214 The Book of Cats. 



for the preservation of its health. The food and 

 prey it eats often disorder the stomach. On such 

 occasions, it eats a Httle grass, which, however, goes 

 no further than the commencement of the oeso- 

 phagus ; this is irritated by the jagged and saw- 

 like margins of the blades of grass, and this 

 irritation is, by a reflex action, communicated to 

 the stomach, which, by a spasmodic action, rejects 

 its vitiated secretion. 



It is very cruel and injurious to the mother to 

 destroy the whole litter of kittens at once, unless it 

 has some feline friend or relation to relieve it of its 

 milk : one of its grown-up children, or its husband, 

 will generally do so, without much persuasion. If 

 deprived of this resource, however, the frequent de- 

 struction of the kittens will, in all probability, cause 

 cancers, and in the end kill the Cat. If the mother 

 die, and the kittens be left orphans, they may be 

 easily reared by hand. Feed them with new milk, 

 sweetened with brown sugar — plain milk is too 

 astringent. To imitate the Cat's lick, wipe the 

 kittens with a nearly dry sponge, and soap and 

 water. A good way to feed them is to use a well- 

 saturated fine sponge, which the kittens will suck. 

 The most common way, however, is to pour the 

 milk gently down the throat from a pointed spoon. 



