212 Veterinary Medicine. 



usually requisite to unload the rectum mechanically. The dog 

 is laid on a table, and the oiled finger introduced through the 

 anus, lubricates the mucosa as far as it can be reached. Then 

 little by little the firm mass may be disintegrated and removed 

 being steadied by the other hand applied on the abdomen. The 

 handle of a teaspoon or a special spoonshaped curette may at 

 times replace the finger to advantage, but must be used with due 

 judgment, in view of the thinness and friability of the walls of 

 the gut. 



When the gut has been emptied in this way, or in the less 

 severe cases without this preliminary, purgatives and frequent 

 injections can be used to advantage. Jalap y 2 dr. and calomel 5 

 grains, or castor oil y 2 oz., or syrup of buckthorn have been 

 usually employed. The impaction is usually too firm for the 

 transient action of eserine or pilocarpin. As injections, castor 

 oil, soapsuds, decoctions of flaxseed, mallow or elm bark may be 

 employed being repeated as often as they are expelled and supple- 

 mented by the mechanical removal of all solid matters that come 

 within reach. 



In cases so extensive as to resist the above measures we can 

 resort to laparotomy. The incision can be made close and parallel 

 to the linea alba, the rectum or floating colon drawn out through 

 the wound, the other intestines being carefully held back by an 

 assistant, the gut is then incised longitudinally and its solid con- 

 tents removed. The wound is thoroughly cleansed, washed with 

 an antiseptic (mercuric chloride 1 : 2000), and sutured with cat- 

 gut, the mucosa being carefully turned in and the muscular and 

 peritoneal coats kept in accurate contact. Finally the abdominal 

 wound is closed by silk sutures. The patient must be placed for 

 a week'or ten days on well boiled gruels and the rectum fre- 

 quently emptied by injections of tepid water. 



In case the [bowel is found to be necrotic, the gangrenous 

 section may'be excised and the ends brought together by Mur- 

 phy's button, Jor simply sutured with catgut over a hollow tube 

 of raw potato. 



