The term diarrhoea is used to designate too frequent operations of the bowels, the discharges being abnormally changed in character. It may occur as an Independent affection, or as a symptom incident to other diseases.

It is often associated with inflammation of the large and small intestines, and with disorders where changes in structure exist. It appears in functional derangements, such as indigestion and colic.

Causation

The exciting causes of diarrhoea are extremely numerous. When the affection is purely functional, the mucous membrane being in a normal state, among the causes are included indigestible substances, decayed food, foreign bodies, retained excretions, poisons, and certain drugs used as remedies in disease. Worms lodged in the lower bowel may accumulate and diarrhoea follow.

Another common cause is the influence of cold, intestinal irritation resulting from the cooled blood of the surface being driven Inward. Injuries such as a kick or a blow in the abdomen, may induce the disorder. Diarrhoea is often produced in puppies by feeding milk when they are unaccustomed to it. On the other hand, after giving it for a time it may be found to produce constipation. Radical changes in feeding, from coarse food of difficult digestion to a more nutritious and concentrated diet, will loosen the bowels.

In diarrhoea associated with other diseases, the intestinal mucous membrane becomes inflamed from causes attributable to the associated disorder, as in affections of the liver. According as the exciting cause of diarrhoea is of a temporary, frequently recurring, or permanent character, the affection runs an acute or a chronic course.

Symptoms

The frequency of the discharges will in a measure indicate the severity of the disease. More important than the number is the character of the stools. Blood is not an uncommon mixture. It may be due to a congested state of the membrane lining the lower bowel, to piles, to a sharp bone lodged in the rectum, or possibly worms. The presence of mucus in small amounts has no significance; in large quantities an inflammation of the rectum is to be Inferred.

In simple uncomplicated diarrhoea, unless of long continuance the gen-eral health suffers but little.

Treatment

Diarrhoea in many instances is nature's effort to throw off the cause of irritation, and regulating the diet will usually suffice to overcome the trouble. If the attack is severe, nature should be imitated and a dose of castor oil given, to effectually remove the contents of the intestines, preventing their continued passage over the irritated surfaces.

If pain exists, fifteen drops of laudanum should be added to the laxative.

The diet then should be regulated, being simple and easily digestible; milk with lime water in parts three to one, or milk porridge made with flour baked until browned. If this is refused, beef broths thickened with raw eggs will be more inviting: The elixir of bark pepsin and bismuth should be given in teaspoonful doses before food is taken. This remedy and the dietetic precautions will in many instances suffice; even in serious cases the treatment should be given a fair trial before resorting to stronger medication.

If the disease persists and more urgent methods are indicated, opium should be employed. Dover's powder in five grain doses repeated every five or six hours is admirable on account of its combination. If that proves insufficient and pain is still a prominent symptom, the following may be given.-

℞ Tinct. Kino ℥ ss.

Tinct. Opii ℥ i j.

Syr. Simp. ℥ ss.

Chloroformi ℥ i.

Aquae Menth. Pip. ℥ ijss Ft. Mist. Sig. Dose one teaspoonful from four to six hours as indicated.

It is quite often necessary to repeat the castor oil; the character of the discharges will direct the need. If they are of a very offensive odor then a dose should be given every two or three days.

Diarrhoea In Young Puppies

Diarrhoea In Young Puppies very often occurs soon after the period of weaning; changing the diet will often suffice with them. If feeding milk freely, less of it should be given, beef tea for a time substituted, and vice versa. In some cases liquid food, no matter how wisely selected, will be but imperfectly digested and productive of diarrhoea. In such instances chalk mixture, in teaspoonful doses, with the admixture of five or ten drops of paregoric if pain exists, should be given. If this treatment is ineffectual, then a radical change in the diet is demanded. Only solid food will meet the exigency. Potatoes and other vegetables, well cooked and mashed, mixed with a little blood gravy from roasts, soaked bread and meat, are the principle articles to be depended upon. To meet the arguments of those who contend that flesh is an injury to dogs in general and particularly to very young puppies, the writer would say that it is, and has long been his custom to commence giving raw meat after the fifth week. Several pounds of fresh and lean beef, in an undivided mass, are thrown into the pens once a day and the puppies allowed to worry it for twenty minutes; it is then removed. Their pleasure and improvement must be observed to be appreciated.