females of other domesticated quadrupeds and should never be resorted to
except in animals that become unmanageable on the recurrence of heat and
that will not breed or that are utterly unsuited to breeding. Formerly
the operation was extensively practiced in Europe, the incision being
made through the flank, and a large proportion of the subjects perished.
By operating through the vagina the risk can be largely obviated, as the
danger of unhealthy inflammation in the wound is greatly lessened. The
animal should be fixed in a trevis, with each foot fixed to a post and a
sling placed under the body, or it may be thrown and put under
chloroform. The manual operation demands special professional knowledge
and skill, but it consists essentially in making an opening through the
roof of the vagina just above the neck of the womb, then following with
the hand each horn of the womb until the ovary on that side is reached
and grasped between the lips of forceps and twisted off. It might be
torn off by an ecraseur especially constructed for the purpose. The
straining that follows the operation may be checked by ounce doses of
laudanum, and any risk of protrusion of the bowels may be obviated by
applying the truss advised to prevent eversion of the womb. To further
prevent the pressure of the abdominal contents against the vaginal wound
the mare should be tied short and high for twenty-four or forty-eight
hours, after which I have found it best to remove the truss and allow
the privilege of lying down. Another important point is to give bran
mashes and other laxative diet only, and in moderate quantity, for a
fortnight, and to unload the rectum by copious injections of warm water
in case impaction is imminent.
STERILITY.
Sterility may be in the male or in the female. If due to the stallion,
then all the mares put to him remain barren; if the fault is in the
mare, she alone fails to conceive, while other mares served by the same
stallion get in foal.
In the stallion sterility may be due to the following causes: (a)
Imperfect development of the testicles, as in cases in which they are
retained within the abdomen; (b) inflammation of the testicles,
resulting in induration; (c) fatty degeneration of the testicles, in
stallions liberally fed on starchy feed and not sufficiently exercised;
(d) fatty degeneration of the excretory ducts of the testicles (_vasa
deferentia_); (e) inflammation or ulceration of these ducts; (f)
inflammation or ulceration of the mucous membrane covering the penis;
(g) injuries to the penis from blows (often causing paralysis); (h)
warty growths on the end of the penis; (i) tumors of other kinds
(largely pigmentary), affecting the testicles or penis; (j) nervous
diseases which abolish the sexual appetite or that control the muscles
which are essential to the act of coition; (k) azoturia with resulting
weakness or paralysis of the muscles of the loins or the front of the
thigh (above the stifle); (l) ossification (_anchylosis_) of the
joints of the back or loins, which render the animal unable to rear or
mount; (m) spavins, ringbones, or other painful affections of the hind
limbs, the pain of which in mounting causes the animal to suddenly stop
short in the act. In the first three of these only (a, b, and c)
is there real sterility in the sense of the nondevelopment or imperfect
development of the male vivifying element (spermatozoa). In the other
examples the secretion may be imperfect in kind and amount, but as
copulation is prevented it can not reach and impregnate the ovum.
In the mare barrenness is equally due to a variety of causes. In a
number of breeding studs the proportion of sterile mares has varied from
20 to 40 per cent. It may be due to: (a) Imperfect development of the
ovary and nonmaturation of ova; (b) cystic or other tumors of the
ovary; (c) fatty degeneration of the ovary in very obese, pampered
mares; (d) fatty degeneration of the excretory tubes of the ovaries
(Fallopian tubes); (e) catarrh of the womb, with mucopurulent
discharge; (f) irritable condition of the womb, with profuse
secretion, straining, and ejection of the semen; (g) nervous
irritability, leading to the same expulsion of the male element; (h)
high condition (plethora), with profuse secretion and excitement; (i)
low condition, with imperfect maturation of the ova and lack of sexual
desire; (j) poor feeding, overwork, and chronic debilitating diseases,
as leading to the condition just named; (k) closure of the neck of the
womb, temporarily by spasm or permanently by inflammation and
induration; (l) closure of the entrance to the vagina through
imperforate hymen, a rare, though not unknown, condition in the mare;
(m) acquired indisposition to breed, seen in old, hard-worked mares
which are first put to the stallion when aged; (n) change of climate
has repeatedly been followed by barrenness; (o) hybridity, which in
male and female alike usually entails sterility.
_Treatment._--The treatment of the majority of these conditions will be
found dealt with in other parts of this work, so that it is only
necessary here to name them as causes. Some, however, must be specially
referred to in this place. Stallions with undescended testicles are
beyond the reach of medicine, and should be castrated and devoted to
other uses. Indurated testicles may sometimes be remedied in the early
stages by smearing with a weak iodin ointment daily for a length of
time, and at the same time invigorating the system by liberal feeding
and judicious work. Fatty degeneration is best met by an albuminoid diet
(wheat bran, cottonseed meal, rape cake) and constant, well-regulated
work. Saccharine, starchy, and fatty food (potatoes, wheat, corn, etc.)
are to be specially avoided. In the mare one diseased and irritable
ovary should be removed, to do away with the resulting excitability of
the remainder of the generative organs. An irritable womb, with frequent
straining and the ejection of a profuse secretion, may sometimes be
corrected by a restricted diet and full but well-regulated work. Even
fatigue will act beneficially in some such cases, hence the practice of
the Arab riding his mare to exhaustion just before service. The
perspiration in such case, like the action of a purgative or the
abstraction of blood just before service, benefits, by rendering the
blood vessels less full, by lessening secretion in the womb and
elsewhere, and thus counteracting the tendency to the ejection and loss
of semen. If these means are ineffectual, a full dose of camphor (2
drams) or of salicin may at times assist. Low condition and anemia
demand just the opposite kind of treatment--rich, nourishing, albuminoid
feed, bitter tonics (gentian), sunshine, gentle exercise, liberal
grooming, and supporting treatment generally are here in order.
Spasmodic closure of the neck of the womb is common and is easily
remedied in the mare by dilatation with the fingers. The hand, smeared
with belladonna ointment and with the fingers drawn into the form of a
cone, is introduced through the vagina until the projecting, rounded
neck of the womb is felt at its anterior end. This is opened by the
careful insertion of one finger at a time, until the fingers have been
passed through the constricted neck into the open cavity of the womb.
The introduction is made with a gentle, rotary motion, and all
precipitate violence is avoided, as abrasion, laceration, or other cause
of irritation is likely to interfere with the retention of the semen and
consequently with impregnation. If the neck of the womb is rigid and
unyielding from the induration which follows inflammation--a rare
condition in the mare, though common in the cow--more force will be
requisite, and it may even be needful to incise the neck to the depth of
one-sixth of an inch in four or more opposite directions prior to
forcible dilatation. The incision may be made with a probe-pointed
knife, and should be done by a professional man if possible. The
subsequent dilatation may be best effected by the slow expansion of
sponge or seaweed tents inserted into the narrow canal. In such cases it
is best to let the wounds of the neck heal before putting to horse. An
imperforate hymen may be freely incised in a crucial manner until the
passage will admit the human hand. An ordinary knife may be used for
this purpose, and after the operation the stallion may be admitted at
once or only after the wounds have healed.
PREGNANCY.
INDICATIONS OF PREGNANCY.
As the mere fact of service by the stallion does not insure pregnancy,
it is important that the result should be determined to save the mare
from unnecessary and dangerous work or medication when actually in foal
and to obviate wasteful and needless precautions when she is not.
The cessation and nonrecurrence of the symptoms of heat (horsing) are
most significant, though not an infallible, sign of conception. If the
sexual excitement speedily subsides and the mare persistently refuses
the stallion for a month, she is probably pregnant. In very exceptional
cases a mare, though pregnant, will accept a second or third service
after weeks or months, and some mares will refuse the horse
persistently, though conception has not taken place, and this in spite
of warm weather, good condition of the mare, and liberal feeding. The
recurrence of heat in the pregnant mare is most liable to take place in
hot weather. If heat merely persists an undue length of time after
service, or if it reappears shortly after, in warm weather and in a
comparatively idle mare, on good feeding, it is less significant, while
the persistent absence of heat under such conditions may be usually
accepted as proof of conception.
An unwonted gentleness and docility on the part of a previously
irritable or vicious mare, and supervening on service, is an excellent
indication of pregnancy, the generative instinct which caused the
excitement having been satisfied.
An increase of fat, with softness and flabbiness of muscle, a loss of
energy, indisposition for active work, a manifestation of laziness,
indeed, and of fatigue early and easily induced, when preceded by
service, will usually imply conception.
Enlargement of the abdomen, especially in its lower third, with slight
falling in beneath the loins and hollowness of the back are significant
symptoms, though they may be entirely absent. Swelling and firmness of
the udder, with the smoothing out of its wrinkles, is a suggestive sign,
even though it appears only at intervals during gestation.
A steady increase in weight (1-1/2 pounds daily) about the fourth or
fifth month is a useful indication of pregnancy. So is a swollen and red
or bluish-red appearance of the vaginal mucous membrane.
From the seventh or eighth month onward the foal may be felt by the hand
(palm or knuckles) pressed into the abdomen in front of the left stifle.
The sudden push displaces the foal toward the opposite side of the womb,
and as it floats back its hard body is felt to strike against the hand.
If the pressure is maintained the movements of the live foal are felt,
and especially in the morning and after a drink of cold water or during
feeding. A drink of cold water will often stimulate the fetus to
movements that may be seen by the eye, but an excess of iced water may
prove injurious, even to the causing of abortion. Cold water dashed on
the belly has a similar effect on the fetus and is equally provocative
of abortion.
Examination of the uterus with the oiled hand introduced into the rectum
is still more satisfactory, and, if cautiously conducted, no more
dangerous. The rectum must be first emptied and then the hand carried
forward until it reaches the front edge of the pelvic bones below, and
pressed downward to ascertain the size and outline of the womb. In the
unimpregnated state the vagina and womb can be felt as a single rounded
tube, dividing in front to two smaller tubes (the horns of the womb). In
the pregnant mare not only the body of the womb is enlarged, but still
more so one of the horns (right or left), and on compression the latter
is found to contain a hard, nodular body, floating in a liquid, which in
the latter half of gestation may be stimulated by gentle pressure to
manifest spontaneous movements. By this method the presence of the fetus
may be determined as early as the third month. If the complete, natural
outline of the virgin womb can not be made out, careful examination
should always be made on the right and left side for the enlarged horn
and its living contents. Should there still be difficulty the mare
should be placed on an inclined plane, with her hind parts lowest, and
two assistants, standing on opposite sides of the body, should raise the
lower part of the abdomen by a sheet passed beneath it. Finally the ear
or stethoscope applied on the wall of the abdomen in front of the stifle
may detect the beating of the fetal heart (one hundred and twenty-five a
minute) and a blowing sound (the uterine sough), much less rapid and
corresponding to the number of the pulse of the dam. It is heard most
satisfactorily after the sixth or eighth month and in the absence of
active rumbling of the bowels of the dam.
DURATION OF PREGNANCY.
Mares usually go about eleven months with young, though first
pregnancies often last a year. Foals have lived when born at the three
hundredth day, so with others carried till the four hundredth day. With
the longer pregnancies there is a greater probability of male offspring.
HYGIENE OF THE PREGNANT MARE.
The pregnant mare should not be exposed to teasing by a young and ardent
stallion, nor should she be overworked or fatigued, particularly under
the saddle or on uneven ground. Yet exercise is beneficial to both
mother and offspring, and in the absence of moderate work the breeding
mare should be kept in a lot where she can take exercise at will.
The feed should be liberal, but not fattening--oats, bran, sound hay,
and other feeds rich in the principles which form flesh and bone being
especially indicated. All aliments that tend to indigestion are to be
especially avoided. Thus rank, aqueous, rapidly growing grasses and
other green feed, partially ripe rye grass, millet, Hungarian grass,
vetches, peas, beans, or maize are objectionable, as is overripe,
fibrous, innutritious hay, or that which has been injured and rendered
musty by wet, or that which is infested with smut or ergot. Feed that
tends to costiveness should be avoided. Water given often, and at a
temperature considerable above freezing, will avoid the dangers of
indigestion and abortion which result from taking too much ice-cold
water at one time. Very cold or frozen feed is objectionable in the same
sense. Severe surgical operations and medicines that act violently on
the womb, bowels, or kidneys are to be avoided as being liable to cause
abortion. Constipation should be corrected, if possible, by bran mashes,
carrots, or beets, seconded by exercise, and if a medicinal laxative is
required it should be olive oil or other equally bland agent.
The stall of the pregnant mare should not be too narrow, so as to cramp
her when lying down or to entail violent effort in getting up, and it
should not slope too much from the front backward, as this throws the
weight of the uterus back on the pelvis and endangers protrusions and
even abortion. Violent mental impressions are to be avoided, for though
most mares are not affected thereby, yet a certain number are so
profoundly impressed that peculiarities and distortions are entailed on
the offspring; hence, there is wisdom shown in banishing particolored or
objectionably tinted animals, and those that show deformities or faulty
conformation. Hence, too, the importance of preventing prolonged, acute
suffering by the pregnant mare, as certain troubles of the eyes, feet,
and joints in the foals have been clearly traced to the concentration
of the mother's mind on corresponding injured organs in herself. Sire
and dam alike tend to reproduce their individual defects which
predispose to disease, but the dam is far more liable to perpetuate the
evil in her progeny which was carried while she was individually
enduring severe suffering caused by such defects. Hence, an active bone
spavin or ringbone, causing lameness, is more objectionable than that in
which the inflammation and lameness have both passed, and an active
ophthalmia is more to be feared than even an old cataract. For this
reason all active diseases in the breeding mare should be soothed and
abated as early as possible.
EXTRA-UTERINE GESTATION.
It is rare in the domestic animals to find the fetus developed elsewhere
than in the womb. The exceptional forms are those in which the sperm of
the male, making its way through the womb and Fallopian tubes,
impregnates the ovum prior to its escape, and in which the now vitalized
and growing ovum, by reason of its gradually increasing size, becomes
imprisoned and fails to escape into the womb. The arrest of the ovum may
be in the substance of the ovary itself (ovarian pregnancy), in the
Fallopian tube (tubal pregnancy), or when by its continuous enlargement
it has ruptured its envelopes so that it escapes into the cavity of the
abdomen, it may become attached to any part of the serous membrane and
draw its nourishment directly from that (abdominal pregnancy). In all
such cases there is an increase and enlargement of the capillary blood
vessels at the point to which the embryo has attached itself so as to
furnish the needful nutriment for the growing offspring.
All appreciable symptoms are absent, unless from the death of the fetus,
or its interference with normal functions, general disorder and
indications of parturition supervene. If these occur later than the
natural time for parturition, they are the more significant. There may
be general malaise, loss of appetite, elevated temperature, accelerated
pulse, with or without distinct labor pains. Examination with the oiled
hand in the rectum will reveal the womb of the natural, unimpregnated
size and shape and with both horns of one size. Further exploration may
detect an elastic mass apart from the womb, in the interior of which may
be felt the characteristic solid body of the fetus. If the latter is
still alive and can be stimulated to move, the evidence is even more
perfect. The fetus may die and be carried for years, its soft structures
becoming absorbed so as to leave only the bones, or by pressure it may
form a fistulous opening through the abdominal walls, or less frequently
through the vagina or rectum. In the latter cases the best course is to
favor the expulsion of the foal and to wash out the resulting cavity
with a solution of carbolic acid 1 part to water 50 parts. This may be
repeated daily. When there is no spontaneous opening it is injudicious
to interfere, as the danger from the retention of the fetus is less than
that from septic fermentation in the enormous fetal sac when that has
been opened to the air.
MOLES, OR ANIDIAN MONSTERS.
These are evidently products of conception, in which the impregnated
ovum has failed to develop naturally, and presents only a chaotic mass
of skin, hair, bones, muscles, etc., attached to the inner surface of
the womb by an umbilical cord, which is itself often shriveled and
wasted. They are usually accompanied with a well-developed fetus, so
that the mole may be looked upon as a twin which has undergone arrest
and vitiation of development. They are expelled by the ordinary process
of parturition, and usually at the same time with the normally developed
offspring.
CYSTIC DISEASE OF THE WALLS OF THE WOMB, OR VESICULAR MOLE.
This condition appears to be attributable to hypertrophy (enlargement)
of the villi on the inner surface of the womb, which become greatly
increased in number and hollowed out internally into a series of cysts,
or pouches, containing liquid. Unlike the true mole, therefore, they
appear to be disease of the maternal structure of the womb rather than
of the product of conception. Rodet, in a case of this kind, which had
produced active labor pains, quieted the disorder with anodynes and
effected a recovery. When this can not be done, attempts may be made to
remove the mass with the ecraseur or otherwise, following it up with
antiseptic injections, as advised under the last heading.
DROPSY OF THE WOMB.
This appears as a result of some disease of the walls of the womb, but
has been frequently observed as the result of infection after sexual
congress, and has, therefore, been confounded with pregnancy. The
symptoms are those of pregnancy, but without any movements of the fetus
and without the detection of any solid body in the womb when examined
with the oiled hand in the rectum. At the end of four or eight months
there are signs of parturition or of frequent straining to pass urine,
and after a time the liquid is discharged clear and watery, or muddy,
thick, and fetid. The hand introduced into the womb can detect neither
fetus nor fetal membrane. If the neck of the womb closes, the liquid may
accumulate a second time, or even a third, if no means are taken to
disinfect it or to correct the tendency. The best resort is to remove
any diseased product that may be found attached to the walls of the womb
and to inject it daily with a warm solution of carbolic acid 2 drams,
chlorid of zinc one-half dram, water 1 quart. A course of bitter tonics
(gentian 2 drams, sulphate of iron 2 drams, daily) should be given, and
a nutritious, easily digested, and slightly laxative diet allowed.
DROPSY OF THE AMNION.
This differs from simple dropsy of the womb in that the fluid collects
in the inner of the two water bags (that in which the foal floats) and
not in the otherwise void cavity of the womb. This affection can occur
only in the pregnant animal, while dropsy of the womb occurs in the
unimpregnated. The blood of the pregnant mare contains an excess of
water and a smaller proportion of albumen and red globules, and when
this condition is still further aggravated by poor feeding and other
unhygienic conditions there is developed the tendency to liquid
transudation from the vessels and dropsy. As the watery condition of the
blood increases with advancing pregnancy, so dropsy of the amnion is a
disease of the last four or five months of gestation. The abdomen is
large and pendulous, and the swelling fluctuates under pressure, though
the solid body of the fetus can still be felt to strike against the hand
pressed into the swelling. If the hand is introduced into the vagina,
the womb is found to be tense and round, with the projecting rounded
neck effaced, while the hand in the rectum will detect the rounded,
swollen mass of the womb so firm and tense that the body of the fetus
can not be felt within it. The mare moves weakly and unsteadily on her
limbs, having difficulty in supporting the great weight, and in bad
cases there may be loss of appetite, stocking (dropsy) of the hind
limbs, difficult breathing, and colicky pains. The tension may lead to
abortion, or a slow, laborious parturition may occur at the usual time.
_Treatment_ consists in relieving the tension and accumulation by
puncturing the fetal membrane with a cannula and trocar introduced
through the neck of the womb and the withdrawal of the trocar so as to
leave the cannula in situ, or the membranes may be punctured with the
finger and the excess of liquid allowed to escape. This may bring on
abortion, or the womb may close and gestation continue to the full term.
A course of tonics (gentian root 2 drams, sulphate of iron 2 drams,
daily) will do much to fortify the system and counteract further
excessive effusion.
DROPSY OF THE LIMBS, PERINEUM, AND ABDOMEN.
The disposition to dropsy often shows itself in the hind and even in the
fore limbs, around and beneath the vulva (perineum), and beneath the
abdomen and chest. The affected parts are swollen and pit on pressure,
but are not especially tender, and subside more or less perfectly under
exercise, hand rubbing, and bandages. In obstinate cases rubbing with
the following liniment may be resorted to: Compound tincture of iodin,
2 ounces; tannic acid, one-half dram; water, 10 ounces. It does not last
more than a day or two after parturition.
CRAMPS OF THE HIND LIMBS.
The pressure of the distended womb on the nerves and blood vessels of
the pelvis, besides conducing to dropsy, occasionally causes cramps of
the hind limbs. The limb is raised without flexing the joints, the front
of the hoof being directed toward the ground, or, the spasms occurring
intermittently, the foot is kicked violently against the ground several
times in rapid succession. The muscles are felt to be firm and rigid.
The cramp may be promptly relieved by active rubbing or by walking the
animal about, and it does not reappear after parturition.
CONSTIPATION.
This may result from compression by gravid womb, and is best corrected
by a graduated allowance of boiled flaxseed.
PARALYSIS.
The pressure on the nerves of the pelvis is liable to cause paralysis of
the hind limbs or of the nerve of sight. These are obstinate until after
parturition, when they recover spontaneously, or under a course of nux
vomica and (local) stimulating liniments.
PROLONGED RETENTION OF THE FETUS (FOAL).
Though far less frequently than in the case of the cow, parturition may
not be completed at term, and the mare, to her serious and even fatal
injury, may carry the foal in the womb for a number of months. Hamon
records one case in which the mare died after carrying the fetus for 17
months, and Caillier a similar result after it had been carried 22
months. In these cases the fetus retained its natural form, but in one
reported by Gohier the bones only were left in the womb amid a mass of
apparently purulent matter.