42 The Care of Animals 



"At the first sign of dryness of the ear, fill with dry 

 boracic acid and leave in the ear. This applied daily 

 for a week will usually bring about natural and health- 

 ful conditions. If the kitten scratches her ear, crying 

 at the same time, examine the ear; if it is coated or 

 partially filled with a dry, scaly, bloody substance, a 

 few drops of peroxide of hj^drogen mixed with an equal 

 quantity of water, dropped into the ear, will cause a 

 foam to appear. Wipe this off with a soft dry cloth, 

 then dust in dry boracic acid. A few such treatments 

 will usually effect a cure. The malady, if neglected, 

 almost always ends in an abscess. 



"In general, one should not be in too much haste 

 to doctor a cat. If there is no certainty as to what 

 her trouble is, and no specialist on cat diseases ac- 

 cessible, it is better simply to keep her warm and 

 feed her on light diet, and leave nature to effect a 

 cure. This is far preferable to filling her system with 

 a lot of drugs that are perhaps not indicated by the 

 symptoms. Remedies recommended for dogs are gen- 

 erally fatal to cats, and must be used with great 

 caution and given only by a specialist. Anything 

 containing carbolic acid is almost certain death to a 

 cat. A sick cat wants quiet; so do not torment her 

 by fussing over her all the time, for by this mis- 

 taken kindness you may kill the animal. 



"If a kitten has a fit, which is usually caused by 

 teething, worms, too much or too strong food, sub- 

 merge her at once to the neck in warm water, with 

 cold water on her head; leave for five or ten minutes, 

 then dry with a soft cloth, old newspapers, or tissue 



