PROGNOSIS AND AFTER-TREATMENT. 8l 



each ovary should be completely withdrawn as it is detached 

 ,or it may be lost in the abdomen. The vaginal mucous mem- 

 brane is again swabbed out (not syringed) with sterilised cotton 

 wool which has been wrung out in chinosol or some other 

 ■antiseptic solution, and the operation is complete. 



Care must be taken not to remove a piece of bowel by 

 mistake or to injure any of the abdominal organs. Bowel, 

 if empty, has a soft, pultaceous feel totally different to that 

 of ovary, and if full can be distinguished by the presence of 

 a succession of lumps of faeces in a continuous row. Care, 

 too, must be taken not to excise the ovaries too high up or 

 otherwise unnecessarily injure the uterus, nor to include any- 

 thing beside the pedicle of the ovary in the chain at time of 

 excision. If the ecraseur chain is a good one and not sharp, 

 and .the operation passes off properly, there is scarcely any 

 blood whatever to be seen either at the time or afterwards. 



Prognosis and After-treatment.— If the operation has been 

 done antiseptically and under chloroform ' the result will be 

 excellent. As a rule the mare, except for a little trembling 

 and raising of the tail during the next twenty-four hours, does 

 not show the slightest deviation from health. A reference to 

 some of the cases in the Appendix, (page 89) will clearly show 

 this, especially Case 14, in which the owner, a veterinary sur- 

 geon (Mr C. Hartley), rode the animal hunting on the sixth 

 day afterwards, and no ill effect followed. 



Unless something untoward occurs, no special after-treatment 

 is necessary. It is astonishing how quickly the vaginal wound 

 will unite. On no account, if the patient appears all right, 

 should any swabbing or syringing of the vagina be attempted ; 

 the vulva and external genitals alone being daily sponged with 

 antiseptic and kept clean. 



A clean loose box or stall and good hygienic arrangements 

 are of course essential. Diet should be sparing and laxative, 

 as the collection of hard faeces in the rectum causes a certain 

 amount of soreness and pain for a few days during evacuation.'^ 



^ See Appendix, Cases 20 and 25. 



