176 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY 



\evy effectual ; the cat will generally take this if mixed with 

 a little fish, and to the ordinar}^ house-dog it is not un- 

 acceptable when hungry. For a foreign body which is not 

 sharp, some emetic (apomorphine is the quickest and best) 

 will often cause its reappearance, and if this is ineffectual a 

 dose of castor-oil should be administered. With skewers, 

 hatpins, or needles, if the patient is not suffering anj' 

 apparent inconvenience, the wiser plan is to await develop- 

 ments, as the point will in a few days make its way to the 

 surface, causing an abscess. When this is lanced, the foreign 

 body is grasped and withdrawn. The head of such a sub- 

 stance as a lad3''s hatpin may either be cut off close and 

 allowed to fall back into the stomach or intestine (where it 

 will soon be got rid of), or the orifice carefull)- enlarged and 

 the head withdrawn. The former is preferable. As a rule 

 adhesion has already taken place between the internal organ 

 and the peritoneum, and, if the abscess cavity is carefully 

 cleansed, the patient makes a rapid and permanent recovery. 

 One must not forget that there is an element of risk of 

 death from peritonitis, and the alternative to put before the 

 owner is that of an immediate operation ; but it is really 

 wonderful how little inconvenience is sometimes shown to 

 the presence of wounds caused by meat- skewers and hat- 

 pins in the stomach, even when no antiseptic or surgical 

 measures are taken. During the past few years quite a 

 number of practitioners (Wolsterholme, Perrj-man, Brooks- 

 banks, Tutt, R. Gillard,! Woodruff,- Mayall, and others)' 

 have recorded cases in which foreign bodies have been carried 

 for a length of time in the stomach of the dog or cat, with- 

 out causing any more alarming symptom than the formation 

 of an abscess in the side. At the same time, the practitioner 



1 Veterinary Record, vol. \ii , pp. 187, 295 ; vol. x., p. 206 ; vol. xi., 

 pp. 376, 434. 



- The Veterinary Student, \o\. i., No. 2, p. 2. 



^ Jotirtial of Comparative Patliology and Therapeutics, vol. viii., p. 254 ; 

 vol. X., p. 360. 



