388 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



The accidents of the operation are haemorrhage and shock. 

 The former is prevented by effectual ligation of the stump 

 and latter by anaesthesia. Bleeding from the cavernous body 

 is a troublesome one, as the contractility, which in vessels 

 assists in spontaneous hsemostasis, is absent. The openings 

 (sinuses) in this body do not close automatically like those 

 of blood vessels. Bleeding from the cavernous body, al- 

 though very slight, may continue incessantly for hours and 

 even days. 



Note. — The above technique, while intended chiefly 

 for the horse, will apply with trivial modification to the other 

 domestic animals. In no case should the operation be per- 

 formed without taking ample precautions to protect against 

 stricture. • 



Amputation of the Tail. 



SYNONYM— Docking. 



INDICATIONS.— The operation of caudal amputation 

 is sometimes necessitated by disease and sometimes, in the 

 horse, to prevent the dangerous habit of grabbing the lines. 

 Under any other circumstance the operation, in most com- 

 monwealths, is illegal, and is otherwise a pernicious practice 

 that should not be countenanced nor practiced by veterina- 

 rians. These facts, however, do not warrant its omission from 

 works on veterinary surgery. It would be quite as logical to 

 omit arsenic from the materia medica because it might some- 

 times be administered with criminal intent, or stramonium 

 because it has sometimes been give to disguise the heaves; 

 or, again, cocaine because it is sometimes administered to 

 "dope" the thoroughbred. The moral duty in caudal am- 

 putation is to perform the operation when legal -and to urge 

 its discontinuance for illegal purposes. 



The impression amongst coach-horse fanciers that the 

 docked tail portends the absolutely correct appointment for 

 the heavy harness horse has prevailed for years, and still 

 prevails as strongly today, but the lawmakers of the various 

 commonwealths of almost the entire civilized world, in their 

 wisdom, have voiced the sentiment of the populace by pro- 

 claiming against the practice of docking except when the op- 

 eration is actually necessary to the horse's welfare. 



In the horse, docking is necessitated for various diseased 

 conditions, notably, tumors of the tail. In white horses 

 melanotic growths located some distance from the root can 

 best be treated by amputation above the part affected. Then 

 there is necrosis of the tail from various causes, especially the 



