INJURIES TO THE TESTICLES AND SCROTUM 209 



prevent the rulilnng on an}- rough ol)ject and apply oxide of zinc, talcum 

 powder, bismuth preparations, or boracic acid, and the animal must be 

 restrained from licking or irritating the affected portions, either by means 

 of a muzzle or the scrotum covered by a Priessnitz bandage. If necrosis 

 develops as a result of the condition just described or from traumatisms or 

 freezing, etc., and the sloughed portion is very extensive it may be neces- 

 sary to castrate the animal as well as remove the necrosed portion. 



Inflammation of the Testicle — Orchitis. — Orchitis without any other 

 injury is very rarely seen in the dog; it may be caused by a kick, or a blow, 

 or from crushing or by metastasis from acute inflammatory conditions of 

 the adjacent urinary organs. The testicle is hot, swollen and smooth on 

 its surface and very sensitive to the touch; the animal walks with its hind 

 legs wide apart, and sometimes there is fever and loss of appetite. In the 

 majority of cases, the irritation subsides quickly, and the animal is well in 

 a few days; in rare instances, the irritation is followed by suppuration and 

 the formation of more or less pus, the abscess points, breaks through the 

 scrotum and discharges. In acute cases, on the subsidence of the acute 

 symptoms it is followed by induration of the testicle and that body becomes 

 firm and irregular on its surface. In one case that the writer observed the 

 epididymis was also greatly swollen (epididymitis). The therapeutics 

 consists of warm applications and rest, paint with tincture of iodine and 

 apply a well-padded suspensory bandage over the scrotum. When the 

 effects of the iodine have passed off apply salicylic acid ointment. If sup- 

 puration has commenced, it should be encouraged as much as possible with 

 warm applications and poultices and opened as soon as the abscess has 

 pointed, cleaned out with corrosive sublimate solution, and treated as an 

 open wound. There is no treatment that will have any permanent 

 effect in chronic orchitis. 



Injuries to the Testicles and Scrotum. 



As a rule, the wounds of these parts are caused by fighting with other 

 dogs, and are either lacerations or perforated wounds. In the majority 

 of cases, try to get drainage and keep the w^ound clean by means of anti- 

 septics; this is best accomplished by putting a piece of absorbent cotton 

 saturated with the solution on the scrotum, and by means of a long-tailed 

 bandage tied around the body the cotton can be kept in place. Where 

 the testicle is badly injured, the gland had better be removed by castra- 

 tion, as it is only in favorable cases that the animal makes a good recovery 

 and the seminal power is retained. 



(For further details on the subject consult the chapter on Hernia of 

 the Testicles and Castration.) 



Neoformations of the Testicles. — Omitting tuberculous deposits, we 



14 



