194 Diseases of the Digestive System. 



evacuations ; the pulse and respiration are quick, nose 

 dry and hot, mucous membranes injected, great thirst, 

 but no appetite, gradual sinking, arid death. 



Treatment must be careful and persistent. 



Constipation or Costiveness is the result of tor- 

 pidity or comparative inaction of the bowels, the animal 

 passing no faeces, or, otherwise, they are voided with 

 much effort and pain, and are dry, small, and hard. The 

 disorder is common to animals under confinement, es- 

 pecially when fed solely on animal food. Constipation, 

 associated with fever, is one of the marked symptoms of 

 liver disorder, but constipation pure and simple is not 

 necessarily attended by fever, neither is it of long dura- 

 tion, and is amenable to ordinary remedies. 



Treat??ient. — Change of diet is almost always essential. 

 The flesh food should be reduced and the deficiency 

 made up by vegetables, and a weekly feed of boiled 

 liver will be helpful, conjoined with regular feeding \.\mts 

 and proper exercise. In some cases the accumulation of 

 faeces in the rectum is large, producing colic, and they 

 may be felt on manipulating the abdomen by the hand as 

 well as being evident in the bulging of the anus. Accu- 

 mulations of this extreme nature sometimes prove fatal 

 within a few hours in house and pet dogs. Removal of 

 the accumulation of ingesta must be effected by means 

 of the oiled finger, or when necessary broken down by 

 he handle of a spoon, assisted by injections of .warm 

 water. A dose of the castor-oil mixture {see^ Aperients) 

 should follow, and subsequently an occasional dose 

 should be given if the disorder does not abate. 



Impaction of the Bowels by means of various sub- 

 stances, as a bone of considerable size, or several pieces, 

 a stone, accumulations of hardened faeces, or fibrous 

 vegetable matter, which have been swallowed, constitutes 

 an\egravated form of constipation. The formation of a 

 calculus IS of rare occurrence, but one such proves to 

 be the cause now and again. Colic, constipation, and 

 sometimes vomiting are present, especially after oleagi- 

 nous purgatives have been administered. Enemas, 

 assisted by external manipulation of the abdomen, often 



