PARALYSIS OF THE BLADDER. 89 



of the urethra between the seat of obstruction and the bladder is 

 usually distended with urine, and feels enlarged, elastic, and fluctu- 

 ating. 



Treatment. — Treatment may be begun by taking the animal out of 

 harness. This failing, sjDread clean litter beneath the belly or turn 

 the patient out on the dung heap. Some seek to establish sympa- 

 thetic action by pouring water from one vessel into another with 

 dribbling noise. Others soothe and distract the attention by slow 

 whistling. Friction of the abdomen with wisps of straw may suc- 

 ceed, or it may be rubbed with ammonia and oil. These failing, an 

 injection of 2 ounces of laudanum or of an infusion of 1 ounce of 

 tobacco in wat«r may be tried. In the mare the neck of the bladder is 

 easily dilated by inserting two oiled fingers and slightly parting them. 

 In the horse the oiled hand introduced into the rectum may j^ress 

 from before backward on the anterior or blind end of the bladder. 

 Finally, a Avell- oiled gum-elastic catheter may be entered into the 

 urethra through the papilla at the end of the penis and pushed on 

 carefully until it has entered the bladder. To effect this the penis 

 must first be withdraAvn from its sheath, and when the advancing end 

 of the catheter has reached the bend of the urethra beneath the anus 

 it must be guided forward by jjressure with the hand, Avhich guidance 

 must be continued onward into the bladder, the oiled hand being 

 introduced into the rectum for this purpose. The horse catheter, 3^- 

 feet long and one-third inch in diameter, may be bought of a surgical 

 instrument maker. 



PARALYSIS OF THE BLADDER. 



Paralysis of the body of the bladder with spasm of the neck has 

 been described under the last heading, and may occur in the same way 

 from overdistention in tetanus, acute rheumatism, paraplegia, and 

 hemiplegia, in which the animal can not stretch himself to stale, and 

 in cystitis, aifecting the body of the bladder but not the neck. In all 

 these cases the urine is suppressed. It also occurs as a result of 

 disease of the posterior end of the spinal marrow and with broken 

 back, and is then associated with palsy of the tail, and, it may be, of 

 the hind limbs. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms are a constant dribbling of urine when 

 the neck is involved, the liquid running down the inside of the thighs 

 and irritating the skin. When the neck is unaffected the urine is 

 retained until the bladder is greatly overdistended, when it may be 

 expelled in a gush by the active contraction of the muscular walls of 

 the abdomen ; but this never empties the bladder, and the oiled hand 

 introduced through the rectum may feel the soft, flabby organ still 

 half full of urine. This retained urine is liable to decompose and 

 give off ammonia, which dissolves the epithelial cells, exposing the 



