DISEASES OF THE PREGNANT ANIMAL. i8i 



however, states that he has occasionally witnessed the paralysis persist 

 for a longer time after calving, and either cause death or necessitate 

 slaughter. I have seen a sheep which eventually died from the ante-par- 

 turient paralysis. 



The cause is somewhat obscure, but is supposed to be due to compres- 

 sion, or rather straining, of the nerves and vessels of the posterior extrem- 

 ities by the heavy uterus. In five or six cases there has been found on 

 post-mortem inspection, infiltration of the dorso-lumbar and gluteal muscles, 

 and discoloration of the muscular fibres. The spinal canal has also con- 

 tained a large quantity @f serum, and the membranes of the spinal cord 

 are injected. From the rapidity with which recovery generally takes 

 place, it is obvious that the lesions cannot be serious. 



Treatment. — In the majority of cases, and especially before parturi- 

 tion, but little treatment is necessary. The principal indication is to 

 avert or get rid of constipation by means of laxatives and enemas, and 

 pay attention to the diet and cleanliness, while enjoying quietude. Should 

 the paralysis continue for any length of time after parturition, then more 

 energetic treatment may be adopted. In these cases, the subcutaneous 

 iniection of strychnine is nearly always attended with sliccess. 



Artificial removal of the foetus is not to be recommended, except 

 in very exceptional circumstances. 



Amaurosis. 



The only instances of amaurosis occurring in connection with preg- 

 nancy, are two given by Riss {Recueil de Med Veterinaire^ 183 1). 



A Mare, nine years old and in good condition, when advanced in pregnancy became 

 blind. On the eyes being examined by Riss, the humors and lens were found to be 

 quite healthy, but amaurosis was complete. A blister was applied to each cheek, and 

 other treatment adopted, but without success. The day following- parturition, which 

 occurred about a month after, vision was perfectly restored. 



A seven-year-old Mare, when near parturition, and which had never exhibited any 

 thing the matter with its eyes, suddenly became blind from amaurosis. Remembering 

 the other case, Riss abstained from treatment. The Mare foaled in thirteen or fourteen 

 days after loss of sight had been noted, and on the third day after this occurrence it was 

 able to see as well as ever. 



Cough. 



We have mentioned hydrops amnii as a cause of disturbance m the 

 respiration, the obstacle to which is often a marked symptom of that 

 condition. But even without the existence of this kind of dropsy, the 

 breathing is not unfrequently impeded in pregnant animals, and this 

 obstruction is sometimes accompanied by a very harassing nervous cough, 

 which, in the larger animals, and particularly in the Mare, may lead to in- 

 jury. For the relief of this cough, Zundel recommends the cyanide of 

 potassium. 



Albuminuria. 



Ihe existence of albuminuria in pregnant women has long been 

 ^ known, and Zundel gives it as one of the complications or accompani- 

 ments of gestation in animals ; though he does not look upon it as 

 a pathological condition. Saint-Cyr, on the contrary, thinks that this is 

 a matter well deserving further investigation ; for as various kinds of 

 paralysis — eclampsia, paraplegia, amaurosis, etc. — are probable conse- 

 quences of albuminuria in the human female, there is no reason why 

 they may not be so in animals. 



