POINTS
HEAD 10
Round and broad across and between the eyes, of medium size;
nose rather short; ears ordinary size, but looking small,
being surrounded with long hair, which should also be long on
the forehead and lips.
EYES 10
Orange-yellow for brown and blue tabby, very slightly tinted
with green; deep, bright yellow for silver; gray, and golden
yellow for white tabby; large, full, round, or almond-shaped,
and very lustrous.
RUFF OR FRILL 10
Large, very long, flowing, and lion-like, extending over the
shoulders, and covering the neck and chest thickly.
FUR 10
Very long everywhere, mostly so along the back, sides, legs,
and feet, making tufts between the toes, and points at the
apex of the ears.
QUALITY OF FUR 10
Fine, silky, and very soft in the Persian, with slightly
woolly texture in the Angora, and still more so in the
Russian.
TAIL 10
In the Persian the hair long and silky throughout, but
somewhat longer at the base; Angora like the brush of a fox,
but longer in the hair; Russian equally long in the hair, but
more full at the end; tail shorter, rather blunt, like a
tassel.
SIZE, SHAPE, AND CONDITION 10
Large, small in bone, looking larger than it really is on
account of the length of the hair; body long; legs short;
tail carried low, not over the back, which is a fault; fur
clean and glossy, even, smooth, and flakey, which gives an
appearance of quality.
COLOUR 15
Ground colour, deep, rich reddish-brown, more rufous on the
nose, ears, mane, and inside the legs and belly; tip of nose
red, edged with black; blue, bright, deep, rich, even, dark
colour; silver, lighter and equally even tint; and so light
gray; and white ground, pure white.
MARKINGS 15
Jet-black lines, not too broad, scarcely so wide as the
ground colour seen between, so as to give a light and
brilliant effect. When the black lines are broader than the
colour space, it is a defect, being then black marked with
colour, instead of colour marked with black. The lines must
be clear, sharp, and well-defined, in every way distinct,
having no mixture of the ground colour. Head, legs, and tail
regularly marked, the latter with rings, the lines on the
throat and chest being in no way blurred or broken, but
clear, graceful, and continuous; lips, cushions of feet, the
backs of the hind-legs and the ear-points black.
---
TOTAL 100
In chocolate, mahogany, red, or yellow long-haired tabbies, the markings
and colours to be the same as in the short-haired cats; but in points to
count the same as the last in all qualities.
Spotted tabbies to count the same in all points, the only difference
being that instead of stripes, the cats are marked with clear,
well-defined spots.
All fancy colours to be shown in the "any other variety of _colour_"
class, and judged according to quality of coat, beauty, and rarity of
colouring or marking. The small, thin, broken-banded tabby should go in
this class, as also those with thin, light, wavy lines.
All foreign, wild, or other cats of peculiar form to go into the class
for "any other variety or species."
[Illustration: "SYLVIE."]
DISEASES OF CATS.
Cats, like many other animals, both wild and domestic, are subject to
diseases, several being fatal, others yielding to known curatives; many
are of a very exhaustive character, some are epidemic, others are
undoubtedly contagious--the two worst of these are what is known as the
distemper and the mange. Through the kindness of friends I am enabled to
give recipes for medicines considered as useful, or, at any rate,
tending to abate the severity of the attack in the one, and utterly
eradicate the other. Care should always be taken on the first symptoms
of illness to remove the animal at once from contact with others. My
kind friend, Dr. George Fleming, C.B., principal veterinary surgeon of
the army, has courteously sent me a copy of a remedy for cat distemper
from his very excellent work, "Animal Plagues: their History, Nature,
and Prevention," which I give in full.
CATARRHAL FEVERS.
"Cats are, like some other of the domesticated animals, liable to be
attacked by two kinds of Catarrhal Fever, one of which is undoubtedly
very infectious--like distemper in dogs--and the other may be looked
upon as the result of a simple cold, and therefore not transmissible.
The first is, of course, the most severe and fatal, and often prevails
most extensively, affecting cats generally over wide areas, sometimes
entire continents being invaded by it. From A.D. 1414 up to 1832 no
fewer than nineteen widespread outbreaks of this kind have been
recorded. The most notable of these was in 1796, when the cats in
England and Holland were generally attacked by the disease, and in the
following year when it had spread over Europe and extended to America;
in 1803, it again appeared in this country and over a large part of the
European continent.
"The symptoms are intense fever, prostration, vomiting, diarrhoea,
sneezing, cough, and profuse discharge from the nose and eyes. Sometimes
the parotid glands are swollen, as in human mumps. Dr. Darwin, of Derby,
uncle to Charles Darwin, thought it was a kind of mumps, and therefore
designated it _Parotitis felina_.
"The treatment consists in careful nursing and cleanliness, keeping the
animal moderately warm and comfortable. The disease rapidly produces
intense debility, and therefore the strength should be maintained from
the very commencement by frequent small doses of strong beef-tea, into
which one grain of quinine has been introduced twice a day, a small
quantity of port wine (from half to one teaspoonful) according to the
size of the cat, and the state of debility. If there is no diarrhoea,
but constipation, a small dose of castor oil or syrup of buckthorn
should be given. Solid food should not be allowed until convalescence
has set in. Isolation, with regard to other cats, and disinfection,
should be attended to.
"Simple Catarrh demands similar treatment. Warmth, cleanliness, broth,
and beef-tea, are the chief items of treatment, with a dose of castor
oil if constipation is present. If the discharge obstructs the nostrils
it should be removed with a sponge, and these and the eyes may be bathed
with a weak lotion of vinegar and water."
"As regards inoculation for distemper," Dr. Fleming says, "it has been
tried, but the remedy is often worse than the disease, at least as bad
as the natural disease. _Vaccination_ has also been tried, but it is
_valueless_. Probably inoculation with cultivated or modified virus
would be found a good and safe preventative."
I was anxious to know about this, as inoculation used to be the practice
with packs of hounds.
It will be observed that Dr. Fleming treats the distemper as a kind of
influenza, and considers one of the most important things is to keep up
the strength of the suffering animal. Other members of the R.C.V.S.,
whom I have consulted, have all given the same kind of advice, not only
prescribing for the sick animal wine, but brandy, as a last resource, to
arouse sinking vitality. Mr. George Cheverton, of High Street, Tunbridge
Wells, who is very successful with animals and their diseases, thinks it
best to treat them homoeopathically. The following is what he
prescribes as efficacious for some of the most dire complaints with
which cats are apt to be afflicted.
WORMS.
For a full-grown cat give 3 grains of santonine every night for a week
or 10 days; it might be administered in milk, or given in a small piece
of beef or meat of any kind. After the course give an aperient powder.
MANGE.
The best possible remedies for this disease are arsenicum, 2^{x}
trituration, and sulphur, 2^{x} trituration, given on alternate days, as
much as will lie on a threepenny piece, night and morning, administered
as above.
A most useful lotion is acid sulphurous, 1 oz. to 5 oz. of water, adding
about a teaspoonful of glycerine, and sponging the affected parts twice
or thrice daily.
COLDS.
The symptoms are twofold, usually there is constant sneezing and
discharge from the nose. Aconite, 1^{x} tincture, 1 drop given every 3
hours in alternation with arsenicum, 3^{x} trituration, will speedily
remove the disease. Should there be stuffing of the nose, and difficult
breathing, give mercurius biniod., 3^{x} trituration, a dose every 3 or
4 hours.
COUGHS.
The short, hard, dry cough will always give way to treatment with
belladonna, 3^{x} trituration, 3 grains every 3 or 4 hours.
For the difficult breathing, with rattling in the chest and bronchial
tubes, with distressing cough, antimonium tartaric., 2^{x}, grains iij
every 2, 3 or 4 hours, according to the severity of the symptoms.
DISTEMPER.
Early symptoms should be noted and receive prompt attention; this will
often cut short the duration of the malady. The first indications
usually are a disinclination to rest in the usual place, seeking a dark
corner beneath a sofa, etc. The eyes flow freely, the nose after
becoming hard and dry becomes stopped with fluid, the tongue parched,
and total aversion to food follows. The breathing becomes short and
laboured, the discharges are offensive, and the animal creeps away into
some quiet corner to die--if before this its life has not been
mercifully ended.
On discovery of _first_ symptoms, give 2 drops aconite and arsenicum in
alternation every 3 hours. When the nose becomes dry, and the eye
restless and glaring, give belladonna.
CANKER OF EAR.
When internal, drop into the affected ear, night and morning, 3 or 5
drops of the following mixture:
Tincture of Hydrastis Canadensis 2 drachms.
Carbolic Acid (pure) 1/2 "
Glycerine, to make up to 2 oz.
If external, paint with the mixture the affected parts.
APERIENT.
Get a chemist to rub down a medium-size croton bean with about 40 grains
of sugar of milk, and divide into four powders. One of these powders
given in milk usually suffices. Large cats often require two powders.
The dose might be repeated if necessary.
Dose, when drops are ordered, 2 drops.
" " trituration is ordered, 2 to 3 grains.
REMEDIES AND STRENGTHENING MEDICINES.
Aconite, 1^{x} tincture. Arsenicum, 2^{x} trituration.
Antimonium tartaricum, 2^{x} trituration. Belladonna, 3^{x}
trituration. Mercurius biniodatus, 3^{x} trituration.
Hydrastis canadensis, [Greek: phi] tincture. Sulphur, 2^{x}
trituration. Santonine.
Mr. Frank Upjohn, of Castelnau, Barnes, has also kindly forwarded me his
treatment of some few of the cat ailments. Mindful of the old proverb
that "In a multitude of counsellors there is wisdom," I place all before
my friends, and those of the cat, that they may select which remedy they
deem best:
DISTEMPER.
Take yellow basilicon, 1 oz.; flowers of sulphur, 1/2 oz.; oil of juniper,
3 drachms. Mix for ointment. Then give sulphide of mercury, 3 grains,
two or three times on alternate nights.
PURGATIVE.
Nothing like castor oil for purgation; half the quantity of syrup of
buckthorn, if necessary, may be added.
WORMS.
Two or three grains of santonine in a teaspoonful of castor oil, for two
or three days.
CATARRH.
Cold in the eyes and sneezing may be relieved by sweet spirits of nitre,
1 drachm; minocrerus spirit, 3 drachms; antimony wine, 1 drachm; water
to 1-1/2 oz. Mix. Give 1 teaspoonful every two or three hours.
FLEAS, AND IRRITATION OF SKIN.
Two drachms pure carbolic acid to 6 oz. of water well mixed for a
lotion, and apply night and morning.
EYE OINTMENT.
Red oxide of mercury, 12 grains; spermaceti ointment, 1 oz. Mix.
The above prescription was given to me many years ago by the late Dr.
Walsh (Stonehenge), and I have found it of great service, both for my
own eyes, also those of animals and birds. Wash the eyes carefully with
warm water, dry off with a soft silk handkerchief, and apply a little of
the ointment. Dr. Walsh informed me that he deemed it excellent for
canker in the ear, but of that I have had no experience.
FOR MANGE.
In the early stages of mange, flowers of sulphur mixed in vaseline, and
rubbed in the coat of the cat, is efficacious, giving sulphur in the
milk, the water, and on the food of the patient; also give vegetable
diet.
Another remedy: give a teaspoonful of castor oil; next day give raw
meat, dusted over with flowers of sulphur. Also give sulphur in milk.
If there are any sore places, bathe with lotion made from camphorated
oil in which some sulphur is mixed. Oil, 2 oz.; camphor, 1/4 oz.; sulphur,
a teaspoonful.
As a rule, when the animal is of value, either intrinsically or as a
pet, the best plan is to consult a practitioner, well versed in the
veterinary science and art, especially when the cat appears to suffer
from some obscure disease, many of which it is very difficult to detect,
unless by the trained and practised eye. Of all the ailments, both of
dogs and cats, distemper is the worst to combat, and is so virulent and
contagious that I have thought it well to offer remedies that are at
least worthy of a trial, though when the complaint has firm hold, and
the attack very severe, the case is generally almost hopeless,
especially with high-bred animals.
POISON.
It is not generally known that the much-admired laburnum contains a
strong poison, and is therefore an exceedingly dangerous plant. All its
parts--blossoms, leaves, seeds, even the bark and the roots--are charged
with a poison named _cytisin_, which was discovered by Husemann and
Marms in 1864.
A small dose of juice infused under the skin is quite sufficient to kill
a cat or a dog. Children have died from eating the seeds, of which ten
or twelve were sufficient to cause death. The worst of it is that there
is _no remedy_, no antidote against this poison. How many cases have
happened before the danger was discovered is of course only a matter of
conjecture, as few would suspect the cause to come from the lovely plant
that so delights the eye.
It has, however, long been known to gamekeepers and others, and used by
them to destroy "vermin." When quite a boy I remember an old uncle of
mine telling me to beware of it even in gathering the blossom.
[Illustration]
THE WILD CAT OF BRITAIN.
The wild cat is said to be now extinct in England, and only found in
some of the northern parts of Scotland, or the rocky parts of the
mountains of the south, where I am informed it may yet occasionally be
seen. The drawing I give above was made from one sent to the first
Crystal Palace Cat Show in 1871, by the Duke of Sutherland, from
Sutherlandshire. It was caught in a trap by the fore-leg, which was much
injured, but not so as to prevent its moving with great alacrity, even
with agility, endeavouring frequently to use the claws of both fore-feet
with a desperate determination and amazing vigour. It was a very
powerful animal, possessing great strength, taking size into
consideration, and of extraordinary fierceness.
Mr. Wilson, the manager of the show, though an excellent naturalist,
tried to get it out of the thick-barred, heavy-made travelling box in
which it arrived, into one of the ordinary wire show-cages, thinking it
would appear to better advantage; but in this endeavour he was
unsuccessful, the animal resisting all attempts to expel it from the one
into the other, making such frantic and determined opposition that the
idea was abandoned. This was most fortunate, for the wire cages then in
use were afterwards found unequal to confining even the ordinary
domestic cat, which, in more than one instance, forced the bars apart
sufficiently to allow of escape. As it was, the wild cat maintained its
position, sullenly retiring to one corner of the box, where it scowled,
growled, and fought in a most fearful and courageous manner during the
time of its exhibition, never once relaxing its savage watchfulness or
attempts to injure even those who fed it. I never saw anything more
unremittingly ferocious, nor apparently more untamable.
It was a grand animal, however, and most interesting to the naturalist,
being, even then, scarcely ever seen; if so, only in districts far away
and remote from the dwellings of civilisation. Yet I believe I saw one
among the rocks of Bodsbeck, in Dumfriesshire, many years ago, though of
this I am not certain, as it was too far away for accurate observation
before it turned and stood at bay, and on my advancing it disappeared.
The animal shown at the Crystal Palace was very much lighter in colour,
and with less markings than those in the British Museum, the tail
shorter, and the dark rings fewer, the lines on the body not much deeper
in tint than the ground colour, excepting on the forehead and the inside
of the fore-legs, which were darker, rather a light red round the mouth,
and almost white on the chest--which appears to be usual with the wild
cat; the eyes were yellow-tinted green, the tips of the ears, the lips,
cushions of the feet, and a portion of the back part of the hind-legs,
black; the markings were, in short, irregular thin lines, and in no way
resembled those of the ordinary black-marked domestic tabby cat,
possessing little elegance of line--in character it was bolder, having
a rugged sturdiness, being stronger and broader built, the fore-arms
thick, massive, and endowed with great power, with long, curved claws,
the feet were stout, sinewy, and strong; altogether it was a very
peculiar, interesting, and extraordinary animal. What became of it I
never learned.
In 1871 and 1872, a wild cat was exhibited at the Crystal Palace Cat
Show, by the Earl of Hopetoun, aged three years, also some hybrid
kittens, the father of which was a long-haired cat, the mother a sandy,
by a wild cat out of a long-haired tabby, which proves, if proof were
wanting, that such hybrids breed freely either with hybrids, the
domestic, or the wild cat.
Mr. Frank Buckland also exhibited a hybrid between the wild and tame
cat.
The Zoological Society, a pair of wild cats which did not appear to be
British.
In 1873, Mr. A. H. Senger sent a fine specimen of hybrid, between the
domestic cat and Scotch wild cat.
An early description of the wild cat in England is to be found in an old
book on Natural History, and copied into a work on "Menageries,"
"Bartholomoeus de Proprietatibus Rerum," which was translated into
English by Thomas Berthlet, and printed by Wynkyn de Worde as early as
1498. There is a very interesting description of the cat, which gives
nearly all the properties of the wild animal in an odd and very amusing
way. It states: "He is most like to the leopard, and hath a great
mouthe, and saw teeth and sharp, and long tongue, and pliant, thin, and
subtle; and lappeth therewith when he drinketh, as other beasts do, that
have the nether lip shorter than the over; for, by cause of unevenness
of lips, such beasts suck not in drinking, but lap and lick, as
Aristotle saith and Plinius also. And he is a full lecherous beast in
youth, swift, pliant, and merry, and leapeth, and riseth on all things
that is tofore him; and is led by a straw, and playeth therewith, and is
a right heavy beast in age, and full sleepy, and lieth slyly in wait for
mice; and is ware where they bene more by smell than by sight, and
hunteth and riseth on them in privy places; and when he taketh a mouse,
he playeth therewith, and eateth him after the play; and is a cruel
beast when he is wild, and dwelleth in woods, and hunteth there small
wild beasts as conies and hares."
The next appears in John Bossewell's "Workes of Armorie," folio, A.D.
1597:
"This beaste is called a Musion, for that he is enimie to Myse
and Rattes. He is slye and wittie, and seeth so sharpely that he
overcommeth darknes of the nighte by the shyninge lyghte of his
eyne. In shape of body he is like unto a Leoparde, and hathe a
great mouth. He dothe delight that he enioyeth his libertye; and
in his youthe he is swifte, plyante, and merye. He maketh a
rufull noyse and a gastefull when he profereth to fighte with an
other. He is a cruell beaste when he is wilde, and falleth on his
owne feete from most high places: and vneth is hurt therewith.
"When he hath a fayre skinne, he is, as it were, prowde thereof,
and then he goeth faste aboute to be seene...."
Those who have seen the wild cat of Britain, especially in
confinement, will doubtless be ready to endorse this description
as being "true to the life," even to the "rufull noyse," or his
industry in the way of fighting. Yet even this old chronicler
mentions the fact of his being "wilde," clearly indicating a
similar animal in a state of domestication. Later on we find
Maister Salmon giving an account of the cat in his
strangely-curious book, "Salmon's Compleat English Physician; or,
the Druggist's Shop Opened," A.D. 1693, in which he relates that
marvellous properties exist in the brain, bones, etc., of the
cat, giving recipes mostly cruel and incredible. He describes
"Catus the Cat" in such terms as these:
"_The Cat of Mountain_, all which are of one nature, and agree
much in one shape, save as to their magnitude, the _wild Cat_
being larger than the _Tame_ and the _Cat of Mountain_ much
larger than the _wild Cat_. It has a broad Face, almost like a
Lyon, short Ears, large Whiskers, shining Eyes, short, smooth
Hair, long Tail, rough Tongue, and armed on its Feet, with
Claws, being a crafty, subtle, watchful Creature, very loving and
familiar with Man-kind, the mortal enemy to the Rat, Mouse, and
all sorts of Birds, which it seizes on as its prey. As to its
Eyes, Authors say that they shine in the Night, and see better at
the full, and more dimly at the change of the moon; as also that
the Cat doth vary his Eyes with the Sun, the Apple of its Eye
being long at Sun rise, round towards Noon, and not to be seen at
all at night, but the whole Eye shining in the night. These
appearances of the Cats' Eyes I am sure are true, but whether
they answer to the times of the day, I never observed." "Its
flesh is not usually eaten, yet in some countries it is accounted
an excellent dish."
Mr. Blaine, in his excellent and useful work, the "Encyclopaedia of Rural
Sports"--a book no sportsman should be without--thus discusses the
origin of the domestic cat compared with the British wild cat: