4 6 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



to battle against disease if fed up well from 

 the first. 



People who desire to sell kittens for profit 

 will do well to part with them at about two 

 months old, before they start teething, for at 

 this period of their little lives fresh troubles 

 begin. Occasionally they suffer from fits, 

 but though these are sometimes caused by 

 cutting their teeth, they are oftener due to the 

 presence of worms. If the gums are swollen 

 and inflamed, a quarter of one of Steedman's 



in noxious gases which escape through the 

 skin, causing eczema, or in many cases pro- 

 ducing inflammation of the bowels or enteritis. 

 Nothing needs more careful attention than 

 the diet of kittens, and nothing is so little 

 studied. It would be no exaggeration to say- 

 that all disease, apart from outside or acci- 

 dental causes, such as draughts, cold winds, 

 contagion, etc., is in the first place set up 

 by undigested food, and even what may be 

 railed external causes would often not be harm- 



N'KUTER PETS OWNED KY MRS. HASTINGS LEES. 

 (Photo: The Royal Central Photo Co., Bournemouth.) 



teething powders will soothe them, or a few 

 doses of bromide, as prescribed before for 

 kittens desiring to mate too early, may be 

 given, and excitable kittens should be kept 

 quiet. If kittens are troubled with diarrhoea, 

 all starchy food should be avoided, as it is 

 never easily digested by animals. The reason 

 of this is not far to seek, when we know that 

 the saliva partly digests starch, while the 

 juices of the stomach act directly on meat. 



Animals, instead of masticating their food. 

 by which means the saliva acts vipon it, often 

 bolt it, and it goes into the stomach and is 

 passed out into the large bowel practically 

 undigested, where it decomposes, working off 



ful to an animal if the digestive organs were 

 in proper working order. Remember, it is 

 not the quantity of food a kitten takes that 

 benefits it. The secret of its health and well- 

 being is in the quantity it digests. A kitten 

 should only digest certain things in certain 

 proportions, and whatever remains undigested 

 produces irritation, and in this case the kitten 

 cannot possibly develop, and is generally 

 weakly and fretful. 



Those who have never cared much for cats 

 will be interested and amused if they bring 

 up a family of kittens, and the love and trust 

 of the little creatures will well repay them 

 for all their care. 



