4G6 THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 



checked, in coFiSequence of the calcuhis entering the neck of 

 the bladder. The animal, however, retains his position, makes 

 further efforts to urinate, and, in some cases, succeeds after 

 awhile. In other cases he fails, or the remainder of the urine 

 may dribble away a few drops at a time, and run down upon 

 and excoriate the inside of the thighs. In many cases the 

 urine may be tinged with blood, or the passage of a small 

 quantity of blood may immediately succeed the act of 

 micturition. Sometimes the animal exhibits pretty severe 

 abdominal pain. An exa-niination per rectum is all that is 

 now required to complete the diagnosis. A hard moveable 

 body, or a number of them, may be felt in the bladder, and 

 the practitioner may rest assured that the case is one of 

 cystic, or vesical calculi. In some cases, instead of any 

 hard substances being discovered, there will be found a 

 soft, pasty mass of sabulous material. The animal may be 

 in a good or bad condition. 



Treatment. — If the formation of the calculi is due to the 

 character of the water the animal has been drinking, it 

 should be changed to rain water preferably to any other, 

 and salt added to it, in addition to which, the animal 

 should be allowed all the salt he will voluntarily consume ; 

 the mineral acids may also be given, and in many cases 

 the calculi, if small, may be dissolved and pass out with 

 the urine. If the calculi are large, hoAvever, acids will 

 be of little service. In such a case it becomes necessary 

 to perform lithotripsy, or lithotomy. The former opera- 

 tion is, however, scarcely practicable in veterinary surgery, 

 being almost impossible to perform. The operation of 

 lithotomy, though, may be performed with success as 

 follows : the animal having had a itw days' preparation is 

 to be cast and secured, after which a catheter should be 

 passed into the bladder, and an incision made in the 

 median line, right through the perinaeum, and down upon 



