228 CANINE MEDICINE AND SURGERY 



scribed. She should then be given a hot meal, such 

 as gruel, beef tea, or bread and milk, and should 

 thereafter be supplied Avith a generous diet. 



Dystocia 



Impediments to delivery may arise from two 



sources, either maternal or fetal. The table below 



-shows the kinds of dystocia that occur in each class: 



MATERNAL 



1. Malformations of the pelvis, congenital or traumatic. 



2. Rigid pelvis. 



3. Constrictions of the vagina. 



4. New growths of cervix, os, or vagina. 



5. Uterine inertia. 



6. Hernia of the uterus. 



7. Torsion of the uterus. 



FETAL 



1. Malformations. 



2. Malpresentations. 



3. Abnormal size. 



4. Hydrocephalus. 



5. Gaseous distension (dead fetus). 



6. Engagement of two puppies simultaneously. 



Dogs with elongated heads, such as greyhounds, 

 spaniels, and collies, traverse the maternal passage 

 with greater readiness than those with squarer, 

 blunter heads, such as bull dogs, Boston terriers, 

 and pugs, because with the latter there is not the 

 gradual dilatation of the parts that takes place with 

 the former class. However, although difificulty in 

 delivery is often experienced with the short-nosed 

 dogs, yet the conformation is normal and cannot 

 therefore be rightly classed as fetal dystocia. 



Maternal Dystocia 



1. Pelvic malformation. — This may be congenital 

 or the result of a previous fracture or of disease 

 (rachitis). In either case it must be determined 

 whether delivery per naturam viam can take place 



