Chapter XV: Preface (12)

One grave senator in the House of Lords used as an argument against the Bill introduced to put down that abominable nuisance, dog-carts, in this country, the pleasure he had experienced, when a child, while being drawn in a carriage pulled by a dog along the lawn attached to his father's residence. There is no legislation required to meet such cases. No doubt the pleasure felt by the delighted child was shared by the beast, who wagged his tail, and scarcely felt the tax imposed upon its huge strength. Had the cart been removed from the lawn to the road, and been knocked up with rough wheels and without springs, like the carts used by vagrant poor are, the load of a child would not even then have made the cases similar. To make the instances the same, the cart must not only be of the rudest construction, but it must be filled with weight limited solely by the master's capacity to buy; while on the top of the burthen must be placed, not a happy child, but an idle full grown rascal. And the vehicle thus encumbered must be dragged, not along a soft lawn, at a pace necessary to please the son and heir, but along a hard road, at a rate which alone can satisfy an impatient and brutal master.

In whichever way we regard this question, reason proves against it, and the dog subject to the most dreadful disease that is communicable to man should on no account, in this densely populated country, be subjected to usage best calculated to bring on the malady.

FRACTURES.

A fracture is technically called a solution of continuity; but, as the general reader will imagine the definition can hardly be correct, with regard to a bone which may be broader than it is long, I will here define it to be the violent division of a bone into two or more parts.

Fractures are divided into comminuted, simple, and compound. The comminuted and compound, for the present purpose, may be regarded as one and the same; since it is obviously impossible to restore the bone of a dog which has been crushed into innumerable pieces; and such a state of the hard structure is scarcely possible to exist without the soft parts, as flesh or muscle, around the injury being involved, or the lesion rendered compound as well as comminuted in its nature.

Then it is simple fractures only that have to be dealt with in this place; and a simple fracture exists when a bone is snapped across into two equal or unequal pieces. It does not matter at what point the injury may occur; so that the bone be broken only into two pieces, and none of the flesh be torn, or the joint involved, the fracture is a simple one. In the dog, several simultaneous simple fractures may exist; as where the animal breaks across the whole of the four metatarsal bones proceeding from the hock to the foot; or snaps, which is of more rare occurrence, the entire number of metacarpal bones, proceeding from the joint, which is called the knee of the dog, towards the foot of the animal.

The bones, however, most commonly fractured are the ulna and radius in the fore-limb, and the tibia and fibula in the posterior extremity. Next to these in order are the femur or thigh-bone, in the hind-leg, and the humerus or arm-bone of the anterior limb. Then come the four metacarpal or metatarsal bones, being the same in number in both legs. These are all the author undertakes to treat. The first and last he manages pretty successfully. For the restoration of a fracture, all that is necessary is to bring the ends which have been divided together, and to keep them in the place into which your art has brought them. To accomplish this end, the author is accustomed to cut from a sheet of stout gutta percha three broad straight ribbons; then to soak these in warm water till they are pliable, having first cut in them several holes resembling button-holes, by the aid of a punch and narrow chisel. When they have lain in the warm water a sufficient time to soften, and no more--for the water of too great a heat shrivels up as well as softens the gutta percha--he draws forth one ribbon, and this he moulds to the front of the sound leg.

That done, he takes another piece of the gutta percha, and this he models to the hind part of the sound leg. The remaining slip is fixed to the side of the limb. After the pliable gutta percha has been forced to assume the shape desired, it is the practice of the writer to cover it with a cloth saturated in cold spring water, to hasten the setting of the material, and thereby shorten a process which always renders the dog somewhat uneasy. All this accomplished, he next braces the splints together, and fixes them upon the limb, by means of a long piece of tape; putting under them, next to the skin of the animal, a quantity of lint to prevent the gutta percha from irritating the flesh. The tapes he also runs through the holes previously made, and winds about the limb, or over the splints--rather, but not too tightly in the first instance--with the intent of arousing the restorative amount of inflammation. This quantity of inflammation, the reader may imagine, would be certain to ensue on so violent an injury as the separation of the hard supports of the body; but in this he is mistaken. I have known a favorite hound to break at once the four metatarsal bones, and though the splints necessary to promote a union were kept on above two months, nothing of the kind took place; at the end of which time all bandages were removed, and his movements effected the cure which my appliances were unable to bring about. Some persons even advocate taking off all bandages from a broken leg, and sending the dog for a walk, where union is tardy; but people who use such language talk about that, concerning which they literally know nothing. It is not one walk which will produce the desired effect; but repeated walks are required to accomplish what appears to the ignorant so certain to occur. Thus, to do nothing is far better in some cases than to perform much; since the absence of remedies accomplishes that which all the paraphernalia of the surgery is unable to produce.

There are cases, however, which cannot get well of themselves, unless deformity be esteemed of no consequence. Thus, when the radius and ulna are snapped right across, and the foot, deprived of all support, dangles at the end of the limb; here the interposition of surgical agency is absolutely required; for the fracture, if left to itself without the aid of art, would never assume its proper situation. So when the humerus or femur are fractured, the bones may unite of themselves; but in that case shortening of the limb and incurable lameness is certain to ensue. The practitioner aims not only to bring the separated ends of the bone together; but he endeavors, by the invention of various means, to keep them there, or to force the limb all the time of the cure to be and to remain at its fullest length. To prevent the tendency to contract in the limb, and consequently to shorten, is one of the chief difficulties which we have to contend with in the treatment of fractures. When a bone is broken, the muscles which hold the parts together sooner or later contract, and sometimes with such force as to draw the ends of the bone, which were once continuous, side by side; thus rendering the limb shorter than it was previously. This force is generally exerted immediately on the occurrence of the accident; but in some petted animals where the system is slow, it does not take place till some indefinite period has elapsed. Fortunate is the gentleman who is called on to treat a case before anything of the kind has occurred, as his difficulties will thereby be at first materially lessened; but when putting on the splints, he must be careful that they are strong enough and his tapes tight enough to keep the leg extended, or to resist the power which sooner or later he may rest assured will start up.

The bandages and splints having been on some time--the precise period of which cannot be estimated,--the leg will swell, especially the foot, and the tapes become so tight as to cut into the flesh. The practitioner pays little attention to the primary indication of swelling being about to take place; but when it has fairly set in, and threatens to do injury to the limb, he with caution loosens the tapes, thus permitting the blood freely to circulate.

The after-treatment of a fracture is comparatively easy. It consists merely in keeping the bowels open, attending to the general health, and in renewing the splints and bandages as often as may be necessary.

It is well to bathe the fractured limb, splints and all, in the following lotions:--

LOTION FOR THE LEG BEFORE THE SWELLING HAS COMMENCED.

Tinct. arnic. mont. One drachm.
Aqua font. One ounce.
Ess. limon A sufficiency.

To be applied frequently.

LOTION TO BE USED WHEN SWELLING IS PRESENT.

Tinct. aconit. Half-a-scruple.
Aqua font. One ounce.
Ess. anis. A sufficiency.

LOTION TO BE APPLIED AFTER THE SWELLING HAS SUBSIDED.

Zinchi chlor. One grain.
Aqua font. One ounce.
Ess. anis. A sufficiency.

The other measures are dictated entirely by circumstances.

OPERATIONS.

There are very few of such offices to be performed on the dog. Among those, however, which do occur, is the removal of the toe. When a claw has grown completely round, and by being pressed into the flesh appears, in the judgment of the practitioner, to have provoked such injury as decidedly and imperatively requires the removal of the part affected, then the amputation of one toe may be undertaken. When the dog, to allay the itching of the extremities, gnaws or eats his own flesh from the toes, leaving black and ragged bones protruding, amputation is necessary. The member must in each case be amputated higher up than the injury. There is no absolute necessity to muzzle the dog, provided the master is present, and will undertake the charge of the head. When such has been the case, and the master has engaged to keep the attention of the dog fixed upon himself, I have removed a joint or two from the leg without the animal uttering a single cry; although the master, unused to such sights, has been seized with sickness so as to require spirits for his restoration. The master being at the head, or an assistant on whom you can depend being at that post; another placed to keep down the body; and a third to lay hold of and extend the limb to be operated upon, which must be uppermost; the animal should be thrown on one side. There it must be allowed to remain until sufficient time has elapsed to calm its natural fears.

The operator then takes one of Liston's sharp-pointed knives, and thrusts it quite through the flesh, a short distance above the injury; he then with a sawing motion cuts downward and outward till the knife is released. He next impales the member on the other side, keeping the back of the knife, as on the former occasion, as close to the bone as possible, and draws it forth in the same manner. He thus will have two flaps divided by a small notch, which coincides with the breadth of the bone. Through this notch, on the uppermost side, he must pass his knife, cutting upwards and inwards; thus upon both sides, till the lines made by the knife meet in a point. He will then, supposing the business to have been properly performed, see a bright pink living piece of bone in the centre; and to cut off so much, or even a little more than is visible, becomes his next object. For this purpose a saw, however fine, is tedious; because the bone to be cut through is not of sufficient body to allow the operator to put forth his strength, and on that account also does not leave behind it a smooth surface. The bone-nippers answer better. Without loss of time, therefore, the veterinary surgeon seizes a pair suited to the object in view, and with these he gently pushes back the flesh on all sides; he then, suddenly closing the handles, cuts short the protruding bone. The flaps that have been made are then brought together, when, if there is any bleeding, the raw surfaces are again exposed, and a few puffs with a pair of bellows, first having sprinkled the part with cold water, usually stop it. If that should not succeed, a small quantity of the tincture of ergot of rye suffices for the purpose; and all bleeding having ceased, the flaps are finally placed together, bound up in soft lint, and a leather or gutta percha boot placed over all, no dressing being applied or the boot removed for three days. When the wound is inspected, if, as frequently happens, the movements of the dog have disturbed the flaps, provided they are not drawn too uneven, the practitioner had better not touch them. The rectifying powers of nature in such cases are wonderful; and in those he had better trust rather than interfere with the process of healing, which he may remain certain has already commenced. In this fashion I have excised a dog's claw; and three months after the operation a spectator would have to compare one foot with another to discover that either was deficient in the proper number of appendages.

CAPPED HOCK AND ELBOW.--The first of these is more rare than the last; but as, on the point of the bone in each joint, is situated a bursa or small sac, containing an unctuous fluid intended to facilitate the movement of the bone under the skin, they both are subject to injury; when they swell to an enormous size, and constitute a very unsightly deformity. If seen early, so soon as the tenderness has subsided, an ounce of lard may be mixed with a drachm of the iodide of lead, and the part well and frequently rubbed with the ointment. If in spite of the use of this ointment, which more often fails than succeeds, the tumor grows larger and larger, recourse must be had to an operation; else the disfigurement may ultimately become sufficiently great and hard to seriously impede the animal's movements.

An operation being determined on, the animal is best left standing; though, should it prove unruly, assistance sufficient to lift it on to a table, and thereon to lay it on its side, must be at hand. Everything being ready, and the dog in this case properly muzzled, the operator, with such a knife as he can work quickest with, makes an incision the entire length of the swelling, and even rather longer than shorter: he next reflects back both portions of skin, that is, the skin on either side of the swelling; and lastly, separates the enlargement from its base.

This removal will leave a huge, ugly, gaping wound, with a seeming superabundance of skin hanging from its side. Let him on no account remove a particle of that skin, however much more than is necessary properly to cover the wound there may immediately after the operation seem to be. Inflammation will, with the beginning of the healing process, set in, and the action of this inflammation contracts the hanging skin; so that if a portion be removed, there will remain an open wound to that extent; and as skin is slowly reproduced, the cure may be retarded for months.

The first part of the business being well concluded, the dog must remain muzzled, and be returned to its proprietor with a bottle of healing fluid, the sore which has been made being left uncovered. The healing fluid is to be used frequently; and if the case be a good one, the orifice quickly becomes small, and heals. In some animals, however, there is a disposition to gnaw or lick the part; thus undoing everything the veterinary surgeon has been accomplishing. To check this habit, a cradle round the neck; wide collars which prevent the head from being turned round; and various splints which, by keeping the limb extended, thereby hinder the animal from touching the wound, are employed. Any or all of these, in untoward cases, may be necessary; and in very high-bred animals the healing powers of nature are frequently slow, consequently in such the after-consequences of an operation are likely to prove very annoying.

DOG BREAKING:

THE MOST

EXPEDITIOUS, EASY, AND CERTAIN

METHOD,

WHETHER GREAT EXCELLENCE OR ONLY MEDIOCRITY
BE REQUIRED.

BY

COL. W.N. HUTCHINSON,

GRENADIER GUARDS.

CONTENTS.