is impossible to fix on any symptom that will invariably characterise
it.

An early and frequent symptom is a gradual loss of appetite, spirits,
and condition: the dog is less obedient to his master, and takes less
notice of him. The eyes appear weak and watery; and there will be a very
slight limpid discharge from the nose. In the morning there will,
perhaps, be a little indurated mucus at the inner corner of the eye.
This may continue two or three weeks without serious or scarcely
recognizable illness. Then a peculiar husky cough is heard, altogether
different from the sonorous cough of catarrh, or the wheezing of asthma.
It is an apparent attempt to get something from the fauces or throat. By
degrees the discharge from the eyes and nose, and particularly the
former, will increase. More mucus will collect in the corners of the
eye; and the eye will sometimes be closed in the morning. The
conjunctiva and particularly that portion which covers the sclerotica,
will be considerably injected, but there will not be the usual intense
redness of inflammation. The vessels will be large and turgid rather
than numerous, and frequently of a darkish hue.

Occasionally, however, the inflammation of the conjunctiva will be
exceedingly intense, the membrane vividly red, and the eye impatient of
light. An opacity spreads over the cornea, and this is quickly succeeded
by ulceration. The first spot of ulceration is generally found precisely
in the centre of the cornea, and is perfectly circular; this will
distinguish it from a scratch or other injury. The ulcer widens and
deepens, and sometimes eats through the cornea, and the aqueous humour
escapes. Fungous granulations spring from it, protrude through the lids,
and the animal evidently suffers extreme torture.

A remarkable peculiarity attends this affection of the eye. However
violent may be the inflammation, and by whatever disorganization it may
be accompanied, if we can cure the distemper, the granulations will
disappear, the ulcer will heal, the opacity will clear away, and the eye
will not eventually suffer in the slightest degree. One-fourth part of
the mischief in other cases, unconnected with distemper, would
inevitably terminate in blindness; but permanent blindness is rarely the
consequence of distemper.

It may not be improper here shortly to revert to the different
appearance of the eye in rabies. In the early stage of this malady there
is an unnatural and often terrific brightness of the eye; but the cornea
in distemper is from the first rather clouded. In rabies there is
frequent strabismus, with the axis of the eye distorted outwards. The
apparent squinting of the eye in distemper is caused by the probably
unequal protrusion of the membrana nictitans over a portion of the eye
at the inner canthus, in order to protect it from the light. In rabies,
the white cloudiness which I have described, and the occasional
ulceration with very little cloudiness, and the ulceration, are confined
to the cornea; but a dense green opacity comes on, speedily followed by
ulceration and disorganization of every part of the eye.

The dog will, at this stage of distemper, be evidently feverish, and
will shiver and creep to the fire. He will more evidently and rapidly
lose flesh. The huskiness will be more frequent and troublesome, and the
discharge from the nose will have greater consistence. It will be often
and violently sneezed out, and will gradually become more or less
purulent. It will stick about the nostrils and plug them up, and thus
afford a considerable mechanical obstruction to the breathing.

The progress of the disease is now uncertain. Sometimes fits come on,
speedily following intense inflammation of the eye; or the inflammation
of the nasal cavity appears to be communicated, by proximity, to the
membrane of the brain. One fit is a serious thing. If it is followed by
a second within a day or two, the chances of cure are diminished; and if
they rapidly succeed each other, the dog is almost always lost. These
fits seldom appear without warning; and, if their approach is carefully
watched, they may possibly be prevented.

However indisposed to eat the dog may previously have been, the appetite
returns when the fits are at hand, and the animal becomes absolutely
voracious. Nature seems to be providing for the great expenditure of
power which epilepsy will soon occasion. The mucus almost entirely
disappears from the eyes, although the discharge from the nose may
continue unabated; and for an hour or more before the fit there will be
a champing of the lower jaw, frothing at the mouth, and discharge of
saliva. The champing of the lower jaw will be seen at least twelve hours
before the first fit, and will a little while precede every other. There
will also be twitchings of some part of the frame, and usually of the
mouth, cheek, or eyelid. It is of some consequence to attend to these,
as enabling us to distinguish between fits of distemper and those of
teething, worms, or unusual excitement. The latter come on suddenly. The
dog is apparently well, and racing about full of spirits, and without a
moment's warning he falls into violent convulsions.