Dealing With Heat Stroke In Your Dog

This is most frequent in short-nosed dogs, especially bulldogs. Immediate action is important as collapse and heart failure may occur quite rapidly. Remove the dog to as cool a spot as possible.

Your dog should be carried and not allowed to exert itself in any way. A room with a stone floor is ideal, and the animal should be laid on its right side with the left side uppermost. A current of air helps greatly, and fanning the dog will increase the intake of fresh air.

The head and back of the neck should be douched with cold water, or, if ice is available, an ice pack or compress applied. The mouth should be sponged out with cotton wool or a handkerchief wrung out in cold water, and saliva wiped away so far as is possible.

If your dog has collapsed, smelling-salts or ammonia solution held within an inch or two of the nose will often help. A few drops of brandy on the tongue, then a thorough swabbing of the throat to remove the mass of saliva which accumulates and which the collapsed animal is unable to get rid of himself.

Dealing With Hysteria

Hysteria is a temporary mental disturbance seen mainly in puppies and young dogs. Though the symptoms are distressing to the observer the animal itself does not experience any pain and usually emerges from the fit none the worse. Symptoms vary considerably.

The dog may run about barking and violently crashing into objects in its path, or it may merely wander, twitch spasmodically, froth at the mouth, and then appear quite normal.

The causes of hysteria and "fits" are as varied as the forms in which a dog is affected. The usual causes in young dogs are the teething process, indigestion (usually associated with worms, or a dietary indiscretion) or a sudden severe fright.

Distemper and/or hard-pad are diseases characterised by mental disturbances of one sort or another, but in such cases other symptoms will almost invariably have preceded the mental stage of the illness.

Such symptoms as a cough, discharge from eyes and nose, and diarrhoea, are typical of distemper or hard-pad and animals with these symptoms are usually seen by a veterinary surgeon before any brain complications occur.

It should be remembered that until the cause is removed or remedied the hysteria is likely to recur. As this is essentially a first-aid book it is not intended to discuss the differential diagnosis of the many causes of hysteria. That is the expert's field. Important first measures can, however, be taken by the owner of a dog suddenly showing hysteria, and these should be taken promptly.

Remove the animal to a darkened, quiet room where it can do no harm to itself. Fires are dangerous. A dog in its semi-demented state may fall on to one and suffer serious injury.

Keep the animal absolutely quiet and still until the fit or hysteria passes. Precautions should be taken when handling a dog showing hysteria as it may snap or bite unknowingly. Therefore do not handle the head until the fit has passed. When normal, any of the following should then be given, preferably crushed and administered in a little milk:

½-2 Veganin (according to size of dog), e.g., 30 lb. dog

1 tablet. OR 3-10 gr. bromide (according to size of dog), e.g., 30 lb. dog 5 gr.

OR

3-10 gr. chlorbutol (according to size of dog), e.g., 30 lb. dog 5 gr.

These dosages may be repeated every 1½-2 hours, or earlier if necessary. In the absence of any of these sedatives, give 1 or 2 aspirins in a little warmed milk, with ½-1 teaspoonful of brandy added. It is again stressed that rest and absolute quiet are most important as any sudden disturbance is likely to start the hysteria afresh.

It is fortunately true that although with hysteria the animal seems terribly distressed during the actual attack it appears to have no memory of his experiences during the upset. In actual fact the owner is generally more disturbed than the animal.

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Article written by:

Edie MacKenzie