If the fit has resisted other means, bleeding should be resorted to. A
fit in other animals is generally connected with dangerous determination
of blood to the head, and bleeding is imperative. A fit in the dog may
be the consequence of sudden surprise and irritation. If I had the means
I should see whether I could not break the charm; whether I could not
get rid of the disturbance, by suddenly affecting the nervous system,
and the system generally, in another way. I would seize him by the nape
of the neck, and, with all my force, dash a little cold water in his
face. The shock of this has often dispersed the epileptic agency, as it
were by magic. I would give an emeto-purgative; a grain or a grain and a
half of calomel and the same quantity of tartar emetic: I would soothe
and coax the poor animal. Then,--and if I saw it at the beginning, I
would do it early,--if the fit was more dependent upon, or was beginning
to be connected with, determination of blood to the head, and not on any
temporary cause of excitation or irritation, I would bleed freely from
the jugular.
The following singular case of epilepsy is narrated by M.W. Leblanc:
A dog of small size, three years old, was very subject to those
epileptic fits that are so frequent among dogs. After a considerable
period, the fits would cease, and the animal recover the appearance of
perfect health; but the more he advanced in age the more frequent were
the fits, which is contrary to that which usually happens.
The last fit was a very strong one, and was followed by peculiar
symptoms. The animal became dispirited. The eyes lost their usual lively
appearance, and the eyelids were often closed. The dog was very drowsy,
and, during sleep, there were observed, from time to time, spasmodic
movements, principally of the head and chest. 'He always lay down on the
left side'. When he walked, he had a marked propensity to turn to the
left.
M. Leblanc employed purgatives, a seton to the back part of the neck,
and the application of the cautery to the left side of the forehead; but
nothing would stop the progress of the disease, and he died in the
course of two months after the last fit. The nearer he approached his
end the smaller were the circles that he took; and, in the latter part
of his existence, he did little more than turn as if he were on a pivot,
and, when the time arrived that he could walk no more, he used to lay
himself down on the right side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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