CARE AND MANAGEMENT 29 



most desirable and ought to be covered over so that in wet 

 weather the cats should not have to be shut in their rooms 

 all day. There is no doubt that cats thrive best out of 

 doors and can stand any amount of dry cold. Artificial heat 

 ought not to be encouraged ; it makes cats delicate and very 

 susceptible to cold and other catty complaints ; while in- 

 variably giving kittens weak eyes. The cattery cat is far 

 better off with the temperature even, and with a nice com- 

 fortable bed in a cosy corner of her "room" a box with 

 plenty of warm hay for the winter months and paper for the 

 summer months. 



Great attention should be paid to keeping the sanitary 

 pans clean and well supplied with earth or saw-dust, other- 

 wise pussy is encouraged to be dirty, for she will not go to a 

 pan which has nothing but wet mould, and she much resents 

 a pan that one of her neighbours has used. If two or three 

 cats have to share accommodations it is best to have two or 

 three pans about. Londoners especially should lay in a 

 stock of Japanese mould, as supplied by Carter's of High 

 Holborn. All feeding vessels should be kept scrupulously 

 clean and never left standing about. 



In advocating out-of-door catteries it must be understood 

 that it would be madness to put a cat out in mid- winter 

 which had hitherto been a house- cat. She would probably 

 be dead from pneumonia within a week. But cats put out 

 for the first time in the early summer thrive all the year 

 round better than those who lead an indoor life. They have 

 healthier appetites and grow better coats. 



Speaking of coats reminds me that a cat comb and brush 

 should be kept and each cat combed down once a day. It 

 prevents their hair from matting, brings out the old coat, and 

 causes the new coat to come on more quickly, and last, but 

 certainly not least, it keeps the coat clean and free from 

 insects. 



I have spoken of nursing mothers and kittens, but not of 

 stud cats, Stud cats require more meat and stimulating 

 food than others ; and a day should not pass without their 

 having a plateful of meat. Raw meat occasionally is abso- 

 lutely essential. 



Never forget to keep your Tom cats well supplied with 

 grass, for having no amount of exercise they require it 



