close the mouth, hold up the head, and stop the nostrils. Repeat this, if the draught is too large to be taken at once. If the dog is very large, you must have an assistant, else in his struggles he will upset physic and yourself into the bargain.
GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT DOGS IN PHYSIC
Keep them dry and warm, especially when you use calomel or any mercurial preparation. Always remove them from the kennel, and put them into an hospital apart from the rest, to prevent infection, as well as to insure the poor brutes quietness. Study the appearance of the eyes, feet, nose, extremities, pulse, &c.
To make a bitch inclined to copulate.– Seven drops Tincture of Cantharides twice a day till effect is produced – about six days, probably.
Mange.– Caused by dirty kennels, neglect, want of nourishing, or improper, food. Cure – 1 oz. salts, if dog of moderate size. Rub every third day well into the skin quantum suf. of the following mixture: —
Train oil – tanner's will do – one quart; spirits turpentine one large wineglass full; sulphur sufficient to let it just run off a stick. Mix well. Three applications are generally sufficient. Let it stay on the animal for a fortnight, when wash well with soap and water. Remember, it takes nearly two hours to well scrub the above into the skin. Smearing over the hair is no use. It must get well into the skin; and if neatly and properly done, the dog scarcely shows the application.
Worms.– ℞ Cowhage, half a drachm; tin filings, very fine, four drachms. Make into four or six balls, according to size of dog. One daily, and a few hours afterwards a purge of salts or aloes. Powdered glass, as much as will lie on a shilling, i.e. a quarter dollar, new coin, in lard. Repeat once or twice alternate days. Finish off with one to two drachms Socotrine Aloes, rolled up in tissue paper. Mind, the glass must be ground into the finest kind of powder, else it will injure the coats of the stomach.
To make a dog fine in his coat.– A tablespoonful of tar in oatmeal. Make bolus.
Distemper.– Distemper is caused by low keep, neglect, and changes of atmosphere. Symptoms of the disease are as follows: – Loss of spirit, activity, and appetite, drowsiness, dulness of the eyes, lying at length with nose to the ground, coldness of extremities, legs, ears, and lips, heat in head and body, running at the nose and eyes, accompanied by sneezing, emaciation, and weakness, dragging of hinder quarters, flanks drawn in, diarrhœa, sometimes vomiting. There are several receipts for this, the worst and most fatal of all diseases. One is better than another, according to the various stages. This first, if commenced at an early stage, seldom fails. Half an ounce of salts in warm water, when the dog is first taken ill; thirty-six hours afterwards, ten grains compound Powder of Ipecacuanha in warm water. If in two days he is no better, take sixteen grains Antimonial Powder, made into four boluses; one night and morning for two days. If no improvement visible, continue these pills, unless diarrhœa comes on, in which case you must use the ipecacuanha day about with the pills. If the animal is much weakened by this, give him one teaspoonful Huxam's Tincture of Bark three times a day. Keep warm, and feed on rich broth. James's Powder is also almost a certain remedy Dose four grains; or Antimonial Powder and Calomel, three parts of first to one of latter, from eight to fifteen grains; or, after the salts, Ant. Powder, two, three, or four grains, Nitrate Potash, five, ten, or fifteen grains; Ipecacuanha, two, three, or four. Make into ball, and give twice or three times a day, according to appearances. Repeat the purge or emetics every fourth day, but avoid too great looseness of bowels. Diarrhœa sometimes supervenes, in which case give Compound Powder of Chalk, with Opium, ten grains. In case of fits coming on, destroy the animal. The same may be said of paralysis. If this disease is taken in its early stage, and attended to, and the dog kept warm, there is not much danger. Otherwise it is very fatal.
Wounds.– Poultice for a day or two; then apply Friar's Balsam, covering up the place.
For a Green Wound.– Hog's lard, turpentine, bees' wax, equal parts; verdigris, one fourth part. Simmer over a slow fire till they are well mixed.
Purgative Medicines.– Salts, one ounce; Calomel, five grains; or Socotrine Aloes, two drachms for moderate sized dog.
Stripping Feet.– Wash in bran and warm water, with a little vinegar; after apply Tincture of Myrrh. Apply sweet oil before he goes out. If his feet are tender, wash them in brine, to harden them. When actually sore, buttermilk, greasy pot liquor, or water gruel, are best. Brine inflames. The dog should be kept at home till feet are healed. Then apply the brine and vinegar.
Canker in the Ear.– Wash well with soap and warm water; fill up the ear with finely powdered charcoal or powdered borax. Clean out daily with sponge on stick and warm water, and repeat the dusting till it heals. Or, perhaps, the best receipt is, – clean out ear with sponge fastened on a pliable stick, using warm soap and water. When quite clean, dip the sponge in Sulphate of Copper-water, turning it gently round. Put seton in the neck just under the ear.
Oak Bark, one pound, chopped fine, and well boiled in soft water. When cold, take of the Decoction of Bark four ounces, Sugar of Lead, half a drachm. Put a teaspoonful into the ear night and morning, rubbing the root of ear well, to cause it to get well into the cavities. This is one of the best receipts in this book.
To make Sulphate of Copper Water.– Sulphate of Copper half a drachm, water one ounce. Mix well and keep corked.
External Canker of Ear.– Butter of Antimony, diluted in milk to the thickness of cream, will cure it; or Red Precipitate of Mercury, half an ounce, with two ounces of hog's lard, mixed well.
To make a Seton.– Take a dozen or two strands of a horse's tail; plait them; rub blistering ointment on them. Pass it through two or three inches of the skin with a curved surgical needle. Tie the two ends together. Move daily.
Bleeding.– You may readily bleed a dog in the jugular vein by holding up his head, stopping the circulation at the base of the neck. Part the hair, and with the lancet make an incision, taking care not to stick him too deeply. If the animal rejoices in a heavy coat, it may be necessary to shave away the hair. From one to eight ounces are the quantities; but in this, as in most prescriptions, the old proverb is the safest – "Keep between the banks."
For a Strain.– Use Bertine's Liniment; or one ounce Turpentine, half a pint of old beer, half a pint of brine; bathe the part and repeat; or Sal Ammonia, one ounce, vinegar one pint.
Bruises or Strains of long standing.– Gall, Opodeldoc, excellent. Shaved Camphor two ounces, Spirits of Wine three quarters of a pint. Shake well, and cork close, placing it near the fire till the camphor dissolves. Then add a bullock's gall. Shake well together. Apply, rubbing it well into the part affected till it lathers.
Dog Poisoned.– Give teacupful of castor oil. After he has vomited well, continue to pour olive oil down his throat and rub his belly.
Staggers and Fits.– This generally happens in warm weather. Throw water on them, if convenient. If not, bleed in neck, if you have lancets. If not, with your knife slit the ears, which you can cause to adhere together again; or run your knife across two or three bars next the teeth. Bitches coming off heat are more subject to this than dogs in good health.
To reduce the time a bitch is in heat.– Give her a little Nitre in water, and a dose of Calomel, four grains or thereabouts, followed by salts or aloes.
Bilious Fever.– Is caused by want of exercise and too high feeding. Calomel, six or eight grains; or, in an obstinate case, Turpeth Mineral or Yellow Mercury, six to twelve grains in a bolus.
To destroy Lice.– Sometimes the receipt below for fleas will prove efficacious, but
