148 DISEASES OF CATS. 



Holland were generally attacked by the disease, and in the 

 following year when it had spread over Europe and ex- 

 tended 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 cleanli- 

 ness, keeping the animal moderately warm and comfortable. 

 The disease rapidly produces intense debility, and therefore 

 the strength should be maintained from the very commence- 

 ment 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. Vacd?iation 

 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 



