MORE ADVICE ABOUT DOSING DOGS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 104, 26 January 1939, Page 12

MORE ADVICE ABOUT DOSING DOGS

Hydatids Prevention

DOCTOR TELLS HOW TO GIVE ARECOLINE Further advice on the vexed question of how to dose dogs with the arecoline preparation oeing issued to all dog-owners on registration of their pets is given by Dr. E. M. Bennett, Dunedin. As Dr. Bennett is an officer of the Depart meat of Hydatid I'l evention in the University of Otago Medical School, and is taking a lending part m the campaign to eradicate this disease. hi s advice can be regarded as authoritative. . , “It is impossible to quarrel with youi cartoonist’s ideas about dosing tiogs, he writes in a letter to the Editor. But another recent article, also partly in whimsical vein, contains some remains Which should hardly be taken seriously, and a picture in the same issue is very misleading. It is to be hoped tliut readers have depended, not on a photograph of a dog being dosed out of a spoon, but on the photograph with the instructions, showing a Vasily oeltei way.

Don’t Open the Dog’s Mouth. “It i s not necessary to open the dog’s mouth or to give him a sond pill or offer him one to eirt The method described in the instructions is the one used by veterinary practitioners, both for fluid medicines and for force-feeding a sick dog that refuses to eat. The method is to put two fingers into the cheek, without attempting to force the teeth open, pull the cheek out *nto a pouch, and pour the dissolved medicine in. , “A s your article states, many dogs try to get rid of any medicine, including arecoline, even though it is, tasteless, and it is necessary to keep a firm grip of the pouch and have a look inside to verify -that it lias all gone before letting go. If he is slow in swallowing, wetting his nose may make him lick, in which case lie ha s to swallow, but a more reliable method is to grip the windpipe just above the adam’s apple. Dogs do not mind these pleasantries, if they are treated quietly and firmly without bullying or a display of fear—the latter puts ideas into a dog's head at ouce. Anyone who is not sure of the wav can practice with dose s of water, which is good training for the dog, too. A Hit-or-Miss Method, “The method described by your correspondent from Greytown, forcing the teeth open and giving the pill in solid form, is not nearly as good. There is no need to open the jaws at all, ana in any case it is a hit-or-miss method to throw the pill into the back of the mouth. Anyone who may favour this method should continue by holding the dog’s mouth shut, and squeezing the windpipe to make him swallow repeatedly ; but it is an inferior m'ethod, and the action of the arecoline is not as good os if given in a small amount of water. “It is rather surprising that there should have been comment about the alleged difficulty of dosing; it is so simple that on the showgrounds, when giving demonstrations, I have been accused of having had trained dogs. I have dosed hundreds of town and specially country dogs, and have never been bitten, and only once was there any difficulty—a man-eating collie that had been bullied and driven nearly frantic with fear. He was muzzled and dosed in the usual way through the cheek.

“I think, Sir, you will probably agree that anyone who cannot dose his own dog should not own a dog. Fully nine dogs out of 10, if not regularly dosed, have masses of parasites that •would astonish and disgust their owners, and seeing that these parasites are liable to be those that cause hydatids in man and animals, the owners 1 /p of a dog is a responsibility. Part of that responsibility is to know how to dose the dog. Action Of Arecoline. “Your article states that arecoline is somewhat drastic, and that dogs will object to a second dose even after a lapse of three months. I have not found it drastic, and, in fact, it. has been necessary, before bringing in the scheme, to try the effects of very large doses to see whether there might be risks through overdosing; and the conclusions are those implied in the whole scheme —go ahead and follow instructions. I think the reason for stating that it is drastic must have been that some freak method of dosing was attempted, but if the right method is used dogs can be dosed every week or as often as is necessary. Part of the reason for advocating the method of putting the dose in the cheek is that it is scarcely noticed by the dog, and certainly not something that lie will remember with resentment. it stands to reason that it is less drastic than areca nut, an oldtime favourite that is now out of date, because areca nut contains, arecoline and three other useless drugs; hence the difference between using arecoline in tlie purified form and using areca nut is the difference between sugar and sugarcane. “Readers • who attend the Levin show this week will have an opportunity of seeing dogs dosed, and also seeing tlie hydatid exhibit and cinefilm which ' are being circulated throughout the Dominion.”