Kitabı oku: «The Dog», sayfa 23
CANKER WASH
Youatt speaks of the liquor plumbi as a dangerous agent to the dog, and advises for canker that a scruple be mixed with an ounce of water; but in opposition to that esteemed author's recommendation, I have employed the liquor plumbi pure, with the best effect, in extreme cases; though, in ordinary disease, the above is sufficiently strong; and in medicine it is a maxim that a sufficiency is enough.
I give to the animal, as a general rule, no medicine to take; but invariably recommend the dog to be kept on vegetable diet; for, inasmuch as meat is the sole cause of the disorder, however potent may be the drugs employed for the cure, it is imperative for its eradication that the cause be removed.
Sometimes, in consequence of the violent shaking of the head, serous abscesses of considerable size form inside the flaps of the ears. This mostly happens with large dogs, and the abscesses are hot and soft, being excessively tender. The animal does not like them to be touched, or even looked at, but is frequently shaking the head, and howling or whining afterwards.
The remedy in these cases is equally simple and efficient. The person who undertakes to remedy the evil, first, by way of precaution, tapes the animal; that is, he forms a temporary muzzle, by binding a piece of tape thrice firmly round the creature's mouth. He then places the dog between his knees, and turning up the ear, with a small lancet makes quickly an opening in what then is the superior part of the sac in the inverted ear. This is necessary, because, if the opening were made inferiorly, all the fluid would escape, and the side of the emptied sac would collapse. If the point of the knife even could be introduced into an incision made upon the lower part of the ear, it would not be so easy to cut speedily from below upward, as to push the blade from above downwards. Well, the opening being made with the lancet, a little fluid escapes; but no pressure being put on the sac, the major portion is retained. The operator then takes a straight probe-pointed bistoury, and having introduced it into the orifice, by making only pressure, instantly divides the sac. Frequently considerable fluid escapes; the beast operated upon makes up its mind for a good howl; but, finding the affair over before its mouth was moulded to emit the sound, the cry is cut short, and the dog returns to have the tape removed, that it may lick the hand that pained it.
After the enlargement is slit up, nothing more is required than to fill the sac for a day or two with lint soaked in the healing fluid; and when suppuration is established the lint may be withdrawn, and the wound, if kept clean, left to nature.
THE EYE
Most writers describe a regular series of disorders associated with the eye of the dog. I must be permitted to recite only those which I have witnessed; and surely, if the diseases which the writers alluded to above have mentioned do exist, I must have encountered some solitary instance of each of them; instead of which, I have been honored by the confidence of all classes, and have after all to confess I have not witnessed a specimen of genuine ophthalmia in this animal.
Cataract. – This derangement of the visual organ is very common with the dog. Every old animal that has lost his eyesight is nearly certain to be blind from cataract. The optic nerve appears to have retained its health long after the crystalline lens has parted with its transparency. The latter becomes opaque, while circumstances allow us to infer the former is yet in vigor; for certainly dogs do see through lenses, the milky or chalky aspect of which would justify us in pronouncing the sight quite gone. There is no precise time when cataract makes its appearance. It may come on at any period or at any age. It may be rapid or slow in its formation; but from its generally known habit, we should be inclined to say it was rather slow than otherwise; though upon this point the author can speak with no certainty. No breed appears to be specially liable to it, but all seem to be exposed to it alike. The small-bred, house-kept, high-fed dogs, however, are those most subject to be attacked by it; for, in these kinds of animals, on account of the derangement of the digestive organs, the eyes seem to be disposed to show cataract earlier than in the more robust creatures of the same breed.
The cause of this affection is, in the horse, usually put down to blows; but, in the dog, we dare not say the disorder is thus produced. The dog is more exposed to the kicks and cuffs of domestics than is the horse; the violence done upon the first-named animal being less thought about, and therefore less likely to be observed. But that the disease takes its origin in any such inhumanity the author has no proof, and no intention of insinuating an accusation against a class, who being generally ignorant, have therefore the less chance of a reply.
The disease seems to be the natural termination of the animal's eyesight; and, though the author has seen the iris ragged-looking, as though acute ophthalmia had loosed its ravages upon the delicate structures of the eye, nevertheless he has in vain endeavored to detect the presence of that disease.
Were ophthalmia common enough to have produced one-half of the cataracts which are to be witnessed by him who administers to the affections of the canine species, surely I must have met with it; as not being a very brief disorder, but one which by its symptoms is sure to make itself known, I must have encountered it in one of its numerous stages. However, not having seen it, and still being anxious of tracing cataract to its source, the author has been induced to attribute it to the influences of old age, high breeding, or too stimulating a diet.
Medicine having appeared to do injury rather than to produce benefit, the author has generally abandoned it in these cases; whereas those measures which are within the reach of every proprietor, such as change of abode, attention to necessary cleanliness without caudling in the bed, wholesome food, and a total abstinence from flesh, added to the daily use of the cold bath with a long run, and constant employment of a penetrative hair-brush to the skin afterwards, have seemed to stay the ravages of the disorder; and on these, therefore, the author is inclined to place his entire dependence.
Gutta Serena. – The author has seen one or two cases of this affection. One was present with disease of the brain, to the increase of which it was clearly traceable. The other was attributable to no known cause; but as blows on the head are beyond all doubt ascertained to produce this affliction, the author in his own mind has no doubt of its origin. A temporary affection of this nature is also constantly witnessed when the dog falls down in a fit, or rather faints from weakness; as when a female is rearing an undue number of pups, or when a dog has been too largely bled, or retained too long in the warm bath.
In the last cases, the gutta serena departs as the animal recovers; but in the first-named, sometimes it is constant, and no medicine appears to affect it for good or for evil. The author, therefore, does nothing in such cases beyond giving general directions, as in the instance of cataract.
Gutta serena is known by the organ being perfectly clear, but the iris remaining permanently fixed. The introduction of sudden light produces no effect on it; neither, unless the current of air be agitated, does the eyelid move. Towards the latter stage the eye changes color; but when it first occurs, a person without experience would prefer the eye in this state, because it looks so thoroughly bright and transparent. The aspect of these eyes is known to those who are much among animals, and the carriage of the body is recognised as altered when a creature becomes blind; besides which, trust him alone, and his running against different obstacles, as well as his manner of walking, will declare the truth.
Simple Ophthalmia. – To this disorder of the eye the dog is very susceptible. It may be caused by dust, dirt, thorns, or portions of leaves getting into the eyes; the symptoms are, constant closing of the lid, and perpetual flowing of the tears. Though the eye be closed, the lid is never quiet; but is being, during the entire period, spasmodically, though partially, raised to be shut again, or in perpetual movement. If the lids are forced asunder, the conjunctiva or mucous membrane forming the inner lining of the lid is seen to be inflamed; while the same membrane covering the ball of the eye is perceived to be of a white color, and perfectly opaque.
The cure in this instance is always, first, to remove the cause of the injury, and then to apply some of the remedies in the manner mentioned hereafter.
The conjunctiva in the dog is very sympathetic with the mucous membrane lining the stomach. The interior of the stomach may be inflamed, and the eye sometimes exhibits no sign of sympathy; but more often, as in distemper or rabies, it will denote the existence of some serious disorder. So if the animal's digestive powers are weakened by an undue quantity of purgative medicine, the eyes will assume all the symptoms of distemper, even to the circular ulcer in the centre of the organ. However, in instances of this kind nothing need be done for cure; the major disorder being subdued, the minor one subsides.
No matter how virulent the disease of the eye may appear to be – even though it should become perfectly opaque – let it alone: any meddling does injury. No bathing or medicaments can hasten the cure. Although it should ulcerate in the centre, and the terrible appearance of the eye be seconded by the entreaties of the proprietor, still I caution you to continue quite passive. Touch the ulcer with nitrate of silver, as is the common practice, and the eye will most likely burst. The aqueous humor will escape, and a large bunch of fungus will start up in the place of the ulcer occupied. This fungus, if let alone, may fade away as the stomach returns to health; but a white spot is established in its place to remind you of your officiousness.
Nevertheless, simple ophthalmia occasionally will appear when nothing can be detected to affect the stomach; probably owing to large dogs chasing through brush-wood, or those of the smaller breeds hunting through long grass. Then a square of soft lint, formed by doubling a large piece several times, is laid upon the painful organ, and kept wet with the following lotion: —
The first symptoms having subsided – that is, the dog being capable of raising the lid, and the flow of tears having in some measure stopped – the previous lotion may be changed for the following wash: —
The proper manner of applying these preparations to the eye deserves notice. Let the owner buy a large-sized, long-haired, camel's-hair painting brush; pour a little of the liquid into a saucer; saturate the brush in the fluid; pull the lids gently asunder, being careful not to call forth resistance by frightening a timid animal with any exhibition of haste or violence; then, having the eye exposed, draw the brush quickly across it, and the business is over.
The author is frequently consulted by ladies, because their favorites' eyes run water. Such is a consequence of high breeding in some of the canine species; and being so, medicines of various kinds, by drying up the secretion of the lachrymal gland, may at first appear to do good, but must ultimately be fruitful of the most serious injury.
Ejection of the Eye. – The eye of the dog is rather curiously situated, which, as the writer knows of no author who has remarked on its position, he may as well refer to in this place. The eye of man is situated within a bony orbit, from which it cannot in the course of nature protrude. The eye of the dog, also, has an orbit partly formed of bone; but as regards the ridge, which in man supports and gives prominence to the eyebrow, in the dog it is composed of ligament, as with animals of the cat, pig, and other species. The reason of this arrangement – the cause for composing part of the orbit of ligament – is to allow the eye to protrude or to take its place without and before the orbit. This position of the eye is easily perceived, when a live specimen which has confidence in man is examined upon the knee, and at the same time the skull is inspected. The cause of this peculiar situation of so important an organ, is to allow the eye to possess telescopic properties; because the dog has the faculty of withdrawing the eye within, or rather quite to the back of the orbit; as any who have beheld the animal in some stages of brain disease, or the last stage of distemper, must, with their attention directed to the fact, be convinced. The dog in its wild state lives by the chase, and therefore has Providence endowed his visual organ with peculiarities which best enable it to discover its prey; at the same time, also, affording extra scope of vision, or power of seeing around it, to the eye of the animal.
Owing to this peculiarity, the eye in consequence of a bite may be forced out upon the cheek; or, as once happened in my own experience, the use of tapes for the purpose of giving medicine may be the cause of the injury. Whenever this happens, procure a glass of clean milk-warm water, and a piece of soft lint; then wash the eye; when obtain a soft napkin; let the eye be well greased with any mild and perfectly sweet ointment; wrap the napkin about the right hand, and with the fingers thus encased, gently take hold of the ejected ball of the eye, while the fingers of the left hand are employed in raising the lid of the emptied orbit; then applying gentle but adequate force, and at the same time giving to the wrist of the right hand a rotatory motion, the eye will at once assume its proper place. The use of the eye lotion and wash will perform all that the after symptoms may require.
Dogs are often brought to us because the animal has been taking liberties with the cat; which mistress puss has turned to resent, and her paw – the claws in the moment of irritation being out – has unfortunately scratched the dog's eye. When consulted on such a subject, the eye lotion No. 1 is in most instances all that is required; for the coverings of the eye are endowed with great powers of self-reparation. If, however, the application recommended does not perform everything to the proprietor's satisfaction, the eye wash No. 2 will perfect the cure. Accidents of this description are apt to leave scars in the shape of white marks across the eye, which time must be allowed to remove; and this in general is performed, while all the appliances of art in the writer's hand have been useless for hastening this object.
DISEASES OF THE LIMBS
The Dew-claws. – The dew-claws, as they are termed, grow high upon the inner side of the leg, nearer to the foot than to the elbow. They are frequently removed while the dog is very young, being then merely cut off with a pair of scissors. This, however, is a very primitive way of operating; and it is best done with a knife, first reflecting back sufficient skin to cover the wound which the removal will occasion. The excision, moreover, is only justifiable when the dew-claw hangs from the leg attached to it merely by integument; when it is regularly formed, united to the leg by means of continuous bone, it may be allowed to remain; for in that case there is little more danger of its being torn off as the dog grows up and hunts game, than any other of the claws appended to the extremity of the foot.
The Claws. – These frequently, especially in petted dogs that pass their days parading about on Turkey carpets, become of extraordinary length; in some cases, turning round and forming a complete circle, so as to penetrate the little pad at the base of the last joint of the toe. In this case they cause swelling, inflammation, and suppuration, accompanied by such intense pain, that in extreme cases it may be necessary to take away the toe of the foot itself, although in general it is sufficient to clip the offending claw. However, to do this nicely, with expedition, and without giving great pain to the patient, is to be desired. Blaine recommends a small saw, such as is employed to cut off cocks' spurs with; but the dog must have excessive patience and extraordinary powers of endurance, who could allow this to be moved quickly backwards and forwards on a claw, one end of which rests on an inflamed and highly sensitive surface. Besides, it is not one claw we are generally required to remove, but sixteen; and long before the first had been fairly taken off by the method advised by Blaine, the cries of the poor animal would say, "Hold, enough!" Moreover, favorites of the class I have mentioned are generally brought by their mistresses, who cannot endure their pets to suffer, and rightly refuse to leave them to the mercy of a veterinary surgeon. This last circumstance requires a speedier instrument than the one proposed by Blaine, to be discovered. The rowelling bistoury, employed for the horses, answers better than the saw; but even it occasions so much pain as to cause serious annoyance and obstruction. I have found nothing answer so well as a pair of wire nippers; which, provided they be in good condition, will take off the whole of a dog's claws, although for the operation the animal never quits its mistress's arms. They are quick and effective, cutting through the strongest claw on the instant; giving no pain; often removing the nail without the knowledge of the patient, who provokes laughter rather than commiseration by frequently shamming the agony he does not feel – venting heart-rending cries, but invariably in the wrong place. For the performance of the operation there is but one caution necessary, and that is, to leave the root of the claw long enough, or not to attempt cutting it too short; because the unnatural life the animal lives causes small arteries to extend even into the growth of horn, and a little blood is a terrible loss in a lady's eyes. However, beyond causing the mistress distress, the practitioner need be in no fear about dividing one of these abnormal vessels, for the eccentric growth of which the most experienced practitioner cannot at all times be prepared.
Falling off of the Claw. – There is another injury to which the claws of the dog are exposed, and the cause of which in no instance have I been able to trace. The toe becomes hot, swollen, and inflamed; the animal walks lame, or upon three legs. Whenever the particular claw in fault is touched, the cries of the dog sufficiently testify that the seat of the disease has been found. A simple treatment, such as bathing the claw and placing the foot frequently in warm water, will occasion the horny covering to be cast off in a few days; after which all that is required will be to wrap the part up in soft lint for a short period, and to deprive the animal of its accustomed exercise for a day or two.
Sinuses up the Claw. – These are of frequent existence, and are commonly found where their presence was not suspected. The dog walks lame, and its master's sagacity cannot discover the cause. The animal is accordingly submitted to our inspection. To pinch the claw in this case is of no use; it can only mislead the judgment. The better plan, after having ascertained none of the claws are loose, is to make the dog stand upon the lame foot on a piece of blotting paper. If the slightest moisture be left thereon, throw the animal on his back, and minutely examine the lower surface of each claw. On one will be seen a small hole, not larger than the point of a pin, from which exudes a thin watery discharge.
Soak the foot in warm water; then with a sharp knife pare off the superficial horn; then soak and pare again; and so on till the entire claw is removed; when slit up, making a free wound of any sinuous opening that may exist in the ball of the toe. Dress the interior of the sinus with a small portion of sulphate of copper; afterwards with the healing lotion previously recommended; and all will do well: but the claw once taken away, either by nature or art, is very seldom perfectly restored.
Foot-sore. – Men of robust habit, who shoot over an immense tract of country, and take a pleasure in lawfully finding the game they kill, often have to complain that their dogs become foot-sore. These animals have an elastic pad at the bottom of each foot, on which, conjointly with the nails of the toes, the creatures walk. The bottom of the dog's foot is covered with a thick cuticle, which is rapidly reproduced in ordinary cases, as soon as or before it has been worn down: but the game dog is often kept inactive during the summer, and then in autumn brought into sudden work. The consequences of this foolish practice are, that nature during the warm season supplies only a cuticle fitted to the wants of the animal, which being suddenly forced to endure excessive exercise, soon wears away, and the foot thus left devoid of covering, is raw, and consequently tender. For this state of the part, Blaine, who is therein followed by Youatt, recommends "pot liquor." I do not know what "pot liquor" means. Cooks apply the name to various refuse waters, in which different and opposite ingredients have been boiled. If so, the material with which it is made being dissimilar, the product cannot be the same. It appears to be a filth, generally cast into the hog-tub; and as such cannot be a proper medicine wherewith to cure a lame dog's foot. I throw it into the receptacle for which it is intended; and do so because I cannot understand it is possessed of any curative properties. The mode I pursue in these cases is simply this: – I get a basin of tepid water and a soft sponge; and I then well wash the injured foot. When every particle of grit or dirt is thoroughly removed, I apply to the dried sore surface a lotion composed of two grains of chloride of zinc to one ounce of water, with one or two drops of the essence of lemons. Having thoroughly washed the foot with the lotion, I soak some rags in it, which I wrap around the injured member, fixing over all a leather or gutta-percha boot; and when thus treated, and the animal is subsequently brought into work with caution, a few days I find generally settles the business.
Dog-Carts. – This appears to be the place to meet, or rather answer, the remarks which have appeared in Youatt's work on this subject. He argues, because the dog is a beast of draught in northern climes, it can be without violence, and indeed was intended by Providence to be used as such in temperate countries. Thus, if this argument be of any value, that which the dog can endure in a temperate climate, it can likewise without injury undergo in a torrid zone. The argument, if of worth, admits of this extension; for, if the subject of it is to be moved at all, it is not for the reasoner to arrogate the power of saying at what point it shall stop. However, granting him to possess this right, he will thereby gain nothing by it. In the northern climes, where the dog is employed as a beast of draught, it is so used only for the winter season; during which time the face of the landscape is covered by one sheet of snow. Is the poor dog in a cart, as seen in this country, only so employed? Is he not rather obliged to drag his heavy load, to which the master's weight is often appended, along dusty roads instead of snowy paths, and at the top of his speed, rather than at a pace which the poor creature can maintain for hours? Is it not worked in summer as well as winter? Does not mud cover the roadways in this country during the colder season for a far longer period than the snow? The summer's toil must be most oppressive to this over-tasked animal; for, though the dog is naturalized close to the northern pole, he becomes scarce for a long distance before the equator is reached. It is the creature of a cold climate; and what it can do in one country is by no means the measurement of that which it can perform in another; as those who have been at the trouble and expense of exporting hunting-dogs from England to India can testify.
The foot, moreover, may travel over a sheet of snow with impunity, which may be unsuited for journeying over artificial roads, deep in mud or water; or else hot, dry, and parched with a summer's sun. The sportsman's dog is often sore-footed; and do the approvers of dog-carts pretend that the wretched beast, forced by an inhuman master to undue labor, is of a different species? If the animals are the same, how can it be argued that the organ, which when moving over soft ploughed or grassy fields often fails, is all-sufficient for the longest and heaviest journey performed upon a hard artificially constructed road?
One grave senator in the House of Lords used as an argument against the Bill introduced to put down that abominable nuisance, dog-carts, in this country, the pleasure he had experienced, when a child, while being drawn in a carriage pulled by a dog along the lawn attached to his father's residence. There is no legislation required to meet such cases. No doubt the pleasure felt by the delighted child was shared by the beast, who wagged his tail, and scarcely felt the tax imposed upon its huge strength. Had the cart been removed from the lawn to the road, and been knocked up with rough wheels and without springs, like the carts used by vagrant poor are, the load of a child would not even then have made the cases similar. To make the instances the same, the cart must not only be of the rudest construction, but it must be filled with weight limited solely by the master's capacity to buy; while on the top of the burthen must be placed, not a happy child, but an idle full grown rascal. And the vehicle thus encumbered must be dragged, not along a soft lawn, at a pace necessary to please the son and heir, but along a hard road, at a rate which alone can satisfy an impatient and brutal master.
In whichever way we regard this question, reason proves against it, and the dog subject to the most dreadful disease that is communicable to man should on no account, in this densely populated country, be subjected to usage best calculated to bring on the malady.
