244 Veterinary Obstetrics 



quired to crush oif the gland, lest serious or fatal hemorrhage 

 occur. 



Uuder anaesthesia the animal is confined in lateral recumbency, 

 preferably upon the operating table, the hinder parts being ele- 

 vated, to cause the abdominal viscera to drop forward out of the 

 way. Under anaesthesia the vagina does not balloon. The in- 

 cision is made at the same point and in essentially the same 

 manner. The recognition of the ovaries and their removal is the 

 same as in the standing operation. 



The patient is to be kept quiet for 6-8 days on a light, laxa- 

 tive diet. If the viciousness continues, the animal should be 

 turned out and left without annoyance for several weeks ; if 

 docile, she may be put to work. 



In some cases the viciousness may continue without visible 

 abatement for a while and later wholly disappear. Too much 

 should not, however, be expected from spaying. If a mare is 

 fundamentally vicious, little good is to be anticipated from the 

 operation, nor is a cure to be confidently expected if the opera- 

 tion has been delayed till the vice has become habitual instead 

 of periodic. 



Much depends too upon the driver and his method of handling 

 the patient ; gentleness, firmness and a display of good judge- 

 ment are demanded. The work should be regular and moderate, 

 the animal well fed and her general health well guarded. 



Nymphomania and cysts in the ovaries of the smaller animals 

 are not common. In the foregoing pages, Hess records instances 

 in the sow and goat. We have observed nymphomania in a sow 

 without determining the cause. We have also seen a nympho- 

 maniac bitch, which was castrated in our clinic and in which 

 both ovaries were the seat of enormous cysts, as shown in Fig. 19. 



The diagnosis of cystic ovarian degeneration in the smaller 

 animals can only be made by the subjective symptoms of nym- 

 phomania, to be verified by laparatomy and direct examination 

 of the ovaries. The best treatment is castration, though, in the 

 bitch and sow, it is indeed quite possible, in cases where the 

 pedigree renders the patient highly valuable for breeding pur- 

 poses, to crush or puncture the cysts and return the ovaries into 

 the abdomen or, if only one gland is involved, it may be removed 

 and the sound one retained, in order that the animal may breed. 



