Diseases of the Generative Organs. 133 



Treatment. — After the return, by pressure, of the inver- 

 sion, which should be first thoroughly cleansed, the treat- 

 ment consists in the frequent application of cold water to 

 the parts, the injection of mild astringents (alum-water 

 being the best), and the administration of agents that will 

 give tone to the system, as the preparations of iron and 

 bark. Where retention is difficult, a truss may be 

 employed, or labial sutures ; but in the bitch the latter 

 are not advisable. Lacerations* require strict attention, 

 otherwise adhesions are liable to take place, and a per- 

 manent inversion be the result. The diet should be plain, 

 unstimulating, and nutritious ; moderate exercise daily is 

 beneficial, as the protrusion is not so liable to take place 

 in the standing posture and during locomotion,, as in the 

 recumbent position. Constipation, or any of the causes 

 which produce straining, must be avoided. 



* When the submucous connective tissue of the vagina has been 

 much lacerated, and abnormal adhesions have taken place, then a re- 

 currence of the inversion is to be apprehended. This recurrence is, of 

 course, most likely to take place in chronic inversion, and all the skill 

 and patience of the veterinary surgeon will be required in dealing with 

 such a case. At times the accident has proved so troublesome, and 

 retention has so baffled every attempt after reduction was effected, that 

 amputation of the protruded portion has been practised, and with 

 success. 



Rainard appears to have been the first to venture on this bold 

 measure, and he practised the operation several times on bitches. He 

 ligatured the entire inverted mass close to the vulva, in one case ; but 

 as this gave rise to intense fever, and, when cured, the animal suffered ' 

 from incontinence of urine, he adopted another procedure. Instead of 

 including the whole of the tumour in one ligature, he divided the 

 pedicle into three portions, which he tied separatelj', so that each liga. 

 ture only enclosed one third of the mass. After tightening the ligatures 

 the bitch was allowed to run at large, the only attention it received 

 being the injection of emollient fluids into the vagina, and a smaller 

 allowance of food. The pain was much less in intensity and duration 

 than in the first case, and the tumour came away in five or six days, 

 when recovery took place. Rainard, however, advises immediate 

 excision of the portion of the mass beyond the ligatures, when these 

 have been drawn tight. — Fleming's "Veterinary Obstetrics," p. 603. 



A case is recorded of the Author's in the Veterinary Journal. May^ 

 1884. Also see " Vaginotomy," Chapter xviii. 



