290 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



AFTER-CARE. — The cows require no special after-care 

 except restriction of the diet for several days. If accustomed 

 to the pasture they may be turned out, but on account of. the 

 tendency to overeating when first pastured in the spring, 

 they should not be allowed to run at grass for the first time 

 after the operation. 



SEQUELS AND ACCIDENTS.— Septic Peritonitis, 

 the one serious post-operative complication, does not often 

 supervene when the above antiseptic precautions were re- 

 spected throughout, but when careless methods have pre- 

 vailed, especially in aged and more or less debilitated cows, 

 the fatalities are common enough. Vaginal ovariectomy of 

 cows must not be undertaken under unfavorable conditions, 

 especially conditions which contravene the antiseptic pre- 

 cautions. Prolapse of the bowels through the vaginal inci- 

 sion, which would seem possible, is prevented by the wrink- 

 ling up of the vagina. Amongst the accidents is the accident- 

 al incising of the intestines while making the incision through 

 the vagina. This accident is indeed quite possible when the 

 rectum is full, when the incision is made at too high a point 

 in the vagina, when attempt is made to incise the vagina 

 without stretching its walls with the speculum, or when the 

 intra-abdominal tension, from failure to diet the animals, 

 presses the caecum into juxtaposition with the vaginal wall. 

 Haemorrhage from the ovarian arteries is a much more fre- 

 quent accident than is generally supposed, and although it 

 is not always serious, death may sometimes occur therefrom. 

 The seriousness harmonizes with the volume lost, and when 

 infection adds to the mischief the chances of recovery are 

 small. 



Bloating. — Cows sometimes bloat considerably one-half 

 hour to two hours after the operation, in which instance they 

 may lie down and manifest a somewhat threatening distress. 

 These manifestations are, however, usually transient, grad- 

 ually disappearing without treatment. Paracentesis of the 

 rumen and the internal administration of antacids is seldom 

 necessary. 



Ovariectomy in Heifers. 



INDICATIONS.— In young she-stuff the objects of the 

 spaying differs entirely from those described in the operation 

 upon full grown cows. Here the chief aim is to develop a 

 more valuable as well as a more economically fed beef 

 , animal. The spayed heifer grows faster, fattens easier, co- 

 habits with others without molestation and brings the same 



