URETHROTOMY IN RUMINANTS. 
369 
most useful in animals nearly ready for slaughter, though it may be 
replaced by puncture of the bladder (see section hereafter, “Puncture of 
the Bladder”). 
This method may also be resorted to if the stone cannot be found, or 
if found, cannot be removed, or if such changes have occurred in the 
urethra as are likely to prevent passage of urine. 
The general procedure and after-treatment are similar to those in the 
horse. If the animal is not destined for early slaughter a tube should 
be fastened in the urethra to keep the wound open, but this measure is 
only of temporary benefit on account of inflammatory swelling setting 
in and preventing discharge of urine. Dupont therefore recommends, 
in the event of a calculus being found at this point, to thrust it back into 
the bladder, thus obviating the necessity for such a large urethral wound. 
As relapses are not uncommon it is usually advisable to fatten the 
animal for slaughter as soon as possible. 
Bader, who performed one hundred lithotomies in the ox, almost always 
found the calculus in the first (lower) curve of the urethra. Most of the 
animals were in the first or second year of life, a few in the third, and only 
one in the fourth. In 24 out of 25 cases, Deisinger found the stone in the 
lower curve of the urethra. Diani states having' seen 300 cases, and having 
found the stone in the upper curve, or between it and the lower one, in 98 
per cent, of these. In 2 it lay in the pelvic portion, and in 5 or 6 near 
the glans. 
Urethrotomy in the sheep. 
The ram’s narrow urethra lies embedded for the most part in fatty 
tissues, and is therefore still more difficult to find than that of the ox< 
Calculi and deposits are not common in sheep, and when occurring are 
usually found close behind the opening of the urethra, which extends 
beyond the penis, is free, and as a rule curved into a shape somewhat 
resembling that of an “S.” Dammann has described several cases of 
the kind. 
The symptoms are similar to those in cattle. Detention of urine 
renders the animals restless, they stand with the back arched straining 
to pass urine, and examination per anum shows the bladder to be 
greatly distended. By closing the nostrils with the hand a healthy 
sheep can be caused to pass urine, but here the attempt is unsuccessful, 
or only a few drops are passed. 
According to Peuch, it is usual in France, as in Germany, to remove 
the free end of the urethra in cases where calculi or concretions cause 
retention of urine. The same is recommended in England; Read saw a 
case where 11 to 12 pints of urine were afterwards passed. 
If the obstruction lie further back, Peuch recommends, in valuable 
animals, passing a catheter or sound. The sheep is placed on its back 
and the penis drawn forward out of the prepuce so as to obliterate the 
