SUBACUTE OBSTRUCTION OF SMALL INTESTINES i5.3 



When the purge has commenced, and the veterinary 

 surgeon is able to accurately judge that this purge is not 

 the actual cause of the colic, it is time he looked round 

 for some other explanation of the pains. When, later, 

 the purge ceases in a natural manner, without medicinal 

 help, and the pains still remain in continuance, it is a 

 fairly reasonable conclusion that obstruction, in some 

 position or other, is still to be looked for. 



The emptiness of the abdomen generally and the 

 absence of tympany compel the veterinarian to place it 

 far forward, and, admitting the fact that it is unlikely to 

 be in the floating coils of small intestines in the left 

 flank, the diagnosis, so far as we are yet able to settle 

 it, is complete. We have summed up our case, and 

 ' duodenal obstruction,' with congestion of the liver as 

 a primary cause or after-complication, is the verdict. 



Prognosis. — I cannot say that my experience of these 

 cases leads me to regard them at all unfavourably. They 

 may, as I have before stated, linger on for several days, 

 but never during that time do they offer alarming 

 symptoms. One visits the case every four or six hours, 

 or, should it prove protracted, twice daily, and each 

 examination reveals the animal strong and the pulse 

 good. The only untoward symptom of any gravity — 

 one which I have never yet seen — would be a steady 

 continuance and increase in the purgation. This being 

 the case, the owner may, with every safety, be assured 

 of a favourable issue. 



Treatment. — Broadly speaking, the treatment of this 

 disorder must be conducted in two ways : Firstly, the 

 obstruction in the intestine should be removed ; secondly, 

 such medicines should be administered as will bring the 

 liver to a healthy and normal condition, and so prevent a 

 recurrence of the attack. 



