428 



FCETAL DYSTOKIA, 



the parent at times gives indications of uneasiness by pawing, looking at 

 the sides now and again, straining at intervals perhaps, and not unfre- 

 quently exhibiting svmptoms of colic, while the milk retains all the char- 

 acters of colostrum until the other foetus is born. 



Retention of the second foetus after a certain. time is fatal to its exist- 

 ence ; even in animals with a multiple placenta — such as the Cow, whose 

 foetus retains its vitality much longer than that of those whose placenta 

 is single, like the Mare — the retained fcetus has never, according to Saint- 

 Cyr, been known to exist forty-eight hours after the birth of the first. 



This suspension of labor in twin birth, and which is not at all unfre- 

 quent, is ordinarily due to malposition of the second fcetus ; and this 

 cause of dystokia is one which nearly always demands the attention of 

 the veterinary obstetrist. 



Fig. 105. 

 Twin Fcetuses, in different presentations, passing into the Genital Canal. 



This malposition of the single foetus will be noticed presently ; we 

 have now to consider difficult birth due to multiparity. Dystokia from 



About a month ago, this officer, who had in the mean time removed to Portsmouth, wrote to inform me 

 that the Bitch was again pregnant, and owing to my having made him acquainted with its uterine pecu- 

 liarity, he was anxious to know wliat he should do when its time was due for pupping. Recommending 

 certain hygienic precautions, I advised that nothing special should be attempted unless birth was delayed, 

 as on the previous occasion ; then a dose of tincture of ergot of rj'e was to be administered, followed by 

 another if necessary. The other day I had a letter stating that on the Thursday night the Bitch had four 

 small pups, but there was no sign of milk. A dose of castor oil was given, as symptoms of constipation were 

 exhibited (due, in all probability, to foetal retention) ; the following day the animal was in pain, "and as 

 she was strong and well in herself, I did not like to give the ergot of rye yet. However, on Saturday 

 morning she became very ill, and was scarcely able to stand up, and yet there was no milk. So about ten 

 o'clock I gave her a drachm of tincture of ergot of rye (our prescription), and about j p.m. she passed a 

 dead pup, followed shortly h-j five live ones. She is now (Tuesday) all right, but all the live puppies died, 

 save two." 



This case is interesting, as showing the tendency in some animals to uterine inertia ; as testifying to the 

 great value of ergot of rye— at least, with the camivora— its ecbolic action on animals being denied by 

 many veterinarians ; as proving that the death of one foetus in titero does not always imperil the existence 

 of the others ; and as demonstrating that, contrary to what occurs in the Mare and Cow, foetuses will exist 

 in the uterus of the Bitch for forty-eight hours after the expulsion of others without succumbing, even when 

 one of their number is dead. 



