INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER -CYSTITIS 349 



and the total amount discharged in the twenty-four liours is much less 

 than usual. Attempts to urinate are sometimes made without effect, and 

 the penis is unsheathed and retracted from time to time without any 

 attempt to stale being made. Now and again colicky pains appear, and 

 the animal is restless and essays to lie down. The urine is thick and 

 muddy, and sometimes blood-stained, or it may become charged with pus. 

 Pressure over the loins causes the animal to cringe, and the hind-limbs 

 are moved somewhat stiffly in progression. 



As the disease advances there is marked constitutional disturbance, 

 shown by the quick pulse, accelerated breathing, increased temperature, 

 hot and clammy mouth, and the occurrence of patchy sweats. Rigors are 

 sometimes present, the face wears a pained and anxious expression, and 

 the mucous membranes of the eyes and nose are intensely reddened. 



Treatment. — This should be commenced by the administration of 

 aloes sufficient to open the bowels freely. The diet should be reduced 

 to bran, with which a little boiled linseed may be mixed, and the tea from 

 the latter will prove a most desirable drink, to which, if possible, the patient 

 should be confined. AVhere pain is severe, opium may be administered in 

 small repeated doses. Hot cloths to the loins will exercise a soothing in- 

 fluence, and enemas of warm water in which a little extract of belladonna 

 has been dissolved will materially aid in subduing existing inflammation. 



Where, as sometimes occurs, there are no conveniences for fomenta- 

 tions, the loins may be stimulated by means of soap liniment and strong 

 ammonia (liquid ammonia). On no account are turpentine and cantharides 

 to be used as local applications. Their absorption into the blood would 

 inevitably aggravate the disease. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER— CYSTITIS 



Definition. — An inflamed condition of the lining memlirane, extending 

 more or less to the other structures of the bladder. 



Causes. — This disease is the result of some irritant acting upon the 

 mucous membrane by which the organ is lined. The provocative agents 

 are sometimes mechanical, at others they are of a chemical nature; of 

 the former, stone in the bladder is the more common cause. Chemical 

 irritation results in those cases where the urine is long retained, either 

 as the result of paralysis or otherwise, and in consequence undergoes 

 decomposition. It also follows upon the too- free administration of can- 

 tharides and croton-oil, or from their absorption by the skin when applied 

 over a large surface. In mares, it may be the result of difficult parturi- 

 tion, where much force has been employed in extracting the foetus. In- 



