Food and Drink—­For the first three or four days let the food be light and easily digested.  In order to induce the animal to take it, it should be as palatable as possible.  For small dogs you cannot have anything better than milk porridge. [1] At all events, the dog must, if possible, be induced to eat; he must not be “horned” unless there be great emaciation; he must not over-eat, but what he gets must be good.  As to drink, dogs usually prefer clean cold water, and we cannot do harm by mixing therewith a little plain nitre.

[1] Oatmeal porridge made with milk instead of water.

Medicine—­Begin by giving a simple dose of castor oil, just enough and no more than will clear out the bowels by one or two motions.  Drastic purgatives, and medicines such as mercury, jalap, aloes, and podophyllyn, cannot be too highly condemned.  For very small Toy dogs, such as Italian Greyhounds, Yorkshire Terriers, etc., I should not recommend even oil itself, but manna—­one drachm to two drachms dissolved in milk.  By simply getting the bowels to act once or twice, we shall have done enough for the first day, and have only to make the dog comfortable for the night.

On the next day begin with a mixture such as the following:  Solution of acetate of ammonia, 30 drops to 120; sweet spirits of nitre, 15 drops to 60; salicylate of soda, 2 grains to 10.  Thrice daily in a little camphor water.

If the cough be very troublesome and the fever does not run very high, the following may be substituted for this on the second or third day:  Syrup of squills, 10 drops to 60; tincture of henbane, 10 drops to 60; sweet spirits of nitre, 10 drops to 60, in camphor water.

A few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid should be added to the dog’s drink, and two teaspoonfuls (to a quart of water) of the chlorate of potash.  This makes an excellent fever drink, especially if the dog can be got to take decoction of barley—­barley-water—­instead of plain cold water, best made of Keen and Robinson’s patent barley.

If there be persistent sickness and vomiting, the medicine must be stopped for a time.  Small boluses of ice frequently administered will do much good, and doses of dilute prussic acid, from one to four drops in a little water, will generally arrest the vomiting.

If constipation be present, we must use no rough remedies to get rid of it.  A little raw meat cut into small pieces—­minced, in fact—­or a small portion of raw liver, may be given if there be little fever; if there be fever, we are to trust for a time to injections of plain soap-and-water.  Diarrhoea, although often a troublesome symptom, is, it must be remembered, a salutary one.  Unless, therefore, it becomes excessive, do not interfere; if it does, give the simple chalk mixture three times a day, but no longer than is needful.

The discharge from the mouth and nose is to be wiped away with a soft rag—­or, better still, some tow, which is afterwards to be burned—­wetted with a weak solution of carbolic.  The forehead, eyes, and nose may be fomented two or three times a day with moderately hot water with great advantage.