DISEASES OF CATS 1Q9 



may gradually sleep it off, and be apparently 

 perfectly well, except somewhat weakened and 

 depressed for a short period. Convulsions in 

 cats are far more frequent in young animals 

 than in old, and are usually due to digestive 

 irritation either that of overfeeding or of 

 the ingestion of irritating food. In summer- 

 time they are often the result of heat, perhaps 

 also at other times from the same cause j but I 

 myself doubt if heat alone is frequently a cause, 

 unless combined with an overloaded stomach. 



Epilepsy. 



In epilepsy, with few premonitory symptoms, 

 unless it be a single scream, the cat falls to the 

 ground, its mouth frothing, its eyes rolling in 

 the sockets until the whites show, the legs 

 stretching in spasms, with moments of tempo- 

 rary relaxation, and then a complete subsidence 

 of the symptoms, when the animal falls to sleep 

 to wake up apparently unharmed. If the cat 

 has frequent attacks it becomes very much de- 

 bilitated and loses its vivacity. The diagnosis 

 of epileptic attacks from those of ordinary con- 



