CARE OF THE CAT . 79 



each fresh feed should be scalded before they 

 are used again. Milk is not only the tradi- 

 tional diet of the cat, but also forms one of 

 the principal articles of food for it. The milk 

 should be perfectly fresh, as sour milk is apt to 

 produce digestive troubles, especially diarrhoea. 

 Sour milk, however, is useful sometimes as an 

 adjunct in the treatment of worms. While the 

 cat drinks a considerable quantity of milk, it 

 prefers water when it is really thirsty, although 

 it takes only a very small quantity of this. The 

 water, like the milk, should be in an absolutely 

 clean pan. There is a very useful pan which 

 can be found in porcelain at the china-shops, 

 or can be readily made by a tinner consisting 

 of a pan divided in the center by a partition, 

 in which the milk is placed at one side and the 

 fresh water at the other this insures that the 

 water is emptied out each time the milk is re- 

 placed, in order to clean the pan and allow it 

 to be perfectly fresh. Bread (preferably stale 

 bread) and the ordinary crackers, water bis- 

 cuit, or oatmeal biscuit, can be added to the 

 milk. Spratt's Patent has a cake for cats 

 which is very useful for occasional diet. Oat- 



