JUST LIKE HUMAN BEINGS DOGS CAN GET A TEMPERATURE TOO
You can use an ordinary human clinical thermometer to take a dog’s temperature. The thermometer is first shaken down to 96 F, or lower, and inserted in the rectum. After a minute or two, it is removed and held up to the light. The sharper edge is held toward the person who is trying to read the figures. The thermometer is then gradually rotated between the forefinger and thumb until the ribbon of mercury is seen through the glass.
Every thermometer is graduated in degrees such as 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 to 110 F. Between each degree are five small marks representing 1/5 of one degree. Consequently, if the ribbon of mercury stops at 101 3/5. The average normal temperature of a dog is 101.5 or more than in the human. In young puppies, from 102 to 102.5 is normal.
Toy dogs have a higher normal temperature than the larger breeds so that 102 would be considered a normal temperature for a Pomeranian, although it is half a degree above what would be normal for a collie or police dog. Knowing how to take the temperature could help detect sickness or health issues.
HOW TO TAKE THE PULSE
The pulse of the dog is taken upon the femoral artery which is situated on the inner side of the hind leg following the general course of the long bone, or femur, of the hind limb. By grasping the left hind leg with the left hand with the fingers placed near the bone of the inner side near the body the pulsation number of the beats may be counted with the aid of the second hand of the watch. The physician usually counts the number of beats in a quarter minute or a half minute and then multiplies by four or two, as the case may be, in order to determine the number of beats per minute.
At birth the puppy’s pulse is extremely rapid, running from 125 to 150 beats per minute. This rapidity decreases with the passing of time so that at three months, the pulse ranges from 115 to 135, being more rapid in males than in the opposite sex. In the sixth month, the pulse is from 100 to 120, which slows down to from 90 to 100 in the ninth month.
At one year the pulse is usually from 70 to 90, slowing down in sleep to 50 to 60 beats per minute. It is usually more rapid in toy dogs than in larger breeds and in excitable dogs than in sluggish, indolent dogs. Exertion, no matter how slight, has its effect in increasing the pulse rate. Since merely rising to a sitting position will accelerate the pulse, there is no great significance in the change of pulse rate, as a rule, unless the condition continues for hours.
HOW TO TAKE RESPIRATION
The normal breathing rate of a full-grown dog is from ten to thirty respirations per minute. Since the processes of circulation and respiration are very closely related, it is obvious that an increase in pulse rate is attended by a corresponding increase in the number of inhalations per minute. The average number of respirations per minute in a healthy dog is about twenty and the rate, like that of the pulse, is varied by age, exertion, excitement, and many other influences. As with the pulse, the number of respirations is counted by means of the watch.
CONVULSIONS
Convulsions in dogs may be due to various diseases or conditions. When the dog is seized with a “fit,” however, first aid is imperative before stopping to diagnose. In case of emergency, ice-cold water should be applied to the head or if it is difficult to get at the dog, a pail of cold water flung over him helps to revive him.
Windows should be opened for additional air, and gauze or cotton saturated with aromatic spirits of ammonia or household ammonia should be held at the nose if smelling salts are unprocurable. Where the convulsions are repeated every few minutes, no matter what the cause, luminal sodium is a most valuable first-aid remedy. This is used in the proportions of one grain dissolved in a teaspoonful of warm water for a Pomeranian or miniature black and tan; two grains to two teaspoonsful of warm water for a French white poodle, Maltese or jumbo Pekingese; three grains in three teaspoonfuls of warm water for a Boston or wire fox terr
HEAT EXHAUSTION
Excessive heat and humidity are even more trying to dogs than to humans. In consequence, during the summer months, especially in cities, there is a reaction that is manifested either by heat exhaustion or sunstroke. The former appears as an exaggerated form of the general sense of relaxation, weakness, and languor, following prolonged or violent exertion in a hot or humid atmosphere. There is a derangement in the nerve centers at the base of the brain, a relaxation of the capillary blood circulation and a flagging of the heart’s action since it loses the customary stimulus due to the supply of impure blood returned to it by the veins.
This may be so extreme that the dog dies from feinting. In other cases, this slight paralysis is shown mainly in the nerve centers at the base of the brain, the blood being delayed in the distended capillaries and veins, becomes charged with carbon dioxide. The heart is rapid and feeble, the pulse weak, fluttering and fast; perspiration breaks out and the temperature is normal or subnormal – a condition not necessarily due to the sun’s rays, but resulting just as often to animals subjected for a length of time to artificial heat, especially where the air is impure and the dog exerting himself far too much.
First aid treatment consists of giving a stimulant such as ten drops of aromatic spirits of ammonia to one table-spoonful of water for a Pomeranian; one-fourth teaspoonful in water for a Boston terrier; one-half teaspoonful in water to an Irish terrier and one teaspoonful in water to a police dog or collie. Whiskey is also valuable if administered one teaspoonful to a tablespoonful of water for a Pomeranian; two teaspoonfuls to two tablespoonfuls of water for a Boston terrier; three teaspoonsful to two tablespoonfuls of water for an Irish terrier, and one tablespoonful to three tablespoonsful of water for a collie or police dog.
Digitalis is efficacious in sustaining flagging heart action and has the advantage that it may be given hypodermically when it is impossible to give medicine by the month. Nitroglycerine is also excellent for the same reason but can be employed by the doctor so that it is essential to summon him. Besides the medicine, however, an active rubbing of the body and limbs often aids the circulation and indirectly stimulates the heart. In cases where the temperature is below normal, the gentle massage can be followed by a warm bath with the smaller animals. The treatment should be continued until the temperature is normal.