Care of Cats 39 



sweet cream rubbed on the coat induces the average 

 cat to lick the hair dovvu smoothh'. 



The following advice on the care of cats, by C. 

 H. Jones, editor of "The Cat Journal," is reprinted, 

 by permission from "Country Life in America" for 

 November, 1902 : 



"There are two mistaken opinions regarding cats^ 

 one, that the cat is a hardy animal; the other, that a 

 cat, no matter how or where abandoned, is able to 

 provide for itself. 



"First, a cat is not a hardy animal; her organiza- 

 tion is delicate, her nervous system sensitive. Second, 

 a cat cannot always provide for herself, even in her 

 natural state and with all her native instincts unim- 

 paired. Even man, when unaided, often fails here. 

 In hard winters the Indian starves in his wigwam, and 

 the w^ild-cat starves in the woods. Much less, then, is 

 a cat that is accustomed to the comforts of a home 

 and the surroundings of civilized life able to take 

 care of herself. Of all the cats abandoned each year 

 when the summer cottages are closed, the greater part 

 lose their 'nine lives ' and are 'gathered to their 

 fathers ' long before the winter is half over. 



"People who pay high prices for Persians and An- 

 goras are willing to take pains to keep them in health 

 and life, and they try to give them proper attention; 

 but w^iile care is needed, it is easy to give them 

 too much if knowledge is lacking on the part of owners. 

 The pet is fed with wrong foods at wrong times, and 

 if a little indisposition manifests itself it is usually 

 faithfully drugged and killed off in the best of style. 



