Several cases have come under notice recently of milk trouble affecting bitches. The commonest cause of this is, of course, loss of puppies. We might go further and qualify the term loss by saying^that very often it is caused by the senseless removal of puppies, as, for instance, when a mongrel litter arrives, which it is desired to get rid of as soon as possible. To take all the puppies away from the mother not only constitutes gross cruelty, but sheer folly as well, for it is most likely that the bitch in that case will develop milk trouble in the shape of tumors or abscesses, and she will never be the same animal again after mischief of this kind has once been brought on.

Supposing, however, that a milk abscess should form, the proper treatment to adopt is to use hot fomentations continuously. If the matter is taken in hand early enough, it will, of course, be possible to draw the milk away, and this will avoid the possibility of any abscess forming. Should, however, the latter unfortunately occur, it is certainly advisable that qualified advice should be taken and a veterinary surgeon should be asked to deal with it, lest it should ultimately involve recourse to an operation. Hot fomentations or poultices, in any case, should be applied until the arrival of the veterinarian, as no possible harm can be done by this means.