130 THE MANAGEMENT AND DISEASES OF THE DOG. 



remains persistent. Difficulty in micturition is more or less 

 manifested, and febrile disturbance is occasionally present. 



Long exposure to air gives the mucous membrane a some- 

 what leaden tint, and it becomes wrinkled and covered with 

 epithelium of a leathery nature. 



Treatment. — After the return, by pressure, of the inver- 

 sion, which should be first thoroughly cleansed, the treatment 

 consists in the frequent application of cold water to the parts, 

 the injectio.n of mild astringents (alum-water being the best), 

 and the administration of agents that will give tone to the 

 system, as the preparations of iron and bark. Where reten- 

 tion is difficult, a truss may be employed, or labial sutures ; 

 but in the bitch the latter are not advisable. Lacerations * 

 require strict attention, otherwise adhesions are liable to take 

 place, and a permanent inversion be the result. The diet 

 should be plain, unstimulating, and nutritious ; moderate 



* "When the submucous connective tissue of the vagina has been much 

 lacerated, and abnormal adhesions have taken place, then a recurrence of 

 the inversion is to be apprehended. This recurrence is, of course, inost 

 likely to take place in chronic inversion, and all the skill and patience of 

 the veterinary surgeon will be required in dealing with such a case. At 

 times the accident has proved so troublesome, and retention has so baffled 

 , every attempt after reduction was effected, that amputation of the pro- 

 truded portion has been practised, and with success. 



Rainard appears to have been the first to venture on this bold measure, 

 and he practised the operation several times on bitches. He ligatured 

 the entire inverted mass close to the vulva, in one case ; but as this gave 

 rise to intense fever, and when cured, the animal suffered from inconti- 

 nence of urine, he adopted another procedure. Instead of including the 

 whole of the tumor in one ligature, he divided the pedicle into three por- 

 tions, which he tied separately, so that each ligature only enclosed one 

 third of the mass. After tightening the ligatures the bitch was allowed 

 to run at large, the only attention it received being the injection of emol- 

 lient fluids into the vagina, and a smaller allowance of food. The pain 

 was much less in intensity and duration than in the first case, and the 

 tumor came away in fiye or six days, when recovery took place. Rain- 

 ard, however, advises immediate excision of the portion of the mass be- 

 yond the ligatures, when these have been drawn tight. — Fleming's " Veter- 

 inary Obstetrics," p. 603. 



