BITCH SPAYING 203 



aiiiiiia^, so wide and so stiff that she cannot turn her head sufficiently to get 

 her teeth to the abdomen. It is uncommon and so far as the writer knows, 

 has not occurred with bitches returned to their owners immediately after 

 spaying, but does sometimes occur to those confined in a veterinary hospital 

 for a week following the operation. 



7. Recurrent Estrum — This can occur only when the animal is not 

 properly spayed. If any part of an ovary or its capsule is left attached! to 

 the broad ligament, estrum is prone to recur after a time. The only treat- 

 ment is to operate again, and as this operatioii is far more difficult than 

 spaying a normal bitch, it should be left to an experienced operator, a 

 thing that it goes without saying, the one who left the ovarian tissue was 

 not. 



8. Adhesions — Adhesions, unless extensive, seem unimportant. Perhaps 

 Ihey cause pain as they do in man, but it is not so apt to be discovered. 

 Extensive adhesions such as are cpiite apt to follow prolonged, bunglesome 

 searching for the ovaries at the time of operation, or infection, render the 

 bitch practically useless. 



There is one other sequel of spaying about which little has been said, but 

 it occurs to annoy the operator sometimes. Bitches that are operated on 

 during the period of estrum or when pregnant sometimes exhibit great 

 listlessness about three weeks following the operation, which grows pro- 

 gressively worse until the animal scarcely notices anyone and lies about 

 most of the time. "When it is induced to move, it walks with a staggering 

 gait, and may even be partially paralyzed in the hind legs. Recovery is 

 ordinarily spontaneous in five or six weeks. Xo treatment so far used has 

 appeared to be of any benefit. 



