CHAPTER Xn. 



OPERATIONS ON THE GENITO-URINARY 

 APPARATUS. 



CATHETERISM OF THE URETHRA. 



The object of this operation is the exploration of the interior 

 of the bladder, and consists in the introduction of a catheter, 

 species of canula, or through the urethral canal into that organ, 

 for the purpose of ascertaining and removing its contents. Al- 

 though the urethra of the male has great length, with an acute 

 curve at the ischial arch, the operation is not a difficult one. It 

 is described as the partial and the complete, according to the dis- 

 tance to which the instrument is inserted into the canal, being 

 partial when the catheter is pushed in the urethra only as far as 

 the pelvic portion of the passage, but complete when it is carried 

 completely into the bladder. 



The operation is employed in animals of both sexes, and is 

 indicated in cases of retention of urine, due either to the pressure 

 of calculi, or to the spasmodic contractions of the bladder, which 

 accompany some cases of colic ; or, again, when in attacks of 

 paraplegia the animal is unable to micturate naturally. It also 

 constitutes one of the first steps of the operation in urethrotomy, 

 in cystotomy, and in lithotrity. 



We shall consider the operations separately as performed in 

 males and in females. 



In Males. — The catheter used in veterinary practice for male 

 solipeds is composed of a tube of wire, twisted in close spirals, 

 and covered with a species of thin oil-cloth, making the outer sur- 

 face perfectly smooth, and forming a perfect canula. It is fur- 

 nished with a stylet made of flexible rush broom, or whalebone, 

 which can be readily withdrawn from the cavity of the instru- 

 ment. 



Metallic catheters, invented first by Brogniez, and improved 

 on the plan of those used in human medicine, may also be ob- 



