128 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY. 



position on the operating table is the most convenient. A 

 cat, when no anesthetic is used, may either be rolled up in 

 an ordinary towel (care being taken not to cause suffocation), 

 with the parts to be operated upon left exposed, or held by 

 an assistant, as shown in the photograph. An old-fashioned 

 way used to be to put the animal head downwards in a top- 

 boot or the sleeve of an overcoat. 



In the method illustrated above the cat is lifted up by the 

 shoulders, the fore and hind limbs on each side being crossed 

 over one another and grasped tightly. The first fingers are 

 then crossed under the throat, and the thumbs are pressed 

 firmly at the back of the head in such a way that the cat 

 cannot get its mouth down or even sideways to use its teeth. 

 The tail is pulled out of the way and the hind legs are held 

 widely apart. The operator should never stand immediately 

 behind, as: the animal is apt to eject a stream of urine in that 

 direction. 



The operation is performed as follows : An incision is made 

 over each testicle separately, the organ is withdrawn, and the 

 cord is twisted several times and slowly scraped through. 

 Another method commonly adopted is to employ traction on 

 the cord until it gives way ; with either of these methods the 

 haemorrhage is very slight. 



In old dogs, those of large breeds, and those which have 

 diseased conditions of the cord, more care must be used. For 

 these cases an anaesthetic should always be administered, as 

 the operation is necessarily to some extent prolonged. The 

 testicle is exposed in the usual way and removed either by 

 slow scraping after twisting the cord several times, by excision 

 after the application of an aseptic ligature, by an emasculator, 

 by the clam and iron, or by torsion forceps and clam. Each 

 method is good in its way, and the choice must be left to the 

 discretion of the operator. - ,. 



When aseptic precautions have been rigidly adopted the 

 scrotal wound may be sutured and covered with iodoform or 

 orthoform and collodion, the sutures being removed in four or 



