t. In the half-starved or well-worked dog I have seen the
liver involved; but have never beheld it in such a state as led me to
conclude it was the principal or original seat of the affection which
ended in death. On the other hand, in fatted and petted animals, I have
seen the gland in a condition that warranted no doubt as to what part the
fatal attack had commenced in.
When death has been the consequence of hepatic disorder, the symptoms have
in every instance been chronic. I am not aware that I have been called
upon to treat a case of an acute description, excepting as a phase of
distemper. It would be too much to say such a form of disease does not
exist in a carnivorous animal; but I have hitherto not met with it.
Neither have I seen it as the effect of inveterate mange; though I have
beheld obstinate skin disease the common, but far from invariable, result
of chronic hepatitis. I have also known cerebral symptoms to be produced
by the derangement of this gland, which, in the dog, may be the cause of
almost any possible symptom, and still give so little indication of its
actual condition as almost to set our reason at defiance.
When the animal is fat, the visible mucous membranes may be pallid; the
tongue white; the pulse full and quick; the spirits slothful: the appetite
good; the foeces natural: the bowels irregular; the breath offensive; the
anus enlarged, and the rump denuded of hair, the naked skin being covered
with a scaly cuticle, thickened and partially insensible.
When the animal is thin, almost all of the foregoing signs may be wanting.
The dog may be only emaciated--a living skeleton, with an enlarged belly.
It is dull, and has a sleepy look when undisturbed; but when its attention
is attracted, the expression of its countenance is half vacant and half
wild. The pupil of the eye is dilated, and the visual organs stare as
though the power of recognition were enfeebled. The appetite is good and
the manner gentle. The tongue is white, and occasionally reddish towards
the circumference. The membranes of the eye are very pale, but not yellow.
The lining of the mouth is of a faint dull tint, and often it feels cold
to the touch. The coat looks not positively bad; but rather like a skin
which had been well dressed by a furrier, than one which was still upon a
living body.
The history in these cases invariably informs us that the animal has been
fat--very fat--about six or twelve months ago. It fell away
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