190 The Diseases of Animals 
difficulty of making the stitches hold. The bitch is 
confined by tying the mouth tightly with a strip of 
cloth or string, and an anesthetic may be given. Ether 
should be used, as chloroform, unless carefully given, 
may be fatal to dogs. The bitch is placed on her back 
on a table and held by two assistants, one taking the 
fore and the other taking the hind legs. The hair is 
clipped off, antiseptics used, and an incision about 
two inches long made through the skin and muscles 
on the median line about the center of the belly. 
After cutting through the muscles, a thin, tough 
membrane (the peritoneum) is found, which can be cut 
slightly with a knife and then torn with the fingers, 
so that there will be no danger of cutting the 
intestines. The right index finger is inserted into the 
abdominal cavity and the fallopian tubes found which 
lead from the uterus to the ovaries. The tubes run 
well forward. Care must be taken not to break 
them, as it is extremely difficult to find an ovary when 
it is not attached to its tube. The ovary is carefully 
torn from the fibrous tissue that holds it in place, 
then it is torn from the tube by the thumb nail. 
The other ovary is removed in the same way. 
There is no need to remove the uterus or tubes 
unless the animal is pregnant. In normal cases it is 
not necessary to ligate anything. After removing the 
ovaries, the tubes and intestines that may have es- 
caped are replaced in the cavity and two stitches taken 
through the skin and muscles to close the wound. 
Following tne operation, the dog should be left to 
herself. Often there is nausea and vomiting following 
