266 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



NEOPLASMS. 



Practically the only growths we have to deal with in the ovary 

 are the cystic formations. Sutton has recorded an instance of 

 adenoma, where the tumor weighed fifteen pounds, and the occur- 

 rence of dermoid cysts has also been observed. Cysts sometimes 

 grow to a great size. They represent accumulations of unruptured 

 ripe Graafian follicles, and may be unilocular or multilocular. None 

 of these growths has any pronounced ill-eflfect on the animal. 



Symptoms and Diagnosis. The abdominal cavity is distended 

 in proportion to the development of the growth, and the presence 

 of the latter may be ascertained by careful external palpation. The 

 cysts fluctuate on pressure. Differentiation lies between gestation, 

 hydrometra, and hydronephrosis. It is hardly to be confounded 

 with ascites. 



Treatment. All ovarial growths should be extirpated by celio- 

 oophorectomy. 



OOPHORECTOMY. 



This operation, known in ordinary parlance as "spaying," is 

 principally undertaken for the purpose of suppressing the sexual 

 function. In some cities where a high tax is imposed on the keep- 

 ing of females, and an altered female is placed in the same category 

 as a male, owners submit their animals to be unsexed from motives 

 of economy. This operation is also occasionally necessary as a 

 remedial measure for certain pathologic conditions, such as neo- 

 plasms, hyperemia, and purulent inflammation of the ovary. 



In any instance where it is necessary to remove the uterus in 

 whole or part, the ovaries should also be ablated, otherwise their 

 presence gives rise to the formation of retention cysts. 



It is claimed by some authorities that ablation of the ovaries 

 is not a certain preventive of the sexual impulse and the concomi- 

 tant uterine discharges. Leeney, a British practitioner, writing in 

 1890, asserted that regular periods of "estrum" might follow the 

 operation unless the animals were operated upon when pregnant, 

 and referred to a tradition existing in England that a female should 

 be allowed to copulate some ten days before being spayed, though 

 no explanation was offered. Hobday also believes that the effect 

 of the operation on the sexual impulse is by no means certain, and 



