1 86 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY 



quantit}' should be small, whether taken \oluntarih' or 

 administered. On the third day the dose of str^xhnine can 

 be increased, and this should be continued until convalescence 

 is well established. Rectal feeding by suppository or enema 

 may be added at discretion, and an enema administered if 

 there is no action of the bowels. 



AMien convalescence has perceptibl}- commenced, recovery 

 is usually rapid. 



For instructions as to after-treatment when the bowel has 

 been opened, see p. 179. 



Foreigrn Bodies in the Intestine. 



Sticks, pieces of wood, stones, corks, balls, coins, nails, 

 sponge, hair (especialh' in Persian cats), cotton (particularly 

 in kittens), tape, and other foreign bodies, are frequently met 

 with in the intestines of the dog and cat, and sometimes give 

 rise to irritation, inflammation, and even perforation, peri- 

 tonitis, and death, A\ithout of necessit)- causing complete ob- 

 struction of the bowels. Sometimes the}- are in \'er\- large 

 quantities, and the author knew of one instance in which 

 114 stones were passed, at intervals extending oxer two days, 

 by an Aberdeen terrier. 



Corks are \exy commonly met with in cats, and are a 

 frequent source of death from obstruction of the gut, the 

 offending body usualh' being half a \\ine-bottle cork or a 

 portion of one of a large medicine-bottle size. Pieces of 

 sponge, too, are not uncommon, being soaked in fat and 

 generalh' given with malicious intention. Both these sub- 

 stances swell when the\- have been soaking in the intestinal 

 juices for a few hours. 



Probably one of tlie most extraordinary cases ever met with is illus- 

 trated in Fig. 129, and was recorded by Mr. T. G. Heatley, M.R.C.V.S., 

 in the V'eterinary Journal for May, 1905. The patient, a Persian cat, 

 aged two years, swallowed a long piece of ordinary sewing tape, and, as 

 might be expected, became very ill in consequence. Four days before 



