126 KENNEL DISEASES. 
For convenience it is presumed that, under the impression that a free 
passage of the bowels would bring relief, both a cathartic and an injection have 
been administered. But success has not attended the use of these remedies ; 
the bowels have not moved, or have had only slight action, the pain persists in 
all its intensity, and vomiting is frequent. The abdomen is much distended, 
the expression piteous and anxious, and the eyes congested and sunken. The 
respiration is superficial and hurried, and the pulse small and rapid. At times 
the sufferer is irritable and snarling, at others, dull and apathetic. He makes 
frequent attempts to empty the bowels. These efforts are painful, and the suf- 
fering is increased by failure to purge. At first the vomited matter is composed 
of the contents of the stomach; then it is greenish; later a dirty green; next 
it has much the appearance of diarrhoeal discharges; and finally, if life is pro- 
longed, refuse which would naturally have been thrown off by the bowels appears 
in the matter vomited, with its characteristic fecal odor. Now the poor dog is 
in a condition of collapse. His skin is cold and clammy, vomiting is frequent, 
breathing rapid, thirst great, pain exhausting, eyes are leaden, tongue dry and 
covered with dirty brownish coat; while the pulse, previously thin and thready, 
is no longer felt ; and death closes the scene. 
These are the symptoms present in a typical case of intestinal obstruction 
that speedily proves fatal. But typical cases of any disease are far from com- 
mon, therefore no one should expect to find the lines drawn as distinctly as 
here. In all instances, however, where the stoppage takes on, as it were, a 
rapid course, the resemblance between its symptoms and those described should 
be too great to be mistaken. 
When the stoppage is complete, dire results soon follow; but this accident is 
not nearly so common as partial stoppage, which is the rule where the obstruc- 
tions are bones, woody fibres, and the like. In such the symptoms which point 
to the real trouble may be delayed until the offending substance has reached the 
lower part of the bowel and is about to be expelled. 
For instance, a dog swallows a very hard bone of large and peculiar size. 
For perhaps a week he may appear as well as usual, and then take a bad turn, 
lose his appetite and spirits, fall off in flesh and strength, and in the meanwhile 
suffer from constipation. Erelong the trouble seems to be diarrhoea; next the 
symptoms presented suggest dysentery as the existing affection; there being 
frequent and scanty discharges containing blood, and attended by painful strain- 
ing. The offending bone is now in the lower bowel. 
Obviously, previous to this final stage it would not be easy to determine the 
nature of the existing trouble. 
Fortunately bones are not often the cause of intestinal stoppage. They are 
of course very hard to digest; and the operation is slow, for it is confined to their 
surfaces, where the lime-salts are acted upon and dissolved. With strong diges- 
tive powers a dog may be expected to dispose of all bones he may swallow; but 
