CHAPTER XIV. 



OPERATIONS ON THE URINARY ORGANS. 



Examination of the Prepuce or Vagina, and Removal of 

 Foreign Bodies. — The interior of the prepuce or vagina can 

 be exaniined for some distance from its orifice by the aid of 

 the fingers or by the insertion of a speculum of similar design 

 to that already described for the ear. The female can be 

 e.xamined in the standing posture, unless very restless, in which 

 case the dorsal position on the operating table with the hind 

 legs raised and held over the body will be found to be the 

 most convenient, whilst in the case of the male the animal 

 should be held or fixed on its back with the hind legs spread 

 well apart. 



Foreign bodies, other than tumours, are removed by the aid 

 of forceps. Tumours are often a source of great trouble, and 

 some varieties re-occur very rapidly. 



In the prepuce of the dog and the vagina of the bitch one 

 frequently meets with a species of ulcerating papilloma which 

 is communicable when the animals are used for stud purposes.^ 

 If left, these tumours grow very large, causing an offensive, 

 foetid, and continuous discharge. To effect their removal, the 

 knife and curette must be used freely, the parts having been 

 ansesthetised by cocaine solution or the animal placed under 

 chloroform. The return of the growth is usually rapid, and 

 the animal is valueless for breeding purposes ; as a rule a dog 



1 Smith and "Washbourn, "Journal of Comparative Patliology and Tlierapeutics, '" 

 Vol. XI.,p. 41. 



