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Dogs and All about Them
·
Robert Leighton
405
DISTEMPER.
Although
more
than
one
hundred
years
have
elapsed
since
this
was
first
imported
to
this
country
from
France,
a
great
amount
of
misunderstanding
still
prevails
among
a
large
section
of
dog-breeders
regarding
its
true
nature
and
origin.
The
fact
is,
the
disease
came
to
us
with
a
bad
name,
for
the
French
themselves
deemed
it
incurable.
In
this
country
the
old-fashioned
plan
of
treatment
was
wont
to
be
the
usual
rough
remedies--emetics,
purgatives,
the
seton,
and
the
lancet.
Failing
in
this,
specifics
of
all
sorts
were
eagerly
sought
for
and
tried,
and
are
unfortunately
still
believed
in
to
a
very
great
extent.
Distemper
has
a
certain
course
to
run,
and
in
this
disease
Nature
seems
to
attempt
the
elimination
of
the
poison
through
the
secretions
thrown
out
by
the
naso-pharyngeal
mucous
membrane.
Our
chief
difficulty
in
the
treatment
of
distemper
lies
in
the
complications
thereof.
We
may,
and
often
do,
have
the
organs
of
respiration
attacked;
we
have
sometimes
congestion
of
the
liver,
or
mucous
inflammation
of
the
bile
ducts,
or
some
lesion
of
the
brain
or
nervous
structures,
combined
with
epilepsy,
convulsions,
or
chorea.
Distemper
is
also
often
complicated
with
severe
disease
of
the
bowels,
and
at
times
with
an
affection
of
the
eyes.
Causes--Whether
it
be
that
the
distemper
virus,
the
poison
seedling
of
the
disease,
really
originates
in
the
kennel,
or
is
the
result
of
contact
of
one
dog
with
another,
or
whether
the
poison
floats
to
the
kennel
on
the
wings
of
the
wind,
or
is
carried
there
on
a
shoe
or
the
point
of
a
walking-stick,
the
following
facts
ought
to
be
borne
in
mind:
(1)
Anything
that
debilitates
the
body
or
weakens
the
nervous
system
paves
the
way
for
the
distemper
poison;
(2)
the
healthier
the
dog
the
more
power
does
he
possess
to
resist
contagion;
(3)
when
the
disease
is
epizootic,
it
can
often
be
kept
at
bay
by
proper
attention
to
diet
and
exercise,
frequent
change
of
kennel
straw,
and
perfect
cleanliness;
(4)
the
predisposing
causes
which
have
come
more
immediately
under
my
notice
are
debility,
cold,
damp,
starvation,
filthy
kennels,
unwholesome
food,
impure
air,
and
grief.
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