326 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY 



tion ; at the same time with the fingers and thumb of the 

 other hand he endeavours to adjust the joint. In old-standing 

 cases a successful result is often impossible, but in recent 

 ones reduction can generally be effected. The most difficult 

 task is to retain the parts in position, and the attempt to do 

 this frequently ends in failure. Bandages and strappings of 

 different kinds covered with gum, plaster of Paris,' starch, 

 some preparations of pitch, etc., are most commonly used, 

 but the difficulty is to get them to fit closely without causing 

 gangrene, and especially with the elbow-joint. Poroplastic 

 felt, cardboard, brown paper moulded to the limb, are each 

 sometimes used with success, but with each the prognosis as 

 to a complete cure should always be guarded. 



Dislocation of the Shoulder. — This accident is very apt 

 to occur in racing dogs, or when a dog or cat jumps or falls 

 from a height, and is caught by the leg or gets hung up by 

 the claws. The shoulder-joint becomes perceptibly enlarged 

 and temporarily inflamed, the leg being carried and shorter 

 than the other during progression. 



In reducing this, a broad bandage or handkerchief passed 

 under the axilla and firmly held by an assistant is of material 

 assistance, whilst the operator applies traction on the limb 

 with one hand, and with the other endeavours to replace the 

 joint into its natural position. 



It is almost an impossibility permanently to reduce a 

 shoulder dislocation if it has been neglected for two or three 

 weeks. 



Dislocation of the Elbow. — This dislocation is particularly 

 seen in toy black and tan terriers, and it appears to be con- 

 genital in many instances. The puppy will in some cases 

 be quite unable to get its paws on the ground, walking on 

 the sides of its wrists, and looking \exy much like a kan- 

 garoo. It is often a congenital malformation due to want of 

 development either of the summit of the olecranon or the 

 grooves between which it should fit. 



