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Glossitis or inflammation of the tongue is not an unfrequent disease, but is occasionally met with in its simple form or in connexion with inflammatory affections of the throat. Under all and any circumstances this affection must be considered a dangerous malady, as it not unfrequently proves fatal in the course of a few hours from suffocation, occasioned by the swelling of the organ itself and other portions of the throat. The disease comes on suddenly with fever, heat, swelling and redness of the tongue. The tongue protrudes from the mouth and exhibits a dry, hot, inflammatory appearance, the respiration is hurried, and the animal expresses great uneasiness, and constant desire to lap water, which he can with difficulty accomplish. If not arrested, the inflammation may terminate in suppuration, by which process the swelling is relieved, and a cure often effected.Causes— Independent of the natural agents before referred to in the production of inflammatory affections, there are some few causes to which we can especially attribute this disease. Direct injuries done to the member itself, either by wounds or stings of insects, the taking of poisonous or irritating substances into the mouth, want of water while hunting in hot weather, &c.Several years ago we witnessed the death of a very valuable pointer, suffering from this disease produced by poison maliciously administered. He was affected so suddenly and violently with inflammation of the throat and tongue that his owner, Mr. F — , was led to believe that a bone had lodged in the throat, which was the occasion of all the trouble. After proper examination and considerable delay, he was forced to abandon this erroneous idea, but not in time to save the poor animal, who soon died from strangulation or congestion of the lungs. This valuable dog might have been saved if promptly and energetically treated.The stings of wasps or bees may also produce this affection.Treatment. — Nothing can be done with this malady without the use of the lancet, by which six or eight ounces of blood should be drawn at the commencement of the disease. If the tongue is much swollen and very tender, longitudinal incisions should be made in it, extending as far back as possible, and their bleeding assisted by sponging the mouth out with tepid water. Astringent applications may then be used as washes, such as alum water, strong vinegar, infusions of oak bark or solutions of nitrate of silver, four or six grains to the ounce, to be applied once or twice a day. A large blister may also be placed under the throat, and when the inflammation is sufficiently reduced to allow the introduction of articles into the stomach, a powerful purge of aloes should be given. Nothing, however, can be done without copious bleeding. — L.
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of the dog discharge, with somewhat less efficiency, the same office as in the horse, cattle, and sheep; and are usefully employed in gathering together the food, and conveying it to the mouth. The lips also secrete the saliva, a fluid that is indispensably necessary for the proper comminution of the food.
Swellings on the inside of the cheek or upper lip, and extending nearly to the angle of the lip, are of frequent occurrence. A superficial sore spreads over it, slightly covered by a yellowish, mattery pellicle; and on the teeth, and extending down the gums, there is a deposition of hardened tartarous matter, which is scaled off with a greater or less degree of difficulty. It must be removed, or the sore will rapidly spread over the cheek. A lotion of equal parts of tincture of myrrh and water, with a few drops of the tincture of cantharides, will be usually sufficient to cause the swelling to subside, and the pellicle to be detached. The lip, however, will generally remain slightly thickened. A little soreness will sometimes return, but be easily reduced.
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next claim attention. According to the dentition of the dog by M. Girard and Linnæus, the following is the acknowledged formula:
The full-grown dog has usually 20 teeth in the upper, and 22 in the lower jaw, with two small supernumerary molars. All of them, with the exception of the tushes, are provided with a bony neck covered by the gums, and separating the body of the tooth from the root. The projecting portion of the teeth is more or less pointed, and disposed so as to tear and crush the food on which the dog lives. They are of a moderate size when compared with those of other animals, and are subject to little loss of substance compared with the teeth of the horse. In most of them, however, there is some alteration of form and substance, both in the incisors and the tushes; but this depends so much on the kind of food on which the animal lives, and the consequent use of the teeth, that the indication of the age, by the altered appearance of the mouth, is not to be depended upon after the animal is four or five years old. The incisor teeth are six in number in each jaw, and are placed opposite to each other. In the lower jaw, the pincers, or central teeth, are the largest and the strongest; the middle teeth are somewhat less; and the corner teeth the smallest and the weakest. In the upper jaw, however, the corner teeth are much larger than the middle ones; they are farther apart from their neighbours, and they terminate in a conical point curved somewhat inwards and backwards.
As long as the teeth of the full-grown dog are whole, and not injured by use, they have a healthy appearance, and their colour is beautifully white. The surface of the incisors presents, as in the ruminants, an interior and cutting edge, and a hollow or depression within. This edge or border is divided into three lobes, the largest and most projecting forming the summit or point of the tooth. The two lateral lobes have the appearance of notches cut on either side of the principal lobe; and the union of the three resembles the
fleur de lis
, which, however, is in the process of time effaced by the wearing out of the teeth. (Figs. 3 and 4.)
While the incisor teeth are young, they are flattened on their sides, and bent somewhat backwards, and there is a decided cavity, in which a pulpy substance is enclosed. This, however, is gradually contracted as the age of the dog increases.
M. F. Cuvier speaks of certain supernumerary teeth occasionally developed in each of the jaws. There is much irregularity accompanying them; and they have even been supposed to have extended to seven or eight in number.
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The dog displays natural indications of age. The hair turns gray to a certain extent as in the human being. This commences about the eyes, and extends over the face, and weakens the sight; and, at ten years old, or earlier, in the majority of dogs, this can scarcely be mistaken. At fifteen or sixteen years the animal is becoming a nuisance, yet he has been known to linger on until he has reached his two-and-twentieth year.
Among the diseases from which the dog suffers, there are few of more frequent occurrence than decayed teeth, especially in towns, or in the habitations of the higher classes of society: the carious teeth, in almost every case, becoming insufferably fetid, or so loose as to prevent mastication; or an immense accumulation of tartar growing round them.
The course which the veterinary surgeon pursues is an exceedingly simple one. If any of the teeth are considerably loose, they must be removed. If there is any deposit of tartaric acid, it must be got rid of by means of the proper instruments, not very different from those which the human surgeon employs. The teeth must be perfectly cleaned, and every loose one taken away. Without this the dog will be an almost insufferable nuisance. The decayed and loose teeth being removed, chlorinated lime diluted with 15 or 20 times its bulk of water should be applied to the gums. By the use of this the ulcers will quickly heal; the fetor will be removed, and the deposition of the tartar prevented. Mr. Blaine first introduced the chlorinated lime for the accomplishment of these purposes.
Two little histories out of a great number will sufficiently illustrate these cases. A terrier had scarcely eaten during more than a week. He dropped his meat after attempting to chew it, and the breath was very offensive. Several of the teeth were loose, and the rest were thickly encrusted with tartar. The gums had receded from the teeth, and were red, sore, and ulcerated.
I removed all the loose teeth; for experience had taught me that they rarely or never became again fixed. I next, with the forceps and knife, cleaned the others, and ordered the diluted chlorinated lime to be alternated with tincture of myrrh and water. The extraction of the loose teeth, and the removal of the tartar from those that were sound, occupied a full hour; for the dog resisted with all his might. He, however, soon began to eat; the lotions were continued; and five months afterwards, the mouth of the dog was not in the slightest degree offensive.
An old dog should not be quite abandoned. A pug had only four teeth remaining beside the canines. They were all thickly covered with tartar, and two of them were very loose. The gums and lips were in a dreadfully cankerous state, and the dog was unable to eat. All that he could do was to lap a little milk or broth.
I extracted the two loose teeth, cleaned the others, and ordered a lotion of equal parts of tincture of myrrh and water to be applied.
13th August, 1842
. — A very considerable discharge of pus was observed, with blood from the mouth, apparently proceeding from the cavity whence one of the teeth had been extracted. The dog is exceedingly thirsty, and walks round and round the water-dish, but is afraid to lap. He has not eaten for two days. Use the lotion as before, and force him with strong soup.
15th
. The dog has not voluntarily eaten, but is still forced with soup. He is very costive. Give two grains of calomel and an equal quantity of antimonial powder.
18th.
He has eaten a very little, but gets thinner and weaker. Continue the lotion.
27th
. The ulcers are nearly healed, and the discharge of pus has ceased.
31st.
The mouth is clean, the gums are healed, and there is no longer anything offensive about the dog.
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is placed at the top of the windpipe, the exit from the lungs, and is also connected with the Schneiderian membrane. At its upper part is the
epiglottis
, the main guard against the passage of the food into the respiratory tubes, and, at the same time, of the instrument of the voice. It consists of five cartilages united together by a ligamentous substance, and, by distinct and perfect articulations, adapting itself to every change of the respiratory process and the production of the voice.
At the base is the
cricoid cartilage
, the support and bond of union of the rest. Above are the
arytenoid cartilages
, resting on the
chorda vocales
and influencing their action. The
epiglottis
is placed at the extremity of the opening into the windpipe, with its back opposed to the pharynx, so that when a pellet of food passes from the pharynx in its way to the œsophagus, the epiglottis is applied over the glottis, and by this means closes the aperture of the larynx, and prevents any portion of the food from passing into it. The food having passed over the epiglottis, that cartilage, from its elastic power, again rises and resumes its former situation.
The
thyroid cartilage
envelopes and protects all the rest, and particularly the lining membrane of the larynx, which vibrates from the impulse of the air that passes. The vibrations spread in every direction until they reach the delicate membrane of the tympanum of the ear. That membrane responds to the motion without, and the vibration is carried on to the pulp of the auditory nerve, deep in the recesses of the ear. The loudness of the tone — its acuteness or graveness — depends on the force of the expired air and the shortening or lengthening of the chord. Hence it is, that the tone of the bark of the dog, or the neighing of the horse, depends so much on the age or size of the animal. Thus we compare the shrill bark of the puppy with the hoarse one of the adult dog; the high-toned but sweet music of the beagle with the fuller and lower cry of the fox-hound, and the deep but melodious baying of the mastiff. I may, perhaps, be permitted to add to these, the whinnying of the colt and the neighing of the horse.
Each animal has his peculiar and intelligible language. He who has long lived among them will recognise the tone of delight at meeting, rising into and terminating in a sharper sound; the strong and elevated tone when they are calling to or challenging each other at a distance; the short expression of anger — the longer, deeper, hoarser tone of fear; the murmur almost as deep, but softer, of habitual attachment, and the elevated yet melodious token of sudden recognition. I could carry on a conversation with a dog that I once possessed for several minutes, and one perfectly intelligible to both.
Inflammation
of the larynx is a frequent and dangerous complaint. It usually commences with, and can scarcely be distinguished from, catarrh, except that it is attended by cough more violent and painful, and the dog expectorates considerably. Acute laryngitis is not so frequent an occurrence; but there is much danger attending it. Blood must be abstracted to as great an extent as the pulse will bear, or until it becomes evidently affected. To this must follow digitalis, nitre, tartar emetic, and aloes, and to these must be added a powerful blister. A considerable quantity is effused and organized, the membrane is thickened, perhaps permanently so, and the whole of the submucous cellular tissue becomes œdematous.
The
dog is subject to sudden attacks of
angina
. It has been imagined, from the appearances that are manifested, that some strange body is arrested in the windpipe or the throat. There is no dread of water or of the usual fluids; the dog will lap once or twice from that fluid which is placed before him, and turns slowly away from it; and this circumstance gives rise to what is called dumb madness. The dog barks in a particular manner, or rather howls like a rabid dog: he is out of spirits, has a strange, anxious, altered countenance, and is alternately cold and hot. Frequently added to this is redness of the buccal and nasal membranes. He refuses all solid food, and either will not drink or finds it difficult to swallow anything. His mouth is generally open, and contains a spumy matter exhaling an offensive smell. His tongue, charged with a great quantity of saliva, protrudes from his mouth, and the submaxillary glands are enlarged. To these appearances are added a yellow tint of the eyes, constipation, and a small quantity of urine, surcharged with a deep yellow colour. At this period the disease has generally reached a considerable degree of virulence. Often the inflammation extends to the back part of the mouth and larynx; and in this last case the respiration is attended by a hoarse, hissing kind of sound.
The progress of the disease is rapid, and, in a few days, it reaches its highest degree of intensity. It is always fatal when it is intense; and, when its influence is widely spread, it is a very dangerous complaint.
Somewhat rarely the subjects of it recover. After death we find great redness and injection in all the affected nervous surfaces, and indications of abscesses in which suppuration was not fully established.
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When a substance, such as a bone, has become impacted in the throat, the better plan is to attempt to push it downwards into the stomach, as there is but little hope of extracting it.
A portion of sponge may be securely tied on the end of a piece of ratan, whalebone, or other flexible material, and inserted in the mouth, may be carried over the tongue down the throat against the foreign article, which may then be gently pushed before it. If this should not succeed, and the substance appears firmly imbedded in the throat, an incision may be made in the œsophagus and the bone extracted. — L.
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in the dog is almost daily forced upon our notice. If a spaniel or pug-puppy is mangy, pot-bellied, rickety, or deformed, he seldom fails to have some enlargement of the thyroid gland. The spaniel and the pug are most subject to this disease. The jugular vein passes over the thyroid gland; and, as that substance increases, the vein is sometimes brought into sight, and appears between the gland and the integuement, fearfully enlarged, varicose, and almost appearing as if it were bursting. The trachea is pressed upon on either side, and the œsophagus by the left gland, and there is difficulty of swallowing. The poor animal pants distressingly after the least exertion, and I have known absolute suffocation ensue. In a few cases ulceration has followed, and the sloughing has been dreadful, yet the gland has still preserved its characteristic structure. Although numerous abscesses have been formed in the lower part of it, and there has been considerable discharge, viscid or purulent, the upper part has remained as hard and almost as scirrhous as before.
Causeof goître.
— In many cases, this enlargement of the thyroid glands is plainly connected with a debilitated state of the constitution generally, and more particularly with a disposition to rickets. I have rarely seen a puppy that had had mange badly, and especially if mange was closely followed by distemper, that did not soon exhibit goître. Puppies half-starved, and especially if dirtily kept, are thus affected; and it is generally found connected with a loose skin, flabby muscles, enlarged belly, and great stupidity. On the other hand, I have seen hundreds of dogs, to all appearance otherwise healthy, in whom the glands of the neck have suddenly and frightfully enlarged. I have never been able to trace this disease to any particular food, whether solid or liquid; although it is certainly the frequent result of want of nutriment.
Some friends, of whom I particularly inquired, assured me, that it is not to any great extent prevalent in those parts of Derbyshire where goître is oftenest seen in the human being.
It is periodical in the dog. I have seen it under medical treatment, and without medical treatment, perfectly disappear for a while, and soon afterwards, without any assignable cause, return. There is a breed of the Blenheim spaniel, in which this periodical goître is very remarkable; the slightest cold is accompanied by enlargement of the thyroid gland, but the swelling altogether disappears in the course of a fortnight. I am quite assured that it is hereditary; no one that is accustomed to dogs can doubt this for a moment.
Treatment
. — I am almost ashamed to confess how many inefficient and cruel methods of treatment I many years ago adopted. I used mercurial friction, external stimulants, and blisters; I have been absurd enough to pass setons through the tumours, and even to extirpate them with the knife. The mercury salivated without any advantage, the stimulants and the blisters aggravated the evil; the setons did so in a tenfold degree, so that many dogs were lost in the irritative fever that was produced; and, although the gland, when directed out, could not be reproduced, yet I have been puzzled with the complication of vessels around it, and in one case lost my patient by hemorrhage, which I could not arrest.
When
the power of iodine in the dispersion of glandular tumours was first spoken of, I eagerly tried it for this disease, and was soon satisfied that it was almost a specific. I scarcely recollect a case in which the glands have not very materially diminished; and, in the decided majority of cases, they have been gradually reduced to their natural size. I first tried an ointment composed of the iodine of potassium and lard, with some, but not a satisfactory result. Next I used the tincture of iodine, in doses of from five to ten drops, and with or without any external local application; but I found, at length, that the simple iodine, made into pills with powdered gum and syrup, effected almost all that I could wish. It is best to commence with the eighth of a grain for a small dog, and rapidly increase it to half a grain, morning and night. A larger dog may take from a quarter of a grain to a grain. In a few instances, loss of appetite and slight emaciation have been produced; but then, the medicine being suspended for a few days, no permanent ill effect has ever followed the exhibition of iodine.
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A phlegmonous tumour under the throat, and accompanied by constitutional disturbance, with the exception of there being little or no cough, often appears in the dog. Comparing the size of the animals, these tumours are much larger than in either the horse or ox; but they are situated higher up the face, and do not press so much upon the windpipe, nor is there any apparent danger of suffocation from them. The whole head, however, is sometimes enlarged to a frightful degree, and the eyes are completely closed. More than a pint of fluid has sometimes escaped from a middle-sized dog at the first puncture of the tumour.
The mode of treatment is, to stimulate the part, in order to expedite the suppuration of the tumour, and to lance it freely and deeply, as soon as matter is evidently formed. The wound should be dressed with tincture of aloes, and a thick bandage placed round the neck, to prevent the dog from scratching the part, which often causes dreadful laceration.
These tumours in the throat of the dog are not always of a phlegmonous character. They are cysts, sometimes rapidly formed, and of considerable size, and filled with a serous or gelatinous fluid.
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The chest is the superior, or in quadrupeds the anterior, cavity of the trunk of the body: it is divided into two cavities by a membranous partition, termed
mediastinum
; and separated from the abdomen, or cavity which contains the liver, spleen, pancreas, and other abdominal viscera, by the
diaphragm
, which is of a musculo-membranous nature. This membrane may be described, as it is divided, into the main circular muscle, with its central tendinous expansion forming the lower part, and two appendices, or
crura
, as they are termed from their peculiar shape, constituting its superior portion. We trace the fleshy origin of the grand muscle, laterally and inferiorly, commencing from the cartilage of the eighth rib anteriorly, and following somewhat closely, as we proceed backward, the union of the posterior ribs with their cartilages, excepting, however, the two last. The attachment is peculiarly strong. It is denticulated: it encloses the whole of the latter and inferior part of the chest as far as the sternum, where it is connected with the ensiform cartilage.
The diaphragm is the main agent, both in ordinary and extraordinary respiration. In its quiescent state it presents its convex surface towards the thorax, and its concave one towards the abdomen. The anterior convexity abuts upon the lungs; the posterior concavity is occupied by some of the abdominal viscera.
Thus far we have described the diaphragm as found in the horse, ox, and sheep. There is some difference with regard to the dog. The muscular part of the diaphragm is thick and strong in every species of dog, while the aponeurotic expansion is comparatively smaller. From the smaller expanse of the thorax of the dog, and the consequent little expansion of the diaphragm, the action, although occasionally rapid and violent — for he is an animal of speed — is not so extensive, and more muscle and less tendon may be given to him, not only without detriment, but with evident advantage. Therefore, although we have occasional rupture of the heart of the dog, oftener perhaps than in the horse, there is no case of rupture of the diaphragm on record.
The cavity of the thorax is lined by a membrane, termed
pleura
, which covers the surface of the lungs.
The
lungs on either side are enclosed in a separate and perfect bag, anil each lung has a distinct pleura. The heart lies under the left lung; and, more perfectly to cut off all injurious connexion or communication of disease between the lungs and the heart, the heart is enclosed in a distinct pleura or bag, termed the
pericardium
. This membrane closely invests the heart, supports it in its situation, prevents too great dilatation when it is gorged with blood, and too violent action when it is sometimes unduly stimulated. Notwithstanding the confinement of the pericardium, the heart, when under circumstances of unusual excitation, beats violently against the ribs, and, were it not thus tied down, would often bruise and injure itself, and cause inflammation in the neighbouring parts.
The
heart
is composed of four cavities; two above, called
auricles
, from their shape, and two below, termed
ventricles
, occupying the bulk of the heart. In point of fact, there are two hearts — the one on the left side propelling the blood through the frame, and the other on the right side conveying it through the pulmonary system; but, united in the manner in which they are, their junction contributes to their mutual strength, and both circulations are carried on at the same time.
The beating of the heart in the dog is best examined behind the elbow on the left side. The hand, applied flat against the ribs, will give the number and character of the pulsations. The pericardium, or outer investing membrane of the heart, is frequently liable to inflammation, milked by a quickened and irregular respiration, and an action of the heart, bounding at an early period of the disease, but becoming scarcely recognisable as the fluid increases. The patient is then beginning gradually to sink. A thickening of the substance of the heart is occasionally suspected, and, on the other hand, an increased capacity of the cavities of the heart; the parietes being considerably thinner, and the frame of the animal emaciated.
The
pulse of the greater part of our domestic animals has been calculated by Mr. Vatel, in his excellent work on
Veterinary Pathology
, to be nearly as follows (measuring pulsations per minute):
The pulse of the dog may be easily ascertained by feeling at the heart or the inside of the knee, and it varies materially, according to the breed, as well as the size of the animal. This is very strikingly the case with some of the sporting dogs, with whom the force as well as the rapidity of the pulse vary materially according to the character and breed of the dog.
There is, occasionally, in the dog as in the human being, an alteration of the quantity, as well as of the quality, of the blood.
Anæmia
is
the term used to designate a deficiency in quantity;
plethora
is the opposite state of it. M. D'Arbor relates a very curious account of the former:
Two dogs were sent into the hospital of the veterinary school at Lyons. They did not appear to suffer any considerable pain. Their skin and mucous membranes that were visible had a peculiar appearance. They had also comparatively little power over their limbs; so little, indeed, that they rested continually on one side, without the ability to shift their posture. When they were placed on their feet, their limbs gave way, and they fell the moment they were quitted. In despite of the care that was taken of them, they died on the second day.