Miscellaneous Rabies Symptoms Part 3

In an early period of the disease in some dogs, and in others when the strength of the animal is nearly worn away, a peculiar paralysis of the muscles of the tongue and jaws is seen. The mouth is partially open, and the tongue protruding. In some cases the dog is able to close his mouth by a sudden and violent effort, and is as ferocious and as dangerous as one the muscles of whose face are unaffected. At other times the palsy is complete, and the animal is unable to close his mouth or retract his tongue. These latter cases, however, are rare.

A dog must not be immediately condemned because he has this open mouth and fixed jaw. Bones constitute a frequent and a considerable portion of the food of dogs. In the eagerness with which these bones are crushed, spicula or large pieces of them become wedged between the molar teeth, and form an inseparable obstacle to the closing of the teeth. The tongue partially protrudes. There is a constant discharge of saliva from the mouth, far greater than when the true paralysis exists. The dog is continually fighting at the corners of his mouth, and the countenance is expressive of intense anxiety, although not of the same irritable character as in rabies.

I was once requested to meet a medical gentleman in consultation respecting a supposed case of rabies. There was protrusion and discoloration of the tongue, and fighting at the corners of the mouth, and intense anxiety of countenance. He had been in this state for four-and-twenty hours. This was a case in which I should possibly have been deceived had it been the first dog that I had seen with dumb madness. After having tested a little the ferocity or manageableness of the animal, I passed my hand along the outside of the jaws, and felt a bone wedged between two of the grinders. The forceps soon set all right with him.

It is time to inquire more strictly into the post-mortem appearances of rabies in the dog.

In dumb madness the unfailing accompaniment is, to a greater or less degree, paralysis of the muscles of the lower jaw, and the tongue is discoloured and swollen, and hanging from the mouth; more blood than usual also is deposited in the anterior and inferior portion of it. Its colour varies from a dark red to a dingy purple, or almost black. In ferocious madness it is usually torn and bruised, or it is discoloured by the dirt and filth with which it has been brought into contact, and, not unfrequently, its anterior portion is coated with some disgusting matter. The papillæ, or small projections on the back of the tongue, are elongated and widened, and their mucous covering evidently reddened. The orifices of the glands of the tongue are frequently enlarged, particularly as they run their course along the frœnum of the tongue.

Also read: Dog Health Info.