The Articulations 359 



help to support the weight of the body but is raised from the ground 

 and flexed with the stifle adducted, the hock turned outward, and 

 the foot carried inward and sometimes extending past the median 

 line. When both bones are simultaneously displaced, the tarsal 

 joint is extremely flexed and the hind parts assume a crouching 

 attitude, the mode of progression resembling that of a ferret. In 

 some cases locomotion is accomplished by a series of hops or the 

 animal walks altogether on the forelegs and elevates the hind ones. 



Treatment. In treating this trouble the object to be aimed at 

 is to rest the entire leg for a period of several days, all the while 

 maintaining the leg in an extended condition in the anterior direc- 

 tion, for it is in this position that the bone falls into its proper 

 channel. The rest then gives the ligaments the opportunity to re- 

 cuperate and recover their normal tone. The entire leg from the 

 toes upward as far as possible above the stifle must be enclosed in 

 a stiff bandage, preferably of plaster of paris. To show how all- 

 sufficient the rest treatment is may be mentioned the case of one of 

 Stockfleth's patients, that of a restless female which was about to 

 whelp. It was impossible to keep her quiet and the bone in place, 

 but as soon as her offspring arrived she calmed down and lay 

 quietly with them a sufficient length of time for recovery to take 

 place. In another instance he bound the aflfected leg to the trunk 

 by means of bandages, so that the animal was forced to rest it. 

 Recovery followed in three weeks. In still another case of bilateral 

 luxation in a small animal splints of gutta percha were moulded to 

 both legs extending from above the stifle to the toes, so that the 

 animal which previously had crawled, walked as if on stilts. Some 

 two or three weeks of this support sufficed to eflFect a cure. 



In the cases dependent upon congenital structural defect in the 

 femur the prognosis must always be doubtful for the tendency is 

 towards recurrence. 



The Tibio-Tarsal Articulation. Stockfleth has recorded one 

 instance of this luxation. A hunting dog in chasing a cat had its 

 right foot caught in a vice attached to a joist, with the result that 

 the skin, ligaments and flexor tendens were severed, exposing the 

 tibia which was only suspended by the extensors. On account of 

 the hemorrhage the animal was destroyed. 



The Caudal Articulations. Slight luxations sometimes occur 

 in animals possessed of slender tails, as for instance, in the Grey- 

 hound. 



