REPORTS OF CASES. 
689 
REPORTS OF CASES. 
“ Careful observation makes a skillful practitioner , but his skill dies with him. 
JBy recording his observations he adds to the knowledge of his profession , and assists 
by his facts in building up the solid edifice of pathological science .”— Veterinary 
Record. 
CYSTIC CALCULI IN A BITCH. 
/ 
By E. J. Nesbitt, D. V. S., Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
In all the works on canine pathology at my disposal I ob¬ 
serve that cyptic calculi are more common in the dog that in 
the bitch ; for that reason and the peculiarity of this particular 
case I think it of sufficient interest to report it. The patient, a 
Scotch terrier bitch, was brought to the hospital on the morning 
of December 18th. The owner gave me this history of her : 
“ She has always been well until two or three days ago, when 
she began to lose her spirits. She did not care to move any 
more than she was forced to. Lost her appetite, and then be¬ 
gan to strain. Thinking it might be her bowels I gave her 
some castor oil and buckthorn. This gave her no relief, so I 
brought her to you.” 
Upon examination I found the animal slightly bloated, 
breathing rapidly, pulse very fast and weak. She strained fre¬ 
quently, and as a result one or two teaspoonfuls of a bloody 
fluid would escape per vulva. The straining was similar to that 
of parturition. After cleansing the parts with warm water, I 
inserted my finger, and on the floor of the vulva, between the 
meatus and labia, felt something hard that seemed like bird 
shot. I withdrew my finger and adhering to it were two small 
stones—(calculi). By the use of the finger I succeeded in re¬ 
moving seventeen calculi about the size of very small shot. As 
there were no more within reach of the finger, and knowing that 
an operation would be useless, I administered tincture digitalis 
in eleven-minim doses every three hours. Gave her beef tea 
and mucilaginous drinks ; had the vulva sponged often with 
'warm water, and kept her in a warm flannel bed. She did not 
