1 62 The Management and Diseases of the Dog. 



which had been in labour since the previous evening. It 

 had given birth to a puppy twelve hours before, but no more 

 could be expelled. When Saint-Cyr first saw the bitch, 

 the labour-pains had ceased ; by vaginal exploration he 

 could scarcely touch the foot of the most advanced puppj 

 — ^which was not in the pelvis^with his finger ; while 

 the volume of the abdomen led him to believe that there 

 were more than one in the uterus. The general condition 

 of the animal was good ; so it was decided to try the 

 Cassarean section, incising the right flank, where the 

 fcetuses were most readily felt, by abdominal exploration. 

 Three foetuses were removed from the right cornu by a single 

 incision ; two of these were dead, but one was still alive. 

 The operation being completed, the cornu was returned to 

 the abdomen, but not sutured ; and the abdominal incision 

 closed by interrupted suture, a bandage being placed round 

 the body. After the operation the bitch was very weak ; 

 it died in eighteen hours. The autopsy showed a moderate 

 degree of metro-peritonitis. 



" Feser (' Thierarztliche Mittheilungen der Munchener 

 Schule,' part iii., p. 296) operated on a bitch which could 

 not pup, making the opening in the left flank, against which 

 the uterus lay; threepuppies were extracted — one from each 

 horn and one from towards the os uteri, the latter being 

 dead, and from a deviation of its head it constituted the ob- 

 stacle to birth. The heads of the other two puppies were 

 likewise deviated. The uterus and Fallopian tubes — every- 

 thing behind the cervix uteri — were extirpated by the 

 ecraseur. The uterine and ovarian arteries were ligatured. 

 The incisions were closed by suture, and ice applied to the 

 left side of the abdomen. The animal lost about three 

 ounces of blood. An hour after the operation it had a 

 shivering fit, but this soon passed ofi" ; though it recurred 

 three times a day for some time. In sixteen days the wound 

 had healed and the bitch was quite recovered. The puppies 

 were reared artificially. 



