The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-12
Eczema

There is probably no name which is
 made to cover so many forms of skin | disease as eczema. It is possibly owing to the misapplicaton of the term that so much confusion has arisen in regard to this form of skin trouble The va rious forms of eczema constitute 90 or 40 per cent of all skin diseases. Pure eczema is noncontagious disease, hav- | ing numerous phases and forms. There are no two cases of eczema absolutely 1 identical and even on the same animal the disease assumes a different phase
 on the different parts of the body. The nostrils, the lips, the ears, the inside of | the Hanks and thighs, between the dig | it's on the superior surface and between the pads on the inferior surface of the | foot-each presents its own particular symptoms and requires it's own special treatment.
 Eczema is an inflammatory condition of the skin, attended by redness, pimples, small blisters, and, in some cases, by pustules. It generally terminates by the skin becoming dry and scurfy. This l latter is called squamous eczema. The cause, in most cases, is due to constitu- tional disturbances, though it may be the result of local irritation. The dis | ease may affect any part of the animal. All dogs are liable to it. though some breeds are more predisposed than others. | The causes are overfeeding and insuf- | ficient exercise, weakening diseases-par- | ticularly distemper-and improper feeding | such as keeping a dog on a milk and oatmeal diet, or debarring them entirely | from meat. In some cases, too much
 meat will induce an attack. Intestinal | irritation, the result of worms, or n- digestion will induce it. and local irrita- | tion, the result of mango or the appli- cation of stimulating embrocations. No doubt many cases are due to heredity predisposition.
 1 There is a form of dry eczema that | generally appears in circular patchea about the head, face, legs and body of | a pup when about 3 to months old, in l fact. when the teeth are being changed.
 This form is <often called teething ecze- ma. It Is a most obstinate disorder, and l frequently resists treatment for months. :, The disease is not confined to any To-
 cality as any part of the head, body or l legs may become attacked There is cer-
 tainly greater tendency for the skin | adjoining mucous membrane-as around l the lips-to become more affected than 1 other parts, and also the eyeids. The | soft parts of the skin, such as the Hanks | the inside of the thighs and the bend of l joints, as the front of the elbow, and 1 the hook, are favorite seats of the dis
 ease. The prominent parts of the differ | ent joints that come In contact with the
 ground when dog is lying down very | often become affected.
 1 There are three varieties of the eczema eczema simplex, eczema rubrum and eczema impetiginodes. Simple eczema Is the most common and the easiest to cure | It consists Of crop of small blisterS | on an uninflamed skin. In these cases the contents of the blisters either be- come absorbed or dried up, and the skin | is left dry and scaly. In some instances
 where successive crops appear, the dis order becomes troublesome.
 l In eczema rubrum the skin is very in- l famed. extremely irritable, and some what swollen. crop of vesicles as in
 the previous form, appears, the little
 blisters break and discharge, the parts | become moist After a time the dis ! charge dries up, and small scales form 1 or the parts are covered with thick 1 scales. The ordinary disease known as
 red eczema, which is often seen in white coated dogs when the hair turns a rusty
 red color, is not form of eczema at | all. It is skin affection due to some vegetable or animal parasite; and is really contagious.
 l In the third form, eczema impetigi-
 nodes the vesicles run on to pustules, which discharge a diminish sticky fiuid
 This soon dries if the dog is prevented 1 from licking, and crusts of yellowish green color are formed. This form re- sembles impetigo
 1 Eczema, as rule passes through three
 stages. First, the skin is red. inflamed
 and swollen. Secondly. small red pim- pies are formed. These soon develop in- to blisters, which usually break, making
 the skin moist, or the contents of the | blisters become absorbed In either case
 the skin becomes subsequently, dry and scaly. This latter condition of the skin
 is called the third or squamous eczema,
 but is really only another stage of the disease. There is a fourth stage in some
 cases. namely, ecezma impetigonodes | The blisters here become pustular, break and discharge, and subsequently, form crusts. The irritation, the result of this disease. varies according to the extent
 and severity of attack. In eczema rub rum the irritation is almost intolera ble during the early stages; and the dog is | licking, biting and scratching continu- ously This subsidies as the skin becomes | dry and scaly. The loss of hair in ec-
 zema is not so much due to the disease | as to the rubbing, scratching and bit- | ing.
 The treatment must depend on the form
 the disease assuy,es. Internal remedies are quite as important in the treatment of eczema as lotions, etc., for 1t is by these means that we try to eliminate the disease from the system. During the early and infammatory stage. when the skin is red and heated, and also when the patches of the skin are covered with
 vesicles cooling and drying lotions should be used
 Chronic eczema generally assumes the dry or squamous form of the disease,
 and the parts most frequently affected in
 these cases is the skin around the eyes, the outside of the flaps of the ears, the
 elbows, outside of the hook joints, and
 the lower part of the back The skin is
 very irritable and the scratching prety constant.
 Eczema is sometimes called fred mango" and it derives that description, of course, from the appearance which it gives of redness and irritation of the
 skin. The dog which scratches himself for a day or two without any apparent
 cause. can as a rule, be taken to- be
 troubled with little irritation of the
 skin. which presently will develop into an
 obvious rash, even though it may be but
 a slight one. As rule the eruption of
 eczema appears under the arm pits and
 bare parts of the body. and 1t can gen
 orally be treated satisfactorily if 1t be