Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 2 (of 5)Law, James
Science
Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 2 (of 5)
Law, James
Veterinary medicine
_Treatment._ In the milder cases plenty of open air exercise and a
laxative diet may succeed. In the more severe cases it is usually
requisite to unload the rectum mechanically. The dog is laid on a table,
and the oiled finger introduced through the anus, lubricates the mucosa
as far as it can be reached. Then little by little the firm mass may be
disintegrated and removed being steadied by the other hand applied on
the abdomen. The handle of a teaspoon or a special spoonshaped curette
may at times replace the finger to advantage, but must be used with due
judgment, in view of the thinness and friability of the walls of the
gut.
When the gut has been emptied in this way, or in the less severe cases
without this preliminary, purgatives and frequent injections can be used
to advantage. Jalap ½ dr. and calomel 5 grains, or castor oil ½ oz., or
syrup of buckthorn have been usually employed. The impaction is usually
too firm for the transient action of eserine or pilocarpin. As
injections, castor oil, soapsuds, decoctions of flaxseed, mallow or elm
bark may be employed being repeated as often as they are expelled and
supplemented by the mechanical removal of all solid matters that come
within reach.
In cases so extensive as to resist the above measures we can resort to
laparotomy. The incision can be made close and parallel to the linea
alba, the rectum, or floating colon drawn out through the wound, the
other intestines being carefully held back by an assistant, the gut is
then incised longitudinally and its solid contents removed. The wound is
thoroughly cleansed, washed with an antiseptic (mercuric chloride
1:2000), and sutured with catgut, the mucosa being carefully turned in
and the muscular and peritoneal coats kept in accurate contact. Finally
the abdominal wound is closed by silk sutures. The patient must be
placed for a week or ten days on well boiled gruels and the rectum
frequently emptied by injections of tepid water.
In case the bowel is found to be necrotic, the gangrenous section may be
excised and the ends brought together by Murphy’s button, or simply
sutured with catgut over a hollow tube of raw potato.
INTESTINAL INDIGESTION AND OBSTRUCTION IN BIRDS.
Causes: Age, debility, atony, matting of feathers, dry or indigestible
food, lack of water, diseased oviducts, sand or gravel, lack of
pebbles or power in gizzard. Lesions: masses of egg, uric acid, or
fæces in cloaca, implicating colon and cæca. Symptoms: dullness,
stupor, vertigo, staggering, erect plumage, trailing wings and tail,
bulging anus, covered with matted feathers, impaction felt by finger.
Treatment: extract mass, castor oil, laudanum, chalk, bismuth, pepper,
demulcents, phenol, exercise, silage, green food, pebbles.
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