THE DOMESTIC CAT 



INTRODUCTION. 



The cat, of all animals, is in some respects the most intimate 

 companion of man. It is more closely identified with indoor life 

 and the cheerful domestic hearth than is any other animal. 

 It is, as St. George Mivart says, "the inmate of a multitude of 

 humble homes in which the dog has no place." 



Its independent character and its graceful, quiet movements ap- 

 peal particularly to women. Its elegance of form, beauty of color- 

 ing, daintiness of habit, and, above all, the delightful, playful activity 

 of its young make it a welcome fireside companion throughout the 

 civilized world, and the playmate of innocent children in count- 

 less happy homes. It is considered useful inasmuch as it tends 

 to keep down the undue increase of rodent pests. Nevertheless, 

 it leads a dual existence. "The fireside sphinx," the pet of the 

 children, the admired habitue of the drawing-room or the salon 

 by day, may become at night a wild animal, pursuing, striking 

 down and torturing its prey, frequently making night hideous 

 with its cries, sneaking into dark, filthy, noisome retreats, or 

 taking to the woods and fields, where it perpetrates untold mis- 

 chief. Now it ravages the dovecote; now it steals on the mother 

 bird asleep on her nest, striking bird, nest and young to the 

 ground. In the darkness of night it turns poacher. No animal 

 that it can reach and master is safe from its ravenous clutches. 



In justice to the cat it should be said that it cannot be blamed 

 for following the natural propensities of the Felidoe, the carniv- 

 orous family of mammals to which it belongs. Man brought it 

 to this country, and the disturbance of the balance of nature 

 caused by its introduction is man's fault, and occurs because he 

 failed to control his own pet and protege. We are more to blame 

 than the cat for its wide-roaming, bird-and-game-killing propen- 

 sities. Many cats naturally are indolent and sedentary, and 

 would not stray far from their homes unless driven by necessity, 

 but the neglected one must bestir itself to live. Abandoned or 

 deserted by human friends, often expected to hunt most of its 

 own living, its range grows wider and wider as its inroads on 

 easily taken prey reduce more and more the numbers of animal 

 life in the immediate vicinity of its home; or, turned out at night 



