CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



47 



STUD CATS. 



A male cat should not be allowed to mate 

 under a year old, and if you wish to keep your 

 stud in good condition do not allow more 

 than two, or at most three, lady visitors a 

 week. There is no doubt that a really reliable 

 stud cat is a very profitable possession. The 

 most essential recommendations are a sound 

 constitution and absolute health, combined 

 with a good pedigree and a list of prize-win- 

 ning progeny. It is necessary to exhibit your 

 stud cat at the best cat shows from time to 

 time, and thus to keep him before the public. 

 It is also advisable to advertise him in the 

 cat papers, and it is often useful to have a 

 photograph to forward to fanciers who may 

 be unable otherwise to obtain any idea of 

 your cat. Needless to say that for stud pur- 

 poses a cat should possess the highest possible 

 qualifications of the breed to which he be- 

 longs, and a massive frame and broad head 

 are most desirable in all stud cats. It is a 

 good plan to allow the visiting queen to be 

 within sight of the male for a short time 

 before she is put in the stud cat's house, and 

 for this purpose it is convenient to have a 

 small movable pen or hutch to place where 

 the two pussies can hold catty conversation, 



A stud cat cannot, for many and obvious 

 reasons, be allowed his full freedom ; but it 

 is essential that his dwelling place should have 

 as long and roomy an exercise ground as pos- 

 sible. It is also possible with some male cats 

 to tether them out-of-doors for a short period 

 during the day, in which case great care should 

 be taken to have the lead only as long as will 

 permit of exercise within a safe distance of 

 dangerous pitfalls or spreading trees and shrubs. 

 The best time for mating is about one hour 

 atter feeding. 



It is most important that stud cats should 

 be in good coat at the time of mating, and that 

 they should be free from worms. 



The usual fee for a visit to a stud cat is 

 i is., and this should be sent at the same 

 time as the request for permission to send a 

 queen. A second visit is generally considered 

 allowable if the first one has proved unsuccess- 



ful. An additional amount of food may be 

 given to a cat whilst he is being used at stud, 

 and always remember to provide grass in 

 some form or other in your stud cat's house. 



There is no universal remedy for all cats, 

 neither can there be any rule for feeding them. 

 Different cats need different treatment, and 

 those which are kept in a captive state, as are 

 stud cats, should not be fed on the same lines 

 as those tfrnt are allowed full liberty. 



NEUTER CATS. 



Opinions differ as to the best period for a 

 cat to be made neuter, but it is generally 

 considered advisable to have the operation 

 performed between the ages of five and eight 

 months. A male cat can be kept as a house- 

 hold pet till he is about nine or ten months 

 old without any unpleasantness, but after that 

 period he must be relegated to an outside 

 cattery or stud house. It is cruel to put off 

 gelding a cat till he shows signs of wishing to 

 mate, A duly qualified veterinary ought to 

 be employed, and an anaesthetic used. The 

 cat should be kept on a low diet for a day or 

 two before 'and after the operation. It is very 

 seldom that any evil effects ensue, and after 

 a few days the puss is quite himself again. 

 Neuter cats grow to an immense size, and the 

 Persian varieties develop great length of fur, 

 which is generally not shed so frequently or 

 to such an extent as in the males and females. 

 Neuter cats are very docile, and generally 

 rather lazy- and listless ; for this reason they 

 are not accounted such good mousers. 



Female cats can also be rendered sexless, but 

 in their case the operation is more likely to be 

 attended with dangerous results. I have 

 heard it stated that a female cat ought to be 

 allowed one litter of kittens before being oper- 

 ated upon. There are not. many very fine 

 neuters on exhibition at our shows, and this 

 fact may perhaps be accounted for by reason 

 of fanciers picking out weedy and altogether 

 below the mark specimens of their litters to 

 be gelded because they do not consider them 

 worth keeping to breed from. In this way 

 several poor specimens of neuters are to be 



