DISEASES OF THE BLADDER. 91 



to be sensitive and tender when pressed with the oiled hand intro- 

 duced through the rectum or vagina. In the mare the thickening of 

 the walls of the bladder may be felt by introducing one finger through 

 the urethra. The discharged urine, which may be turbid or even oily, 

 contains an excess of mucus, with flat shreds of membrane, with scaly 

 epithelial cells, and pus corpuscles, each showing two or more nuclei 

 when treated with acetic acid, but there are no microscopic tubular 

 casts, as in nephritis. If due to stone in the bladder, that will be 

 found on examination through rectum or vagina. 



Treatment implies, first, the removal of the cause, whether poisons 

 in food or as medicine, the removal of Spanish flies or other blistering 

 agents from the skin, or the extraction of stone or gravel. If the 

 urine has been retained and decomposed it must be completely evac- 

 uated through a clean catheter, and the bladder thoroughly washed 

 out with a solution of 1 dram of borax in a quart of water. This 

 must be repeated twice daily until the urine no longer decomposes, 

 because so long as ammonia is developed in the bladder the protecting 

 layer of epithelial cells will be dissolved and the surface kept raw 

 and irritable. The diet must be light (bran mashes, roots, fresh 

 grass), and the drink impregnated with linseed tea, or solution of 

 slippery elm or marsh mallow. The same agents may be used to 

 inject into the rectum, or they may even be used along with borax and 

 opium to inject into bladder (gum arable 1 dram, opium 1 dram, 

 tepid water 1 pint). Fomentations over the loins are often of great 

 advantage, and these may be followed or alternated with the appli- 

 cation of mustard, as in paralj^sis ; or the mustard may be applied on 

 the back part of the abdomen below or between the thighs from the 

 a.nus downward. Finally, when the acute symptoms have subsided, 

 a daily dose of buchu 1 dram and nux vomica one-half dram will 

 serve to restore lost tone. 



IRRITABLE BLADDER. 



Some horses, and especially mares, show an irritability of the blad- 

 der and nerve centers presiding over it by frequent urination in small 

 quantities, though the urine is not manifestly changed in character 

 and no more than the natural amount is passed in the twenty-four 

 hours. The disorder appears to have its source quite as frequently 

 in the generative or nervous system as in the urinary. A troublesome 

 and dangerous form is seen in mares, which dash off and refuse all 

 control by the rein if driven with a full bladder, but usually prove 

 docile if the bladder has been emptied before hitching. In other cases 

 the excitement connected with getting the tail over the reins is a pow- 

 erful determining cause. The condition is marked in many mares 

 during the period of " heat.'''' 



An oleaginous laxative (castor oil 1 pint) will serve to remove any 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



