DISEASES OF TEE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 77 



(Peritonitis. 



The peritoneum is a serous membrane partially investing all the organs 

 In the abdominal cavity. An inflammation of this membrane or perito- 

 nitis may be either acute, circumscribed, or chronic as regards the degree 

 and duration of the inflammation. 



The disease is an exceedingly grave one and fortunately but rarely met 

 with among dogs. 



Causation.— Traumatic injuries such as kicks and blows, exposure to 

 cold, and whelping. In the great majority of cases the disease is incidental 

 to other affections of the abdominal organs. In intestinal diseases the 

 inflammatory process may extend and involve the peritoneum, or ulcera- 

 tion may induce it through perforation. 



Symptoms . — In acute inflammation of the peritoneum the symptoms 

 may be readily recognized. The pain is agonizing; to this the sharp shrill 

 cries of the animal fully testify. While he has strength to remain on the 

 feet his restlessness is ceaseless, and in no position can he find relief. He 

 breathes solely with the chest, the abdominal muscles being rigid and 

 fixed. The expression is anxious, the eyes reddened and sunken; the 

 pulse small, why, and resisting; the tongue dry, vomiting constant; con- 

 stipation is obstinate. The abdomen is distended, tense, and great tender- 

 ness is more or less widely diffused. If the case proceeds to a fatal 

 termination the abdomen swells with an effusion, the pulse becomes 

 quicker and weaker; paralysis follows; then exhaustion and death. 



^Diagnosis. —In severe forms of the disease under consideration, this 

 should not be difficult. From enteritis it is distinguished by greater pain, 

 greater abdominal tenderness and distension, absence of diarrhoea, and 

 the presence of evidences of a much graver disease. Colic may be elimi- 

 nated on the same points of difference between that disease and enteritis. 



Prognosis. — General peritonitis is an exceedingly grave disease from 

 which there is little hope of recovery. The danger is greatly increased by 

 perforation and co-existing diseases. 



The affection may run rapidly to a fatal termination, destroying life 

 within a few hours, or the issue may be prolonged several days. Recovery 

 might take place from the acute form of the disease, but such a result must 

 be painfully rare. 



Treatment. — Opium is the sovereign remedy and on that reliance must 

 be placed. How large a dose and how often, it is difficult to direct. The 

 natures of animals vary ; some are susceptible to a small quantity, others 

 bear large doses of opiates with but little effect. Again the pain may 

 be agonizing in some cases and less severe in others. Still in other 

 attacks vomiting will be so persistent that medicine will not be retained, 



