Inspection of the right flank furnishes no information of value in diseases of the intestine, nor is auscultation of much service beyond enabling one to detect the frequency, diminution, or absence of borborygmus. Palpation alone is really of service. Practised gently and superficially with the tips of the fingers it detects abnormal sensibility in acute cases of enteritis; when with more energy, palpation reveals whether the bowel be full or empty, provided that the muscular resistance be not too marked.
Colic. In colic the clinical signs, their varieties, and the lesions which give rise to them are of much more importance. When it results from intestinal congestion à frigore (due, for example, to the ingestion of cold water), colic is usually violent, sudden, and of relatively short duration. In other cases it is violent and prolonged for several hours, a whole day, or even two days, and may be followed by coma and suppressed peristalsis; it then indicates invagination, volvulus, or strangulation. Sometimes, on the contrary, it remains dull and is slow and continued (acute gastro-enteritis, hæmorrhagic gastro-enteritis, etc.).
Finally, colic of the latter character may, in addition, be accompanied by icterus, in cases of retention of bile, biliary calculi, hepatitis, etc.
Anus. Examination of the anus is easy. Simple inspection reveals its presence or absence, and consequently the existence of congenital rectal atresia, which is somewhat common in calves and colts. Digital exploration is, however, sometimes useful, for in occasional cases an anus may exist, which externally appears normal, but terminates in a sac, the rectum being closed by a membranous partition.
Nothing is easier to recognise than tenesmus; it occurs in cases of profuse diarrhœa, diarrhœa of calves, and dysentery in newly-born animals.
Fig. 62.—Position of the thoracic and abdominal viscera as seen from the right side. ID, insertion of the diaphragm; V, gall bladder; C, abomasum; I, small intestine; D, duodenum; GC1—GC2, large intestine (colon); Co, cæcum; Pc, point of the cæcum; CF, floating colon (first part); P, pancreas; R, right kidney; F, liver; Di, diaphragm (line of projection towards the front); Pd, right lung.
Rectal exploration. Exploration of the rectum is a last and most valuable means of confirming the diagnosis in all visceral diseases of the pelvis and abdomen. To utilise this method to the full, the rectal pouch should first be thoroughly emptied by the free use of enemata, the subsequent examination being made with great care. The animal’s hind legs being secured, the operator smears his hand and forearm with some fatty substance, and, forming the fingers into a cone, introduces them with gentle pressure through the anus, the palm of the hand being turned downwards. Passing the hand gently along the rectum, the operator will be able to distinguish the conical posterior pouches of the rumen, the loop of the duodenum, the mass of convolutions of the small intestines and of the colon, etc. Next, he will examine the vagina, uterus, bladder, ureters, kidneys, aorta, and the pelvic and sublumbar lymphatic glands. He may be able to recognise distension of the rumen with food, twists of the intestine, herniæ, mesenteric or diaphragmatic invagination or volvulus of the bowel, etc.
In other cases he may be able to discover lesions of the kidney, of the uterus, of the broad uterine ligaments, of the ovaries, or of vessels.
In all cases it is desirable to make a methodical and complete examination, whatever the primary object may have been. Such an examination may be carried out as follows: The operator having introduced his hand into the rectum, begins by examining the state of the pelvic organs, the rectum, base of the vagina, the body and horns of the uterus, the bladder and the lymphatic glands and ligaments of the pelvis.