VOLVULUS IN DOGS.
Rare. Short mesentery hinders. Occurs with hernia. Symptoms: obstruction, prostration, colic, tense, painful abdomen, retching, anorexia, exhaustion. Treatment: laparotomy.
The carnivora seem to be protected against volvulus by the shortness of their mesentery, the comparative lightness of the intestinal contents, and the restricted area of the abdominal cavity. Cadiot, Müller, and Friedberger and Fröhner agree in ignoring the subject as a canine disease, while Cadeac mentions only such cases as are complicated by mesenteric hernia, the protruding loop becoming twisted in the wound through which it has protruded.
“The symptoms are those of invagination or intestinal obstruction; sometimes the animal is dull, anxious, resting almost constantly down on his belly, and this prostration dominates the table of symptoms; sometimes, on the contrary, the subject manifests signs of excitement and intestinal pain; it trembles, lies down, glances at its flanks; sometimes it even lets itself fall abruptly, straightens out stiffly its limbs and head, clenches its jaws and rolls its eyes.”
“In all cases the belly is hard, drawn up, painful to pressure or palpation; but these means of exploration are insufficient to feel the intestinal knot.”
“Constipation is persistent, obstinate, and efforts at vomiting continuous; anorexia is incomplete, or the animal rejects the solid and liquid aliments immediately after their ingestion. Vomited matters, when they exist, become glairy, bilious toward the end of the attack; but sometimes the animal becomes exhausted in his fruitless efforts; one is rendered uncertain and hesitates to confirm his diagnosis by laparotomy.”
The only treatment advised is by laparotomy.