3i6 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY 



luck to have to deal with such a case, and be perfectly sure 

 about the diagnosis, he should perform laparotomy without 

 delay, either sewing up the rent in the uterus as already 

 described on p. 304, or removing the whole womb (see p. 299). 

 The prognosis in such a case is very grave. Bitches and cats 

 quickly succumb to an injury of this kind when inflicted at 

 time of parturition. 



Septicaemia, or blood-poisoning, is a trouble which the 

 canine surgeon is, unluckilj', only too frequently brought in 

 contact with. There is no doubt that in the pre-antiseptic 

 days want of cleanliness and attention to surgical details 

 accounted for a great deal of this, but the work of Pasteur 

 and Lister has altered all that. At the same time, in obstetric 

 work, as well as in any other surgical procedures, one must 

 be careful to work with clean hands and sterile instruments, 

 and also to cleanse the parts of the patient which have 

 become soiled hy the vaginal discharges. 



Septic infection may originate from external or internal 

 sources, and, to avoid some of the former, care must be taken 

 to boil or otherwise disinfect all instruments before use. A 

 syringe which has been used to disinfect the womb of a case 

 of purulent metritis must be thoroughly disinfected if it is 

 intended to use it subsequently on a healthy case. 



In removing a puppy or kitten piecemeal, the projecting 

 bones often scratch the mucous membrane, and thus afford 

 a means of inlet for septic organisms. The slightest abrasion 

 of the uterine or vaginal mucous surface, particularly in the case of 

 the bitch, is always a source of very grave danger. 



Placentae or portions of placentae which may be retained 

 are a frequent source of septicemia ; when left behind they 

 decompose very quickly, and will cause death in from two to 

 four or five days. The placentae should be counted whenever 

 possible, and each should be removed as soon after the foetus 

 as it can be managed. Frequently a placenta will be retained 

 for a while, and two will come away together when the next 



