BREEDING ~~' 1 ~ r <233 



it. Under the heading of "Worms," you can now find proper treatment for 

 puppies. 



The following article on "Parturition," and a valuable one indeed — ■ 

 coming from the pen of Dr. A. J. Sewell, the celebrated English dog veter- 

 inarian, was lately published in the American Stock-Keeper, and I herewith 

 reproduce it: 



"So little practical knowledge on this subject is abroad in our kennels, 

 judging from the large number of dams and puppies that have been annu- 

 ally lost, that it is important when we come across such articles as Mr. A. J. 

 Sewell's, the noted English dog 'Vet.,' on the above subject, that others than 

 the readers of the English Kennel Gazette should be allowed an opportunity 

 to read them. From such hints the intelligent Kennel man may prepare 

 himself to meet emergencies which can not be foreseen, and which often 

 happen when a 'vet's' services are not immediately available. The follow- 

 ing will meet such cases: " 'It occasionally happens in cases of head pre- 

 sentation that the hind legs are bent forward on the body, which renders the 

 delivery difficult, and without the passage is large and the pains are very 

 strong, the bitch cannot bring the pup without assistance. This is best 

 rendered by grasping the puppy across the hips with a small pair of thin- 

 bladed parturition forceps, and by gently pulling at the puppy during each 

 throe. 



" 'It frequently occurs that though a puppy may lie in a normal position 

 the mother is unable to give birth to it, in consequence of its being too 

 large. The nose may be just inside the vagina, and there become fixed in 

 spite of the bitch straining for hours. I have seen hundreds of such cases. 

 It is a mistake to leave these cases too long, thinking they will come all 

 right, as it is wasting time and the mother's strength; and if there are 

 other puppies to some she probably will not have strength either to expel 

 them herself, or help anyone who may try to assist her. 



"'In these instances the head is so firmly fixed in the mouth of the 

 womb that it is impossible to take hold of it with forceps, however small 

 or thin the blades may be, but the hook of the crochet may generally be 

 passed into the mouth of the puppy, and by fixing it well into the pallet a 

 good hold may be obtained, and the puppy drawn through the passage by 

 main force. If care be taken it is astonishing what amount of force may 

 be used in promoting delivery without at all injuring the bitch, but it is 

 best not to pull on the puppy except during the labor pains, if there are any. 



" 'It is the custom of some veterinary surgeons to give the ditch during 

 labor a hot bath if the parts are not considered sufficiently relaxed or if 

 the pains are dull; at the proper time the tissues always do become prop- 

 erly and sufficiently dilated, providing that parts are in a normal state — 

 that is, bar a stricture in the vagina or something of that kind — and if 

 there is any abnormal condition a warm bath, in my opinion, does more 

 harm than good, by often checking the pains. 



" 'Sometimes when ergot fails to induce or stimulate the throe — (here 

 is where I mucJi prefer to use the Fellows' Compound Syrup of Hypo- 

 phosphate) — I irave applied with advantage to the abdomen an ice bag;- but 

 what I fteid the best of all when one or two subcutaneous injections of ergo- 

 tine have not worked satisfactorily, is to put the bitch in some vehicle and 

 give her a drive, and if nothing else will induce the labor pains this will 

 do so in most cases. 



" 'The worst cases are those which when the bitch is due to pup and 

 the parts become relaxed, there are no labor pains to expel the fceta. Ex- 

 amined per vaginum no puppy can be felt and no amount of excitement of 

 the parts by passing a cold instrument into the passage or injection of 

 ergot will cause contraction of the womb. If the patient seems all right 

 it is best to wait some hours, during which time everything should be done 

 to try and excite contraction of the parts. If the means taken do not 

 succeed, then there is nothing to be done except the Csesarean operation, 

 as it is not safe to attempt delivery with forceps or crochet when the pup- 

 pies cannot be felt with the finger.' 



"Then follows a description of the Csesarean operation, which, of course, 



