458 Veter27iary Obstetrics 



rhage and may precede it by several days. The straining may 

 vary greatly in degree and may not be very prominent. 



The hemorrhage from the vulva will neces.sarily vary greatly ac- 

 cording to the case ; in some instances it may be very extensive 

 and apparent, while in others the blood may all be retained in 

 the uterine cavity. If the hemorrhage is very extensive, whether 

 the blood e.scapes from the uterus or not, it produces the usual 

 symptoms of internal bleeding, such as colic, imperceptible pulse 

 and blanched muco.sa. In such severe cases the animal necessarily 

 becomes very weak and .staggers. The surface of the body be- 

 comes cold, and there is profuse sweating in the mare. The 

 heart-beat is violent but the arterial impulse is weak. 



The diagnosis of uterine hemorrhage, in pregnant animals, is 

 not easy except by manual exploration. It is necessary to de- 

 termine the source of the bleeding, and the manipulations 

 necessary to this are sometimes undesirable. We were once en- 

 gaged with a very serious case of dystokia in a mare, which 

 occupied our time for some six hours. The work was performed 

 in close proximity to other pregnant mares. When we had 

 finished our work we observed that another mare, which was 

 almo.st ready to foal, was di.scharging blood from the vulva and 

 was considerably excited. The mare was secured and quieted, 

 after which she seemed to be well in every respect ; there was 

 no pain, the pul.se and temperature were normal and the animal 

 appeared perfectly well except for the discharge of a moderate 

 quantity of bright red blood from the vulva. The flow soon 

 stopped and it .seemed to us inadvisable to undertake the manipu- 

 lations necessary to determine the source of the bleeding, whether 

 from the uterus, vagina, bladder or some other part. We con- 

 sequently desisted from making any examination and allowed 

 the case to go without interference, with the result that preg- 

 nancy was completed without further incident and a living foal 

 was born. 



We hold, therefore, that it is not essential in all cases to make 

 a definite diagnosis when manipulation might imperil the life of 

 the fetus. Under the circumstances which we have related, 

 manual exploration of the vagina to determine the source of the 

 hemorrhage would, in our judgment, have been unnecessarily 

 hazardous, more so than had the animal not been greatly excited. 



The hemorrhage may cease and gestation continue for the 

 normal period of time and either living or dead young be pro- 



