EXAMINATION OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS 27 



intestines, certain poisons, stenosis of the intestines, peritonitis, paralysis 

 of the intestines, escape of gas from the stomach and intestines into the 

 abdominal cavity (meteorismus peritonis), and also when these organs 

 are punctured by foreign bodies, from accumulations of fluid in the ab- 

 dominal cavity, in peritonitis exudata, rupture of the bladder, or ascites. 

 Particularly relaxv>d and flabby abdominal muscles may often make an 

 animal look as if it had dropsy of the abdomen. In great accumulations 

 of urine in the bladder, large tumors or cysts in the abdominal cavity, 

 dropsy of the uterus and in hydronephrosis. Lateral (one-sided) disten- 

 tion of the abdomen may be caused by hypertrophy of the liver, disten- 

 tion of the stomach, various tumors, abscesses of the abdominal walls, 

 hernise and other surgical diseases. A decrease in the periphery of the 

 abdomen may result from continued diarrhoea, lack of proper or sufficient 

 food, or consumption. 



Large accumulations of faecal matter in the colon and rectum is indi- 

 cated by a large sausage-like mass the consistency of putty and is pitted 

 by pressure. These obstructions cause painful irritation and swelling 

 of the mucous membrane. These swellings are found under the spinal 

 column. Foreign bodies that have been mixed with the food or if an 

 animal in play catches certain objects in his mouth, such as glass, stones, 

 hard or soft rubber balls, cork, etc., and accidentally swallows them and 

 they become lodged in the intestines they are easily outlined by palpa- 

 tion by the same means we outline tumors on the abdominal wall. Soft 

 foreign bodies, such as hair balls, overloading of the intestines, or slight 

 invagination are rather hard to diagnose. 



The rectum is examined in the following manner: The animal is 

 placed either in a standing position or on his side, and the index fin- 

 ger (or in small animals, the little finger), having been dipped in oil, is 

 inserted into the rectum, the other hand being used to hold the tail to 

 one side, or to keep the animal quiet. It is frequently necessary to 

 muzzle the animal and in almost all cases an assistant holding the ani- 

 mal greatly facilitates the examination. Very frequently after an ex- 

 amination, the finger is stained with blood, or even blood in large quan- 

 tities is observed. This is generally due to the venous engorgement 

 of the rectal mucous membrane and the capillary vessels are easily 

 ruptured. We examine the rectum when certain symptoms are shown 

 in defecation or the faeces indicate some abnormal condition of the 

 rectum, such as inflammation, abscesses, tumors, or dilation or con- 

 traction of that organ. Or we may examine the rectum to remove 

 foreign bodies or particularly hard pieces of faeces or to diagnose ab- 

 normal conditions of the neighboring organs, or structures, such as the 

 prostate gland, vagina, uterus, neck of bladder, or if tumors or abscesses 

 are suspected in the pelvis. In very small animals the examination of 



