252 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY 



the interior of the bladder is being washed out for acute 

 cj'stitis, the bladder wall being very easily torn, and usually 

 with a large jagged rent which it is almost impossible to 

 suture with any chance of permanent success. 



For washing" out the bladder a double-channel catheter 

 should be used wherever possible, but, on account of the 

 smaU lumen of the urethra in all except the larger breeds, 

 this is impossible in the male animal. It is, however, 

 possible in many breeds in the bitch. A solution of chinosol 

 (gr. ss. to ^i.) or boric acid (grs. v.-x. to ^i.) to which a 

 little belladonna or opium has been added acts well as 

 a sedative and antiseptic, being injected by a syringe with 

 a fine nozzle attached to the catheter. The bladder should 

 be distended to about one half its normal size when full, 

 and then emptied, the process being repeated once or 

 twice daily at the surgeon's discretion. It is emptied by 

 very gentle pressure through the abdominal wall. If it is 

 ruptured during this process the operator hears a distinct 

 ' popping ' sound, and the patient may vomit or immediately 

 collapse. 



That the escape of normal urine into the abdominal cavity- 

 IS not necessaril)/ followed b}' peritonitis or death is illus- 

 trated by the following case :' 



An Irish terrier bitch, eighteen months old, was the subject of an 

 oophorectomy, and whilst making the incision in the abdominal wall the 

 bladder (which was enormously distended) was incised. A quantity of 

 urine made its escape into the abdomen. This was swabbed up as com- 

 pletely as possible, and the edges of the wound drawn together with 

 three sutures. The oophorectomy was completed, and the patient made 

 an uneventful recovery. 



Operation. — Under an anaesthetic and strict antiseptic 

 precautions, laparotom\- is performed (see p. 158) — on the 

 median line in the bitch, just over the peh'ic region, or in 

 the dog at one side or other of the prepuce. Where the 



1 Journal of Comparative Pathology and T/icrapeutics, vol. xii., p. 263 

 (Ridler and Hobday). 



