120 OVARIOTOMY IN THE CAT 



sary and the patient will not disturb the sutures. If asepsis 

 has not been strictly followed, infection may occur and the 

 consequent irritation cause the patient to tear the sutures 

 put, which; inay lead to protrusion of the intestines or other 

 abdominal viscera. If the sutures do not include the deeper 

 layers of the abdominal wall, hernia is liable to occur and 

 require a second operation. The silk or linen sutures 

 should . be removed in seven to ten days. 



34. OVARIOTOMY IN THE CAT 



Instruments. Same as for the bitch. 



Technic. The cat may be spayed either by the flank 

 method or through the linea alba. The point of incision in 

 either case is the same as in the bitch but owing to the 

 smaller size of the animal it is necessary to make the wound 

 quite small. The abundance of fur renders it essential that 

 an ample area be shaved and the surrounding hair be sat- 

 urated with a disinfectant and carefully brushed away 

 from the operative area. The cat being more subject to 

 infection than the bitch, the aseptic precautions must be of 

 the strictest possible character. The operative area must 

 be thoroughly disinfected and cleansed and great care must 

 be taken not to introduce irritant disinfectants into the 

 wound. A great danger also exits in the tendency of the 

 muscle layers of the abdomen to readily become separated 

 by pressure from the finger and form a pocket in which 

 wound discharges accumulate and constitute a dangerous 

 seat for infection. Great care must therefore be taken to 

 make a clean incision directly into the peritoneal cavity and 

 to avoid separating the peritoneum from the muscles or the 

 muscular layers from each other. The uterus and ovaries 

 of the cat are naked and far more easily distinguished than 

 in the bitch, there being no extra deposit of fat in the broad 

 -ligament. The sutures are to be applied to the wound in 

 the same manner as in the bitch. 



