pet indeed; she is exceedingly gentle and winning, and I'm sure would do
anything rather than scratch a child. But the less children have to do
with her the better, for all that: for this simple reason--she is a cat
of delicate constitution--all that ever I knew were so, at least, and I
daresay my readers can corroborate what I say.
_Merits_.--Their extreme gentleness is one merit, and their tractability
and teachability are others. A pure blue cat is very rare, and they are
greatly prized by their owners.
_Points_.--1. _Size_: They are rather under-sized, never being much
larger than the pure tortoiseshell.
2. _Head_: The head is small and round, and the eyes are prettiest when
of a beautiful orange-yellow. The nose should be tipped with black.
3. _Pelage_: Moderately long and delightfully soft and sheeny.
4. _Colour_: This is the principal point. It is, as I said, a nice
cool, slate-grey, and, like the black cat, our blue pussy must be all
one colour, without a hair of white anywhere. _Even her whiskers_ must
be of the same colour as her fur.
Points of the Blue Cat.
Size, 5.
Head, 5.
Pelage, 10.
Colour, 30.
Total, 50.
We now come to the Tabbies--the real old English cats--the playmates of
our infant days and sharers of our oatmeal porridge. They are the
commonest of all cats, and justly so, too, for there is hardly anything
they don't know, and nothing they can't be taught, bar conic sections,
perhaps, the _Pons Asinorum_, and a few trifles of that ilk. You will
find a tabby cat wherever you go, and you will find her equally at home
wherever she is--whether sitting on the footstool on the cosy hearthrug,
singing duets with the tea-kettle; catching birds and rabbits in the
woods, or mice in the barn; conducting a concert for your especial
benefit on the neighbouring tiles at twelve o'clock at night; examining
the flower seeds you lately sowed in the garden to see if they are
budding yet; or locked, quite by accident, into the pigeon loft.
The first cat of the Tabby kind which claims our attention is the Red or
Sandy Tabby.
This is a very beautiful animal, and quite worthy of a place in the best
drawing-rooms in the land. Although they do not grow to the immense
size of some of our brown tabbies, still they are better hunters, much
fiercer, and of a hardier constitution. They much prefer out-of-door
sport, and will attack and slay even the polecat and weasel; and
instances have been known of their giving battle to the wild cat
himself.
_Merits_.--They are the prettiest of pets, and the honestest of all cat
kind. They are such good ratters that neither mice nor rats will
frequent the house they inhabit.
_Points_.--1. _Size_: They ought to be as large as possible, and not
clumsy; they are generally neater cats all over than the Brown Tabbies.
2. _Head_: The head should be large and broad, with rather shortish
ears, well placed, and the face ought to beam with intelligence and good
nature. The eyes should be deep set, and a nice yellow colour.
3. _Pelage_: The coat is generally short in nearly all the Tabbies, but
ought to be sleek and glossy.
4. _Colour and markings_: The colour is a light sandy red, barred and
striped with red of a darker, deeper hue. No white. The stripes or
markings ought to be the same on both sides, and even the legs ought to
be marked with cross bars, and one beautiful swirl, at least, across the
chest. This is called the Lord Mayor's Chain, and when the cat has two,
give him extra points.
Points of the Red Tabby.
Size, 10.
Head, 5.
Colour and markings, 30.
Pelage, 5.
Total, 50.
Next comes the Brown Tabby.
This is the largest of all breeds of cats, fourteen, seventeen, and even
twenty pounds a common weight. They are also, when well marked and
striped, exceedingly beautiful. Of all cats they are the best adapted
for house-hunting, being less addicted to wandering than some breeds.
_Merits_.--Their hunting proclivities. Their fondness for children is
sometimes quite remarkable. I have known many instances of Brown Tom
Tabbies, so fierce that scarce any one dare lay a finger on them
unscathed, but a little child of four years of age could do anything
with them, lug them about anyhow, and even carry them head down, over
its shoulder by the tail. They are, moreover, nice, loving,
kind-hearted pets, and exceedingly fond of their master and mistress.
They are the cats of all cats to make a family circle look cosy and
complete around the fire of a winter's night.
_Points_.--1. _Size_: It will be observed below that I give fifteen
points for size. The bigger your Brown Tom Tabby is the better he
looks, _if_ the one-half of it isn't fat, for if so he won't be
graceful, and that is one essential point. I can find a Tabby at this
moment who weighs over twenty pounds, and who will spring from the
floor, without scrambling, mind you, clean on to the top of the parlour
door, and that is little short of seven feet. I like to see a tabby
with a graceful carriage then, and shortish in forelegs, with
beautifully well-fitted and rounded limbs, and with a tiger-like walk
and mien.
2. _Head_: Very large and broad and round, ears short, eyes dark, and
muzzle broad, not lean, and thin and long. This latter certainly gives
him more killing power, but it brings him too near the wild cat. I
don't care how savagely he behaves in a cage at a show, for well I know
he is quite a different animal at his own fireside, asleep on the rug in
little Alice's arms, or purring in bed on old Maid Mudge's virgin bosom.
3. _Colour_: A nice dark brown or grey ground, and the workings as
deeply black as possible. No white.
4. _Markings_: Like a Bengal tiger, and even prettier. The tail and
legs likewise barred. The head striped perpendicularly down the brow,
and the marks going swirling round the cheeks. Nose black or brown, and
the eyes as dark as possible, and full of fire.
5. _Pelage_: Short and glossy.
Points of the Brown Tabby.
Size, 15.
Head, 5.
Colour, 10.
Markings, 15.
Pelage, 5.
Total, 50.
Lastly, we have the Silver Tabby and the Spotted Tabby, and in almost
all points these may be judged alike.
The Silver Tabby is a sweetly pretty cat. Perhaps the prettiest of all
pussies. They are a size smaller than even the best Red Tabbies, and
are infinitely more graceful, and quicker in all their motions. They
are proud, elegant, aristocratic cats, fond to love and quick to resent
an injury.
_Merits_.--Their special merit is their exceeding beauty. They are
somewhat rare, however. Here is a bit of advice to any one who would
like to have four really pretty cats about the house, each to show the
others to advantage. Get a pure white kitten, a pure black one, a red
tabby, and a silver ditto. Take great care in the training of them, be
careful in feeding and housing them, and you will have your reward.
The Spotted Tabby is also very pretty. He ought to be a good, sizeable
animal, with broad head, short ears, and a loving face; ground colour a
dark grey, one dark stripe, and down the spine, and diverging from this
stripes of black broken up into spots.
_Points_.--The Silver Tabby ought to be--
1. _In size_, less than or about the size of the Red Tabby, and very
quick and graceful.
2. _Head_: Large and shapely, but not so blunt as the Brown Tabby's;
ears short and eyes light.
3. _Colour and markings_: Of a deep Aberdeen granite, grey in the
ground-work, and the markings very dark and beautifully arranged. Don't
forget the Mayor's Chains.
4. _Pelage_: Longish, if anything; but not so long as to make the judge
suspect crossing with the Persian.
Points of Silver and Spotted Tabbies.
Size, 10.
Head, 5.
Colour and markings, 30.
Pelage, 5.
Total, 50.
There are one or two fancy cats I have not mentioned, as the
Red-and-white, etc; but I believe I have said enough to make anyone,
with a little study and attention, a good judge of the points and
qualities of the different breeds of the English domestic cat.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
ASIATIC CATS.
When I was a little boy at school, floundering through Herodotus, and
getting double doses of fum-fum daily for my Anabasis--for my old
teacher, when he couldn't get enough Greek into one end of me, took
jolly good care to put it in at the other--there was no man I had
greater respect for than Alexander the Great, owing to his having done
that Gordian knot business so neatly. I practised afterwards on the
dominie's tawse (i.e., the fum-fum strap); I tied a splendid knot on it,
and then cut it through with a jack-knife; but, woe's me! the plaguy
dominie caught me in the very act, and--and I had to take my meals
standing for a week.
But ever since then I have always been a don at knots; and I give myself
no small credit, whether you do or not, reader, for the dexterous manner
in which I have polished off the cat-classification knot. There it lay
before me, interminable, intricate, incensing; and bother the end could
I see to it at all at all. "Draw the sword of Scotland." Swish! There
it lies, the short-haired European pussies on the one hand, and the
Asiatic or long-haired on the other.
Among these latter you will find exactly the same colours, and the same
variety of markings, as among the European cats proper. We give their
points in a general way.
1. _Size_: The blue cats and the pure white are usually of the smallest
dimensions; next comes the black, and lastly the tabbies. Some of these
latter grow to immense sizes, and are animals of a beauty which is at
times magnificent. The cat that belonged to Troppman, the distinguished
French murderer, and now, or lately, possessed by Mr Hincks, of
Birmingham, is worth going a day's journey to behold. Yet, although
very large, they are very graceful, too, and can spring enormous
distances. Fierce enough, too, they can be when there is any occasion,
especially to strangers or dogs.
2. _Head_: The heads of the white, blue, and black ought to be small,
round, and sweet, the expression of the countenance being singularly
kind and loving. The heads of the tabbies ought to be broad and large,
and not snouty. The whiskers of both ought to be very long, and of a
colour to match the general tone. The ears have this peculiarity--they
are slightly bent downwards and forwards, which gives rather a pensive
character to their beauty. They are, moreover, graced by the _aural
tuft_. The eyes must also match; and this is what I like to see--a blue
eye in a white Persian, a hazel in a black, and a lovely sea-green in a
tabby.
3. The _Pelage_: The pelage is long (the longer the better), especially
around the neck and a-down the sides; and a good brush, gracefully
swirled and carried, is an essential point of beauty. The fur ought to
be as silken as possible; this shows that the cat is not only well-bred,
but well-fed and taken care of.
4. _Markings_: They ought to be as distinct as possible, as pretty as
possible, and evenly laid on with reference to the two sides.
5. _Colour_: All white in the pure white, all black in the black, and
so on with the other distinct colours; and for the tabbies the same
rules hold good as those given for short-haired tabbies.
_General rules for judging Asiatic Cats_.--First scan your cats,
remembering the difference in size you are to expect in tabbies from the
others. Next see to the length and texture of the pelage--its
glossiness, and its freedom from cinder-holes, or the reverse. Then
note the colour, and the evenness or unevenness of the markings. The
head most be carefully noted, as to its size and shape, the colour of
the eyes and nose, ditto the whiskers; mark, too, the _lay_ of the ear,
and its _aural tuft_. In the tabbies the _Mayor's Chain_ should swirl
around the chest. Lastly, take a glance at the expression of face.
_Merits of the Asiatic Cats_.--I think every cat-fancier will bear me
out in saying that, although more delicate in constitution than our
European short-hairs, and hardly so keen at mousing, ratting, or so
fierce in fighting larger game, there can be no doubt of it they make
far nicer pets. They are extremely affectionate and loving in their
dispositions, and so fond of other animals, such as dogs, pet rabbits,
guinea-pigs, etc. Their love for a kind master or mistress only ends
with life itself. Then they are so beautiful and so cleanly, and, if
kept in a clean room, take such care of their lovely pelage, that I only
wonder there are not more of them bred than there are. They are a
little more expensive at first. You can seldom pick up a good kitten at
a show under one pound sterling--but if you do succeed in getting one or
two nice ones, I am quite certain you will never have to repent it, if
you only do them ordinary justice.
It will be well to end this chapter here; but before doing so, I beg to
make one or two remarks, which I feel sure will interest secretaries of
coming cat-shows.
1. In all shows give the cats nice roomy pens, whether of wood or zinc.
2. Attend well to the ventilation, and more especially to disinfection.
3. Attend to the feeding, and, at a more than one-day show, cats ought
to have _water_ as well as milk. I think boiled lights, cut into small
pieces, with a very small portion of bullock's liver and bread soaked,
is the best food; but I have tried Spratt's Patent Cat Food with a great
number of cats, both of my own and those of friends, and have nearly
always found it agree; and at a cat-show it would, I believe, be both
handy and cleanly.
4. On no account let the pussies lie on the bare wood or zinc, but
provide each with a cushion of some sort, and have a small box filled
with earth or sand, in each pen. _Sawdust in a cat's cage is an
abomination_. It soils the fur, and gets into the food-dish, and
renders pussy simply miserable.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
ON DIET, DRINK, AND HOUSING.
"Throw physic to the dogs," said the immortal William. That was a good
many years ago, and dogs then were of very little value, and little used
either to physic or good treatment; but nowadays we have found out that
the possession of even a cat, entails upon us the duty and
responsibility of seeing she is well cared for while in health, and
properly treated in sickness. I recommended small doses of quinine and
steel to an unwell pussy the other day.
"Ma conscience!" cried her owner; "gie medicine to a cat! Wha ever
heard o' the like?"
I'm sorry that woman was Scotch, but glad to say I reasoned even her
round, and her cat is now as sleek and lively as the day is long.
Most, if not all the diseases which feline flesh is heir to, are brought
on by bad feeding, starvation, or exposure to the weather, especially
the cruel custom many people have of leaving their poor cats out all
night, to seek for food and shelter for themselves. These are the cats
who make night hideous with their howling, who tear up beautiful
flowerbeds, rob pigeon-lofts, murder valuable rabbits, and, in a general
way, do all they can to bring into disrepute the whole feline race. I
declare to you honestly, there is as much difference between one of
these night-prowlers and a well-cared-for cat, as there is between one
of the lean and mangy curs who do scavengers' duty in Cairo, and a
champion Scottish Collie.
Some men will tell you that it is unmanly to love or care for a cat;
just as if it _could_ be unmanly to love anything that God made and
gifted with sagacity, wisdom, and undying love for all the human race!
But I can point you out scores of men who are good sportsmen, fearless
huntsmen, and fond of every manly sport--ay, and men, too, who are at
home on the stormiest ocean, and never pale when fired upon in anger--
who can both pride and prize a favourite cat. At Exeter, not long
since, out of thirty-nine owners of cats, all were men except nine, and
of these nine seven were married, and the two others were young ladies,
while the owner of the first-prize cat _was a gallant soldier_. So much
for the notion that only old maids care for cats.
Before going on to describe the diseases which afflict pussydom, we must
give a few general instructions regarding her treatment while well.
And first, as to her food. Pussy will catch a mouse, and after playing
with it for half an hour in a way which is very cruel, but no doubt
makes it very tender, she will generally kill and eat it; but it by no
means follows that mice are the cat's natural food. The majority of
cats catch mice more for the love of sport than anything else. Nothing,
therefore, is more cruel than to starve poor pussy, with the erroneous
idea that it will make her a good mouser; it is just the reverse. My
Phiz bids me say that mice-catching is long, weary, anxious work at the
best, and she is quite certain she would die if compelled to make a
living at it.
Feed your pussy well, then, if you would have her be faithful and
honest, and keep your house clear of mice and rats.
I have lived a good deal in apartments in my time, and I have always
avoided places where there was a lean and hungry-looking cat. It is a
sure sign of irregularity and bad housekeeping.
Twice a day is often enough, but not too often, to feed your cat, and it
is better to let her have her allowance put down to her at once, instead
of feeding her with tid-bits. Nothing can be better for pussy's
breakfast than oatmeal porridge and sweet milk. _Entre nous_, reader,
nothing could be better for your own breakfast. Oatmeal is the food of
both mind and matter, the food of the hero and the poet; it was the food
of Wallace, Bruce, and Walter Scott, and has been the food of brave men
and good since their day.
"Oh! were I able to rehearse
Scotch oatmeal's praise in proper verse,
I'd blaw it oot as loud and fierce,
As piper's drones could blaw, man."
But I cannot wonder for a single moment at this favourite Scottish food
being in disrepute in England, because hardly anyone knows how to make
it. Our cook at sea once undertook to supply our mess with a daily
matutinal meal of porridge, and of oatcakes too. He was sure he could
make them, because his "father had once lived in Scotland."
Nevertheless, I gave him some additional information, and we, the
Scottish officers, of whom there were two or three besides myself, were
in high glee, and took an extra turn on deck the first morning, to give
us a good appetite for the great coming double event. Then down we
bolted to our porridge. Porridge! save the name, such a slimy, thin,
disgusting mess you never saw! Well might our chief engineer call out:
"Tak' it awa', steward, tak' it awa'; it would scunner (sicken) the
de'il himsel'!"
"But, hurrah!" I cried, "there's the oatcakes to come. Steward, where
are the oatcakes?"
The steward lifted the cover from the dish on which was wont to repose
our delicious "'spatch cock," or savoury curry, and there, lo and
behold! half-a-dozen things of the shape and thickness of a ship's
biscuit, black, and wet, and steaming, and we were supposed to eat them
_with a knife and fork_! Meanwhile the ham and eggs were fast
disappearing among the Englishmen at the other end of the table, and we
poor Scots had to go without our breakfast, and get laughed at into the
bargain.
But here, now, I'll tell you what I'll do for you, as Cheap Jack says--
I'll give you a receipt by which you shall live a hundred years, and
begin your second century a deal stronger than you began your first.
Buy your meal from the meal-shop--no, not the chemist, my dear--taste it
to make sure it has no "nip;" see, also, that it is fresh, and not
ground before Culloden, and buy it neither too fine nor too round, but
just a _happy medium_. Having thus caught your hare, so to speak, go
home with it, and put a saucepan on a clear fire, with a pint of
beautiful spring-water, into which throw a teaspoonful, or more, of
salt, and a dessert spoonful of oatmeal. This is essential. Then sit
down and read till the water boils. Now take your "spurckle" or
"whurtle" in your right hand--I don't know the English of "spurckle" or
"whurtle," but it is a round piece of wood, rather thicker than your
thumb and not so long as your arm, and you never see it silver-mounted--
and commence operations. You stir in the meal very gradually, to
prevent its getting knotted, and you occasionally pause to let it boil a
moment, and you continue this until the porridge is quite thick, and the
bubbles rise into small mountains ere they escape, with a sound between
a "whitch" and a "whirr," which is in itself a pleasure to listen to.
And now it is ready, and you have only to pour it into a large
soup-plate, sprinkle a little dry oatmeal over the top of it, and set it
aside until reasonably cold. You eat it with a spoon--not a fork--and
with nice sweet milk. "A dish fit for a king," you say; "A dish fit for
the gods!" I resound. Now, having told you all this, I feel I have
well deserved of my country; and I'm not above accepting--a hamper at
any time.
Bread-and-milk, soaked, is the next best thing for pussy; and at dinner
you must let her have a wee bit of meat. Lights, boiled and cut in
pieces, are best, but horseflesh isn't bad; but you mustn't give her too
much of either, or you will induce diarrhoea. Give her fish,
occasionally, as a treat. If pussy is a show cat, a little morsel of
butter, given every day, after dinner, will make her dress her jacket
with surprising regularity.
Now, as to what she drinks, a well-bred cat is always particular, and at
times even fastidious; but two things they must have--water and milk.
They will often prefer the former to the latter. _But do keep their
dishes clean_. Disease is often brought on from neglect of this
precaution. Cats will drink tea or beer, and I have seen a Tom get as
drunk as a duke on oatmeal and whisky. An old lady, an acquaintance of
mine, has a fine red-and-white Tom, and whenever he is ailing she gives
him "just a leetle drop o' brandy, sir." Tom, I think, must have had
two little drops o' brandy yesterday, when he rode my fox-terrier,
Princie, all round the paddock. Those naughty drops o' brandy!
Just one word about housing. There is no more objectionable practice
than that of turning your cat out of doors at night, and none more
certain to engender disease and spoil your pussy's morals. If you have
taken the least pains to train your cat to habits of cleanliness, she
will never misbehave herself. Keep her in at night, then, and you'll
have her in health; keep her in if you want to run no risk of getting
her poisoned; keep her in, and the neighbours will bless you. Don't
lock her into a room, though, unless she has an attic to herself. Let
her have the run of the house from basement to roof. Give pussy a bed
to lie on, or let her find one for herself, which she has a happy knack
of doing, as I daresay more than one of my readers can testify. My
pretty Phiz needn't have kittened in my cocked hat, nevertheless.
So much, then, for the prevention of disease. We will now come to
diseases themselves. But just let me impress upon your mind, reader,
this fact--that attention to your pussy's housing, drink, and the
cleanliness and regularity of her diet, will almost certainly prevent
her from getting sick.
CHAPTER NINE.
THE DISEASES OF CATS.
Before describing the management and treatment of feline ailments, I may
as well mention that there are three different plans usually adopted for
giving a cat medicine. Pussy must first and foremost be caught--not
always an easy job, as the little creature is fond of hiding away when
ill. Take her on your knee, and, as you gently soothe her, envelope
her, all save the head, in a woollen shawl, and then place her in some
one else's arms to hold. Now, if it is a pill or small bolus it must be
dipped in oil, and placed well down behind the tongue, and towards the
roof of the mouth; if it is a powder, it may simply be placed on the
tongue; but the better plan is to mix it first with a little treacle or
glycerine; thirdly, if it is a fluid, the mouth must be held well open,
and the medicine poured down the throat out of a small phial, but only a
few drops at a time.
If your cat is suffering from any severe illness, such as bronchitis,
and you value her, set aside a garret or lumber-room for her
accommodation, for quiet is essential to her recovery. Arrange her bed
as common sense tells you will best suit her comfort; don't forget to
let her have plenty of clean water to drink, and a large box of garden
mould in the far corner of the room. There is only one other little
matter, which must not be overlooked--and, with this, pussy's little
hospital is complete--Grass.