DIFFICUL T PA R TURITION ( D YS TOKIA ) 



307 



2. Some obstruction in the vaginal passage, such as a 

 tumour, polypus, stricture, or a prolapse of the vaginal 

 mucous membrane. 



3. Uterine inertia. 



4. Exhaustion. 



In the case of a pelvis \^•hich refuses to dilate, there is apt 

 to be great trouble in effecting delivery. This condition is, 

 as a rule, only met with in bitches or cats of middle or old 

 age, whose pelvis has never been dilated by a litter of 

 puppies whilst young, and in some cases it is an utter 



Fig. 191.— Photograph of Spaniel Bitch taken Six Weeks after 

 Hysterectomy. 



impossibility to withdraw the puppies by the natural passage, 



or to reach and crush them so that they can be extracted 



piecemeal. The only remedy lies in the operation of 



hysterectomy (see p. 299). 



The little Blenheim bitch illustrated in Fig. 191 was the subject of this 

 trouble. She was not bred from until six years of age, and at the time of 



20 — 2 



