DOMESTIC CAT. 



ously was her plate supplied, that she was unable to consume the enth'e amount of 

 provision that was set before her. This superabundance of food seemed to weigh 

 upon her mind; and one day before her dinner-time, she set off across the fields, 

 and paid a visit to a little cottage near the road-side, where lived a very lean Cat. 

 The two animals returned to the chateau in company, and after the feline hostess 

 had eaten as much dinner as she desired, she relinquished the remainder in favour 

 of her friend. 



The kind-hearted proprietor of tho chateau, seeing this curious act of hospi- 

 tality, increased the daily allowance of meat, and afforded an ample meal for both 

 Cats. The improved diet soon exerted its beneficial eftects on the lean stranger 

 who speedily became nearly as comfortably sleek as her hostess. 



In this improved state of matters, she could not eat as much as when s! e was 

 lialf-starved and ravenous with hunger, and so after the two Cats had dhied there 

 was still an overplus. In order to avoid waste, and urged by the generosity of 

 her feelings, the hospitable Cat set off on another journey, and fetched another 

 lean Cat from a village at a league's distance. The owner of the chateau, being 

 desirous to see how the matter would end, contimied to increase the daily allow- 

 ance, and had at last, as pensioners of his bounty, nearly twenty Cats, which had 

 been brought from various houses in the surrounding country. Yet, however 

 ravenous were these daily visitors, none of them touched a morsel until their 

 hostess had finished her own dinner. My informant heard this narrative from 

 the owner of the chateau. 



My own cat has often been observed to act in a similar manner. There was 

 another of her own species inhabiting the town in which I was stayin 

 and the two pussies naturally struck up a friendship. My own cat " Pret, 

 took great compassion on her friend, because she was fed on cats' meat, which 

 she deemed unfit for cat consumption. So she used to steal the offending 

 provisions, bury them in the cellar, and then share her own dinner with her 

 friend. She was also in the habit of summoning a perfect levee of cats in the 

 yard, and entertaining them in an hospitable manner. 



Many instances are recorded of misplaced, or rather strangely placed, affection in 

 Cats. They have been known to have taken compassion on all kinds of animals, 

 and to have nourished them as their own. The Avell-known anecdote of the Cat 

 and the leveret, which she brought up, is too familiar to be repeated in this work, 

 but I have been lately favoured with an account of similar conduct on the part of 

 a Domestic Cat. 



A lady possessed a young rabbit, which fell ill and was carried by its mistress 

 to be warmed before the fire. While it was lying on the hearth-rug the Cat 

 entered the room, and seeing the sick rabbit, went up to it and began to lick and 



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