DOGS I THEIR MANAGEMENT. 325 



To stone in the bladder the dog is liable. The cause 

 cannot be directly traced, but the symptoms are not ob- 

 scure ; the animal is constantly voiding its urine, which, 

 though small in quantity, is not of a healthy character. 

 A few drops of blood occasionally are passed ; and, in 

 attempting to go down stairs, sudden cries are often 

 emitted. Fits of pain and seasons of illness are fre- 

 quent, and the point of the penis is protruded from the 

 sheath, never being withdrawn. The leg is not raised to 

 void the urine ; but the creature strains when the act has 

 either been accomplished, or there is no power to per- 

 form it. If the dog be taken on the knee, and one 

 knowing the situation of the contents gently manipulates 

 the abdomen, the body may be felt within the bladder, 

 which will mostly be contracted and empty. 



The nature of the disease having been ascertained, 

 little can be done beyond relieving the immediate dis- 

 tress. Some writers have given directions for operating 

 under such circumstances ; but none of them tell us they 

 have successfully performed lithotomy upon the animal. 

 In every case of the kind upon which I have been con- 

 sulted, the idea of such a measure was not for an instant 

 to be countenanced. Dogs thus afflicted, are mostly 

 small, and the calculus is generally of great proportional 

 size, prior to our attention being directed to it. In a 

 creature so very delicate as the dog, every operation 

 requires to be well considered before it is resorted to ; 

 and though the cutler might make knives sufficiently 

 diminutive for the occasion, it may be doubted if our 



