To dry up the milk of a bitch is a duty we are often called upon to perform; but it is one I invariably decline to accept. The animal will always soon cease to yield its secretion if it be let alone; for if dog's milk were valuable, we should in vain use our utmost art to prolong its continuance. When the pups are removed, Nature takes away that which is no longer required; but if the litter be suddenly separated from the mother, or all the young should be born dead, Nature may not immediately accommodate herself to the circumstances. In such cases, the milk should be withdrawn three times daily; a dose of opening medicine should be administered, and the food should be spare. A few days' attention will be required; but the matter, if neglected, causes much suffering, and very frequently lays the foundation for future evil.
Falling of the vagina, or membrane lining the passage to the womb, is sometimes witnessed in animals that are much confined, and consequently of a debilitated habit. Creatures so savage as to be dangerous, and which, therefore, cannot be properly exercised, are most subject to it; and I have in the greater number of instances met with it in high-bred bull-bitches of that disposition.
The reason of this is, the bull-dog ranks as an entirely artificial creation. In proof of this stands the well-known fact, that unless the breed be sedulously kept up, it is apt to degenerate, or to become extinct. Old breeders even now say, the ancient kind of English bull-dog is nowhere to be found. But take another proof. We want no anatomical knowledge or prejudice: in him formation is to be judged. Let the reader look at the head of the animal depicted on page [404]. Is not the cranium a malformation? Do not the habits of the animal prove it to be a pampered creation? It is not generally known, that the disposition of the genuine bull-dog is too fond. It will fondle upon any stranger; and yet, contrary to the general custom of its race, it displays small preference for its master. It will fondle a human being as though its heart would burst with affection; but upon the slightest excitement—often upon a sudden sound—it will fly at and mangle the hand that was caressing it. Then the hold taken by this animal is more retentive than is strictly natural. It will fix upon an object, and frequently suffer itself to be dismembered before it will let go its hold, although its master's voice be energetically raised to command it. Do not these traits bespeak the being formed rather by man's malice, than created by Nature's goodness? Look at the likeness of the beast, and say how far it resembles the mild, graceful, and generous race to which it outwardly belongs.
It is the high, or rather perverted, state in which the breed is kept, that subjects them to accidents; it is the pampered condition in which these antipodes to beauty are reared that renders them so liable to afflictions that do not affect the ordinary run of their kind—such as falling of the vagina. It comes on generally when heat is present, and mostly disappears when the excitement subsides. A red bag is seen to be pendulous from the orifice of the part; and if no care be taken to prevent it, this by exposure gets injured; becomes hard; bleeds freely, and is difficult to return. It often presents a pitiable aspect; but however painful it may be to look at, there seems to be but little suffering attending it. The animal permits it to be freely handled, and does not resist even when sharp dressings are applied.
THE BULL-DOG.
In such cases cleanliness is to be strictly observed. If the protruded membrane should be thickened and excoriated, it must be well washed with a sponge and warm water. Afterwards it may be bathed with a lotion, (made of nitric acid one drachm, to proof-spirit one ounce,) and then returned. A cold injection, composed of alum one drachm, dissolved in spring water one pint, may be used thrice daily; and from a quarter of a grain to a grain of powdered gallic acid may be given three times a-day.
The inversion of the womb is more serious; but it is generally more speedily restored. In the larger animals, that produce one or two young at a time, the uterus is commonly inverted subsequent to parturition; but in the dog I have known it only when the womb had for some period been unimpregnated. Blows may cause it; so also may excessive weakness; and the earlier it is attended to, the more readily will it be restored. The treatment is described in the following narrative, which was published by me in the Veterinarian.
"I began by having a soft clean cloth spread upon a table, and, placing the dog on this, with a sponge the uterus was gently moistened. No friction was employed, but with tepid water the part was carefully sopped. This process was not quick. An hour and a half expired before all the extraneous matter was by it removed. This accomplished, with a pair of scissors the fibrinous tumors were snipped off. The hemorrhage was trivial; but there yet remained marks of bruises and signs of laceration which could not be cut away. To these a spirituous solution of nitric acid—a drachm to the ounce—was applied, and the entire of the exposed surface dressed with it.
"Knowing the peculiar form of the passage, I was able to return the womb, and met with little obstruction. Up to this point I had succeeded better than at first I hoped; but here came the difficulty. The uterus was replaced, but how was it to be retained? The irritability of the system would have a natural tendency to reject the viscus, and the lotion I had used was not of a soothing quality. To render the case more desperate, there was the knowledge of the temperament and habits of the animal—its manner of sitting—its mode of curving the spine to void its fæces—the marked excitability of its generative organs—and its peculiar sensitiveness to suffering.