280 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



should they be even momentarily allowed to re-inhabit the 

 uncleaned fold with the rest of the flock. Pasture diet and 

 shelter against bad weather is the only other after-care 

 required. Complications are treated as in other animals. 



Castration of Dogs. 



Dogs are muzzled and secured manually or upon the 

 canine operating table. The scrotum is washed with mer- 

 curic chloride solution and shaved if ordinary precautions 

 are to be respected,, and these are as important in canines 

 as in any of the other species. 



Each testicle is ablated separately. The incision is made 

 parallel to the raphe, after pinching up the testicle with the 

 fingers of the left hand. The extirpation is done by traction 

 in small animals, and with the emasculator in the larger 

 ones. 



Castration of Cats. 



On account of the difficulty of coping with the feline gym- 

 nastics provoked by the restraint and the operation itself, the 

 castration of cats has never been a very popular operation. 

 The danger of personal injury in the form of scratches and 

 bites is not a triviality, especially in cats that are not accus- 

 tomed to fondling. In handling a caressant cat the crafty 

 surgeon can "apply the barnacles" before the instinct of 

 self-preservation is aroused, but in the individual that has 

 never been handled the maneuver, from beginning to end, 

 is a screeching, scratching, fighting affair that savors of sur- 

 gery in a menagerie. 



There are various methods of securing cats safely, but 

 these afford no protection to the surgeon while the appliance 

 is being adjusted. The body may be wrapped in a blanket or 

 large towel, or forced head downward into a boot-leg, but the 

 best method is to take the cat in the arms, hold the nape of 

 the neck in the left hand and then gather up the four legs 

 with the fingers of the gloved right hand ; or, according to 

 Hobday, take the right legs in the right hand, the left legs in 

 the left hand, and then force the head forward by bringing 

 the hands together behind the neck. 



Anaesthesia is not indicated on account of the short dura- 

 tion of the operation. The discomfort of the anaesthesia ex- 

 ceeds the pain. 



Disinfection, although almost universally omitted in cas- 

 tration of ordinary cats, should not be neglected in the finer, 



