DISEASES OF THE TAIL. 753 



arises de novo. In a lion, Prietsch twice amputated portions of the 

 tail before healing ensued. 



Treatment. Preventive treatment consists in cleanliness ; where 

 the parts are already infected antisepsis should be adopted. 



To check cellulitis it may be necessary to scarify the skin of the 

 tail lengthwise, and to follow this by the application of an antiseptic 

 surgical dressing. Block scarifies as deeply as the periosteum, and 

 rubs in common salt or turpentine. 



In dogs it is best to smear the wound with iodoform, collodion, 

 or tar, or to cover it with a dressing and leather sheath to prevent 

 the animal licking and gnawing the point of the tail. Should this 

 fail, the part must be amputated. Sometimes cauterising the 

 stump will be found useful. Horses are occasionally seen with so- 

 called " Rat-tail " or loss of the long hairs of the tail. Up to the 

 present the exact cause of this affection is unknown, though it has 

 been attributed to psoroptic invasion ; nor is there any sure means 

 of preventing the loss of hair, or of assisting its return. Perhaps 

 the best treatment consists in periodic thorough washing and the 

 use of sulphur iodide ointment. Popow recommends scarification 

 of the skin of the tail, but its efficacy requires further confirmation. 

 Pruritus can be lessened or arrested by frequently washing the tail 

 with carbolic lotion. 



(2) Paralysis of the muscles of the tail. Difficulty in moving the 

 tail may be caused by fractures of the sacrum or caudal vertebrae, 

 and by inflammation and new growths, but primary nerve disease 

 of the caudal muscles also occurs in horses and dogs, both as an 

 accompaniment of paraplegia and independently of it. The disease 

 is oftenest seen in mares, though it sometimes attacks geldings. It 

 generally commences slowly ; at first the tail is not carried in the 

 ordinary way, but hangs more or less limply, swinging to and fro 

 as the animal moves, and becoming soiled by urine and faeces. 

 After the lapse of several months, paralysis of the bladder (incon- 

 tinentia urinae) with faecal retention occurs, and manual assistance 

 becomes necessary to empty the rectum, the last portion of which 

 is gradually dilated. If relief be not afforded, the animal suffers from 

 colic. There is marked anaesthesia of the base of the tail, perineum, 

 vulva and rectum. Finally, paraplegia incompleta appears, with 

 atrophy of the muscles of the quarter and of the hind-leg. 



In 1890, Dollar saw several cases as sequelae to influenza. In 

 one the symptoms were preceded by exudation of lymph into the 

 posterior chambers of the eyes and the animal became temporarily 

 blind. All of the cases seen had finally to be slaughtered. 



R.S. 3 c 



