480 WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE 



the mouth and nostrils in cattle, though only by the nostrils in the 

 horse. 



With dry, chopped, or ground food, the symptoms are similar, 

 except that if it is lodged in the neck portion of the gullet, instead 

 of a hard defined mass being felt the swelling will be soft and 

 somewhat doughy. 



Small animals cough, attempt persistently to vomit, and stringy 

 saliva flows from the mouth. 



In urgent cases of choking there may be danger in waiting for 

 the Veterinary surgeon, and it may be necessary to attempt to give 

 relief. A rapid examination should be made at the side of the 

 neck along the throat, in order to discover if the obstruction is 

 situated there. If it is not, then an examination must be made 

 of the back part of the mouth. This requires tact and care, as 

 well as skill, unfortunately, with the larger animals, and amateurs 

 do not always possess this. The head should be raised and the 

 nose extended, the mouth kept widely open by some means, the 

 tongue carefully and steadily pulled out by the left hand, while 

 the right hand is passed back into the throat. Should it be able 

 to reach and seize the obstructive body by one or more fingers, 

 this ought to be drawn forward out of the mouth. Should its 

 seizure be difficult, an assistant must make firm upward pressure 

 on each side of the neck, towards the back of the lower jaw. If 

 this does not succeed, and when the abdomen swells so much as to 

 threaten suffocation, it has been recommended to fasten a gag in 

 the mouth — a smooth round piece of wood, about two inches in 

 diameter, tied by means of a cord at each end across the mouth 

 around the top of the head, behind the ears or horns. In many 

 cases nothing more is required to be done, the obstacle passing 

 down the throat. When the animal begins to scream for breath, 

 or stagger about, or has fallen from sufiocatirn, then not a moment 

 is to be lost in opening the windpipe. This, though requiring skill 

 to do it properly, nevertheless in such a death-or-life case must be 

 attempted by the amateur. An ordin:iry pen or pocket-knife must 

 be pushed into the front of the neck, about six or eight inches 

 below the lower jaw, and an incision three inches long made into 

 the windpipe from above to below. Into this incision two fingers 

 should be pushed and then separated, so as to open a wide aperture 

 into which the air can pass. This aperture must be kept open 

 until the arrival of the veterinary surgeon, who can then insert a 

 proper tube, and set about the removal of the obstacle. When the 

 obstacle is lower, and the symptoms not extremely urgent, occa- 

 sional small quantities of water, gruel, or linseed oil should be ad- 

 ministered, and if it can be felt in the region of the neck it may 

 he pushed gently up and down until it is well moistened, when it 



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