doses, it acts as an emetic; in smaller, as a purgative; its mode of
action being similar in both cases, namely, mechanical irritation of the
muscular and mucous coats of the alimentary canal; this causing
spasmodic contraction of the stomach, or increasing the peristaltic
motions of bowel. Grass also possesses valuable antiscorbutic
properties, and the cat, either in sickness or health, should never want
a supply of it.
If pussy has been out all night at a feline entertainment on the tiles,
and the excitement has produced constipation, her remedy is grass. If
she has made too free in the aviary, and the feathers of the Norwich
cock lie unpleasantly on her stomach, grass is her cure; or if she, at
any time, feels hot or feverish, out into the garden she goes, and a
little grass, taken at intervals, soon makes her feel as fresh as the
lark.
Don't let your cat want grass, then; if you live in a town, and she has
some difficulty in getting it, either procure it for her yourself, or,
what is better, get a boxful of earth, and sow it, and call it pussy's
garden. Now for pussy's ailments.
_Mange_.--All skin diseases in the cat, whether pustular, papular, or
squamous, may be, for convenience' sake, called _mange_. Cats are very
subject to skin diseases, especially long-haired ones, and those who
have been the subjects of bad or careless treatment; for they are always
brought about by poverty of the blood, from under-feeding, or surfeit
from over-eating on dainties. Now I must warn the cat-fancier that
there is no _specific_ for the cure of mange in the cat, and that the
cure will take weeks, and at times even months; he must therefore make
up his mind either to destroy the cat at once, or set about curing her
in earnest. Attend, in the first place, to her diet. It must be
nourishing, but not heating; plenty of good milk, and no meat, unless
she be very thin, when raw meat in small quantities may be given twice a
day. Dress the skin with carbolic oil, washing her carefully next day;
then try equal parts of sulphur-ointment and green iodide of mercury
ointment, mixed with an equal bulk of lard. Give her arsenic
internally--one drop of the _Liquor arsenicalis_ twice a day, in milk,
for a week, then thrice a day for another week, when you must omit it
for a day or two, and then begin again. At the same time give her, once
or twice a week, a little sulphur. Placing brimstone-roll in a cat's
drinking-water is all a mistake, and does no good at all. Sometimes the
disease will only yield to a course of iodide of potash. Give her
half-grain or whole-grain doses, made into little boluses with
breadcrumbs--which any chemist can make for you--twice a day.
_Ulcers_.--Cats are liable to a variety of these, but they can best and
most conveniently be described as of two sorts--_constitutional_ and
_accidental_. The first are the most difficult to cure, and are usually
found on the toes or feet. Confine the cat to the house for a term; any
simple ointment, such as that of zinc, will do for a dressing, as it
will not hurt her if she licks it. Put her on a course of arsenic, as
recommended above; give her, once a week, one grain of calomel, or two
or three grains of grey powder and a little sulphur; and, if the sores
appear sluggish, touch them once a day with blue-stone or nitrate of
silver. Feed her well and regularly.
_Accidental ulcers_ are generally the result of scratches and wounds
received in the hunting-field, or during some slight difference of
opinion with the pussy over the way. They require no internal
treatment. If they look angry, bathe in warm water, or milk and water,
and use, occasionally, a little lotion of sulphate of zinc--ten grains
to four ounces of water, to which add one drachm of tincture of
lavender. If the sores are sluggish, and indisposed to heal kindly,
truss the cat in the shawl, and cauterise with nitrate of silver;
afterwards dress with the mildest mercurial ointment.
_Inflammation of the eyes_ is generally the result of injury or cold
caught from exposure. It may be confined to one eye, or may attack
both. In either case the treatment is the same. Begin by the use of a
purgative--say two or three grains of compound jalap-powder mixed in
glycerine, and given in the morning; give nothing but bread-and-milk to
eat, and let the cat have a little sulphur mixed with butter or lard
every second day. The external treatment consists in bathing frequently
with warm water or weak green tea, and the following lotion, may
afterwards be used with advantage: two grains of sulphate of zinc to an
ounce of water, or one grain of nitrate of silver to the same quantity
of _aqua pura_.
_Simple Maladies_.--If you are fond of your cat you will naturally
easily know when she is getting out of sorts or going to be ill. When
you observe, then, from her appearing dull and apathetic, refusing her
food, taking to dark corners, or sleeping all day, without attempting to
go out of doors; and, especially if her coat is dry; catch her at once,
and give her an emetic. Try a little salt and water first, and, if that
will not act, two grains of sulphate of zinc will, given in luke-warm
water. Afterwards administer as much castor-oil as you would give to a
baby, or two or three grains of grey powder. Such treatment, taken in
time, will often have the effect of cutting short a serious illness.
_Operations_.--Never hesitate to open an abscess if you think, or
rather, if you are about half sure, there is matter in it. Afterwards
foment with warm water. Poultices are unhandy. If the cat's leg has
been severely lacerated and broken in a trap, and there seems little
likelihood of its being able to heal, cut it off. Do it quietly,
gently, and firmly; the ragged edge of the bone may be sawn off with a
table-knife made into a saw with a file. (I cut a man's finger off the
other day with the same instrument. About a fortnight after, the
commander, sitting at luncheon, made the innocent remark: "This knife is
rather blunt, steward. I'm hanged!" he roared, immediately after, as he
dashed the knife through the open port, "I'm hanged if it isn't the
doctor's saw!")
Be sure to leave enough flesh to form a flap to cover the bone; stop the
bleeding with the actual cautery, then sew up and dress the wound in
sticking plaster; only leave room for the egress of matter. Painful
operations of this sort are always better performed under chloroform.
Lay the cat on her side (rolled in the shawl) on some one else's knee,
pour a little chloroform into a handkerchief, and hold it _near, not on_
pussy's nose, or you will smother her. As soon as one portion of the
chloroform gets evaporated supply its place with more; in from five to
ten minutes pussy will be in the land of nod.
_Consumption_.--Consumption in the cat is curable, because it is not
necessarily disease of the lungs. The term is used to denote all sorts
of wasting disease in which pussy falls away in flesh, in coat, and in
general health. The treatment must be careful--regulation of the diet
and attention to her housing, an occasional mild purgative and dose of
sulphur-butter. You may give her raw meat steeped in wine if she will
take it; but remember your great sheet-anchor in the care of all these
cases is _cod-liver oil_, a dessert spoonful every day, or even more.
And you may supplement the treatment most advantageously by giving,
twice a day, the sixth of a grain of quinine.
One word of warning to cat-fanciers before I close this chapter. _Never
ask a veterinary surgeon about your cat_. Their knowledge of canine
ailments is vastly behind the times; their knowledge of cat diseases is
simply and literally _carte blanche_. If you want your pussy killed or
tormented to death, _go to a chemist_. The chemists in this country,
through their ignorance, and impudent assumption of medical knowledge,
slay their thousands annually. Their ignorant patients, however, go
with their eyes open, and place themselves in chemists' hands. Well, as
a paternal government refuses to protect the people, let the chemists go
ahead and poison away; but, if warning of mine will be heard and heeded,
they shall not poison our pussies too.
CHAPTER TEN.
DISEASES OF CATS--CONTINUED.
Probably one of the commonest and most distressing of complaints in the
cat is _diarrhoea_; and what makes it all the more distressing, is the
fact that, instead of receiving sympathy and good treatment in her
distress, she is often harshly treated, kicked about, and thrust out of
doors.
Diarrhoea is usually brought about by want of regular feeding, by
improper food, and exposure to wet and cold. Different sorts of food
will also induce it--such as rancid horseflesh, sour milk, an
over-allowance of fat or liver. If taken at once, the treatment is
generally very successful; if let go on too long, the cat will rapidly
lose flesh; and the advent of dysentery will make it a charity to put
her out of the way.
Give her at first a small teaspoonful of castor-oil, to which add two
drops of solution of muriate of morphia. This will often stop it, and
remove all offending matter from the intestines. If there is no
improvement, repeat the dose on the second morning, and give small doses
of common chalk mixture three times a day, with two drops of laudanum
divided between the three doses. Let her have nothing but bread and
milk to eat, or a little corn-flour, if she will take it; if not, give
her fish--she won't refuse that.
A few drops of solution of lime added to her milk will do good.
If she be very much reduced in weight, and has no appetite, try two
grains of quinine made into twelve pills with breadcrumb: dose, one
three times a day. Or you may give cod-liver oil.
_Dysentery_ is a frequent sequel to badly-treated diarrhoea. It is
simply ulceration of the coats of the bowels, combined with great
emaciation, roughness of coat, dejected look, and loss of appetite.
Unless a very valuable cat, I would not advise you to keep her alive.
You may, however, with patience, bring her round. Give her, then, a
grain or two of calomel occasionally, and quinine three times a day,
unless she exhibits any tendency to fits. House her well, and give her
the most generous of diet--raw meat, eggs, etc, and a little port wine
daily, or even a small quantity of brandy.
_Gastritis_, or inflammation of the stomach, is by no means rare in the
cat, and is frequently the result of poison having been given with the
hope of causing death. The cat simply pines, and gets thin, and refuses
nearly all food, which, when she does eat, causes pain, sickness, and
vomiting. The bowels, too, are often disordered. There is nothing
better, in these cases, than the tris-nitrate of bismuth, from one to
three grains to be placed on the tongue twice or thrice daily. You may
also give occasionally a grain or two of calomel with a little rhubarb
powder.
If there is much emaciation, cod-liver oil may be tried, and a small
allowance of raw meat, cut into little bits; and quinine.
_Bronchitis_.--This is a much more common and dangerous disease than is
generally supposed. It often attacks cats at a particular age--say, six
or eight months--and, indeed, is somewhat analogous to distemper in the
dog. It is ushered in by the usual symptoms of a bad cold--staring
coat, watery eyes, and a slight cough. If the disease be confined to
the lining membranes of the nose and throat, there will be but little
cough, but it usually attacks the bronchi (windpipes) themselves. There
is pain, a slight swelling of the nose, and mattery exudation from both
nose and eyes. After a few days of the acute comes _the chronic stage_.
Pussy is now a very wretched and unhappy little object indeed. She
wanders about the house coughing continually, with her little tongue
protruding. She gets rapidly thin, and refuses all food; and, if not
attended to, generally seeks some quiet, dark corner in which to die.
_Treatment_.--Great good can be done in the first stage by hot
fomentations applied across the face. These must be frequent, or they
are of no avail. Keep pussy indoors, and at first let her diet be low--
simply bread and milk, and occasionally fish. Give her castor-oil
alone, if there is no diarrhoea; if there is, add to the dose two drops
of solution of muriate of morphia.
As the disease gets chronic, and pussy begins to lose flesh, do
everything you can to support her strength by beef-tea, nourishing food,
and wine. If the cough is troublesome, get her the following,
compounded by your own chemist:--R. Extr. conii, Pil. scillae, co. aa.,
gr. xv.; Camph., gr. xx. Mix and make into twenty-four pills, and give
one night and morning.
Latterly give cod-liver oil to complete the cure, which, in this case,
will act like magic.
If the mange is present in any shape, it must be carefully seen to as
directed under that heading.
_Fits_.--These are by no means uncommon among our domestic cats. They
are of various kinds--fainting fits, delirious fits, and convulsive
fits.
The former are usually caused by weakness, exposure to the weather, and
general ill-treatment, or loss of blood. All that is required during
the fit is rest and exposure to a current of cool air. After the fit
you ought to set about getting pussy's bodily health into better
condition by good food, tonics, and oil.
_Delirious_ fits are those in which the poor cat, through mental or
bodily suffering, apparently goes wild, dashing madly through the house,
springing through a window, and finally hiding herself away in some dark
corner. You must catch her and put her into a quiet room, and do all
you can to soothe her. Apply smelling-salts to the nostrils, and bleed.
This operation is easily performed by making a puncture through any of
the small veins inside the ear, and fomenting in hot water. An emetic--
if the cat is not insensible--will, in all probability, do good, as,
both in the delirious and convulsive fits, the stomach and bowels are
generally out of order.
_Convulsive Fits_.--The cat emits a cry as of pain and terror, and falls
down on her side, foaming at the mouth, and with convulsive motions of
all the limbs, accompanied with cries and moans. Usually ends in a
delirious fit. During the fit do nothing at all, except prevent pussy
from injuring herself or any one else; and do this gently and firmly. A
pinch of snuff or smelling-bottle applied to the nose can do no harm.
Afterwards bleed, and keep her in a quiet, cool room, and treat as for
the delirious fit above described. When pussy has recovered--and
especially if she has had a succession of fits--something ought to be
done to prevent their recurrence. If too fat, you must reduce her by
lowering her diet, and giving a little sheep's liver and milt two or
three times a week. If too thin, tonics and raw meat must be given, and
cod-liver oil every morning. If, in spite of this, the fits recur, you
must have recourse to such an alterative as the following, which has
done good in many such cases:--R Bromid. potass., gr. xv.; Iod. potass.,
Zinci sulph., aa., gr. v. Mix with moist breadcrumb, and make twenty
boluses, of which the dose is one night and morning.
_Jaundice_.--Called also the yellows. The disease can hardly be
mistaken. It is characterised by general feverishness, loss of
appetite, a disposition to "lie about," and by vomiting of a bright
yellow or green fluid, covered with froth.
The skin, eyes, and lips are also tinged with yellow. It is often fatal
if not attended to in time.
I give, to begin with, a very small teaspoonful of Glauber salts,
diluted with plenty of water. It acts as a purgative or emetic, I don't
care which. If the vomiting continues, try a few grains of white
bismuth placed on the tongue, or take three drops of creosote, and five
of aromatic powder, and form into ten pills, with breadcrumb. _Dose_,
one three times a day. For four or five nights running give one grain
of calomel on the tongue. But watch the symptoms, and omit for a night
or two, if it causes too much purging. If not, you can give a small
dose of castor-oil in the morning.
As she gets well, strengthen her, and encourage her appetite with
quinine first--no wine--and, after a week or two, with raw meat and
cod-liver oil.
_Milk Fever_.--Only cat-fanciers will believe that poor pussy suffers,
at times, the most cruel tortures, from the thoughtless practice of
depriving her of her kittens all at once. Either this or cold usually
produces milk fever. I need not describe it; it being synchronous with
the suckling season will be sufficient to enable even a tyro to diagnose
it. If the cat is very much excited, and partially or wholly delirious,
bleeding must be resorted to, and afterwards give a castor-oil
purgative, with three or four drops of the compound tincture of camphor,
and keep her in a quiet room. At the same time, the swollen and painful
teats must be frequently fomented with warm water.
Never take a cat's kittens away all at once, but always leave one at
least. If she has five, and you mean to drown four, drown two one day
and two the next, so that the first milk may be well drawn off.
I have not mentioned half the ills that feline flesh is heir to, but I
think I have said sufficient to indicate the _general plan of treatment_
of cat diseases. Let me only just repeat that if you use your pussy
well in the matter of housing, food, and drink--bar accidents--you will
never have her ill at all.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
TRICKS AND TRAINING.
Before going on to speak of the training of youthful pussy, there is one
subject which deserves a word or two at least--namely, the humane
destruction of cats, when such destruction becomes necessary.
Kittens, at least, people have often to get rid of, or the whole world
would be peopled with cats, and that would hardly do. Although I am no
advocate for the rash and hasty condemnation of the sickest cat that
ever is, still, I must confess that, at times, to destroy a cat is to be
merciful to it.
Never give kittens poison, it is cruel in the extreme; you might
chloroform them to death, but one doesn't like to waste much time in
taking life, if merely a kitten's; the pail is always handy, and the
poor wee things don't really suffer much if you do it properly. Always
sink them, and keep the pail for three hours, after which bury them at
once. I'll give you an example of the wrong way of doing things. Miss
M--n, who lived not a stone's throw from where I now write, and who is
an old maid (and may a merciful Providence keep her so!), was changing
her residence last month, and at the last moment thought she couldn't be
bothered with more than one of her kittens--little Persian beauties,
whom she had let live a whole month--so one was snatched from its
mother's arms, and pitched carelessly into a pail of water. She never
heeded its cries, nor the mother's piteous appeal to save her offspring;
so presently kitty was dead, to all appearance, and the bucket was
emptied over the wall into an adjoining field. This was at eleven
o'clock in the morning, and late that evening some boys, in passing,
were attracted to the spot by plaintive mews, and there they found the
kitten crawling in the grass, with sadly swollen body and inflamed
mouth. The boys drowned and buried it, being more humane than old maid
M--n.
If necessity, then, compels you to part by death with an old cat, and
probably an old friend and favourite, I do not advise you to have her
drowned. It is cruel in many ways; there is the catching of her, the
putting of her into the sack with the stone, and the march to the
waterside, the cat knowing all the while what is to happen, and that her
mistress ordered her death. Do not drown her. If there is any one you
can really trust, that you are sure knows the difference between a gun
and a washing-stick, by all means have her shot. It is over in a
moment. The next best plan is to administer morphia. Don't grudge her
a good dose--five or even ten grains. Cats are wonderfully tenacious of
life, but they can't stand that. Make the morphia into a pill, with a
little of the extract of liquorice, and force it down the throat. Pussy
will sleep the sleep that knows no waking, and you will have the
satisfaction of knowing she did not suffer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apart from teaching a cat tricks, which tend to amuse children or older
folks, there is a training which every pussy needs when young--viz, to
be cleanly and honest. For some weeks after the kitten has been taken
from its mother, and gone to its new abode, a flower-pot saucer filled
with sand, or, what is better, a small box of garden mould, must be
placed in a particular corner of the room, and the kitten taught to go
there; two or three lessons are usually sufficient. By degrees wean her
from the box, and teach her to go out of doors.
As to teaching her the difference between _meum_ and _tuum_, I maintain,
with all cat-fanciers, that cats are honest by nature, although they
may, at times, be tempted to steal a herring, or take a slight liberty
with the canary. The great secret is to feed pussy well, and be kind to
her; you may then let her sit on the table, or even extend to her the
liberty of the press. Depend upon it she will never do anything to
deserve disfranchisement.
If ever you catch pussy tripping, chastise her; but don't forget this,
you must do so only very moderately, or in the fright she will forget
what she is being whipped for. A little bit of whalebone is the best
thing to use, but take care you do not hit her about the head. I have
often known cats severely chastised for what they were quite innocent
of. One pussy, I remember, used to be thrashed every day for a whole
week for a certain act of impropriety, and it turned out, after all,
that Charley, the black-and-tan, was the real culprit. She took it out
of Charley, however. She whipped him upstairs, and she whipped him
down, and finally she whipped him over the window, which was two storeys
high. Poor Charley was much hurt, and didn't turn up again for a
fortnight.
Would you have your cat a good mouser? Then _feed her regularly_ and
liberally; I assure you, madam, that is the whole secret.
Cats, when young, can be taught a whole host of amusing tricks.
The most graceful of these is, perhaps, leaping heights. A cat that has
had constant exercise at this sort of thing will spring almost
incredible distances. The best plan to train her to this is to attach a
hare's foot to the end of a rod and set it in motion for her. You can
every day place it a little higher, and she will soon take to it
naturally. Cats thus trained will climb the tallest trees, and leap
from branch to branch like squirrels.
By holding your arms in front of pussy you will soon teach her to leap
backwards and forwards over them. As she gets older, increase the
distance of your arms from the ground, until at last you place them
right over your head, and pussy will go over and through like any old
steeple-chaser.
You may teach her to go through a hoop, or hoops, held at any elevation,
and in all conceivable positions. Remember always to speak kindly to
her when teaching her anything. Never chastise her; and when she has
performed her little feat to your satisfaction, make much of her, and
give her a morsel of fish, or any favourite food.
Cats are easily taught to fish in this manner: take them when young to a
shallow stream, on a clear day, where the minnows are plentiful, and
throw in a dead one or two, and encourage the cat to catch them. She
will soon be after the living ones.
I had a cat that I taught to retrieve like a dog, and to fetch and
carry. The same cat had for its constant companion my cheeky little
starling, who used to hop about and on her, pick her teeth, and open her
claws, but she never attempted to molest him.
You can teach your cat to follow you like a dog, and take long walks
with you, and to come to you whenever you call her by whistling.
I have told you how to make your cat a good mouser, now I'll give you
another wrinkle--how to make her a good trickster--_love her_ and take
an interest in all her little performances, and you will be surprised at
the amount of tricks she will learn.