338 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT, 



birth. It is safer not to do so before, as I 

 have known a belated kitten arrive twenty- 

 four hours after the rest of the family, and in 

 the case of an excitable or inexperienced 

 mother she will by then be more composed, 

 and can be coaxed out to feed while the 

 change of bed is being made. Hay, short and 

 sweet, is the best bedding much better than 

 blankets or cushions. Many fanciers use boxes 

 turned on their sides and curtained. These, 

 while giving the necessary darkness, are not 

 sufficiently ventilated ; the air in them 

 cannot circulate freely, and becomes stuffy 

 and foul, vapours ascend, and the wood 

 becomes unsanitary 

 in a very short time. 



Bad eyes follow as 

 a matter of course, 

 and the anxious, 

 worried novice won- 

 ders "how they can 

 possibly have taken 

 cold when they have 

 been so guarded " 

 from fresh air ! 

 and seals them up 

 still more! If, A HAPPY 



therefore, a box is 



used, let there be holes for ventilation, or 

 arrange for the covering to reach only partly 

 over the top. 



In an outside cattery or attic or room guard 

 against too much light and any draught, but 

 let in the outside air by keeping the window 

 open during the day. If winter kittens are 

 to be reared, heat the room to an average 

 of 55 degrees, and have the window open, 

 taking precautions naturally against rain 

 or snow beating in. 



When the kittens reach the age of three 

 weeks, they will require some food beyond 

 that provided by the mother, who, if nursing 

 a large family, is perhaps showing signs of 

 wear. It is when the process of weaning 

 begins that trouble generally arises. 



I am inclined to put down the growing 

 delicacy of Persian kittens to the injudicious 

 feeding with solids at too early a period of 



their existence. I never used to allow my 

 kittens meat until they were about four or 

 five months old, and during the period of 

 weaning from their mothers it is most essential 

 that all food given such as Mellin's, Ridge's 

 and Benger's should be made very thinly at 

 first, so as not in any way to try the tender 

 digestions of the little creatures. 



I believe that most of the ills that kittens' 

 flesh is heir to, proceed from indigestion. The 

 tendency in fanciers is to overload the stomach 

 of the wee kittens, forgetting that it is not the 

 amount of food eaten that nourishes the tiny 

 creatures, but the quantity they are able to 



digest, and this must 

 necessarily be small 

 for some weeks after 

 they have learnt to 

 feed themselves. 

 Another mistake 

 that is made is 

 giving milk that is 

 too rich. In large 

 towns we generally 

 get our milk watered 

 for us, but in the 

 MOTHER. country the milk is 



richer, and needs 



mixing with warm water. It is not so im- 

 portant in the country as in London and other 

 large towns to have the milk boiled, but 

 it is at all times and in all places a wise 

 precaution. In preference to risking the 

 town dairy milk, flavoured with boracic, and 

 most deadly to the systems of both kittens 

 and babies, I advise a good brand of Swiss 

 milk such as Nestle's being employed, or, 

 better still, Plasmon powder, made to a jelly 

 according to directions on packet, and one 

 teaspoonful of this jelly thinned out with hot 

 water and sweetened. Do not give raw meat 

 till the teeth are fairly through and they can 

 bite sharply ; then give it scraped with a blunt 

 knife, not cut ; and remember that raw meat 

 is three times as digestible and nourishing as 

 cooked meat one tiny meal of meat a day, a 

 teaspoonful per kitten to begin with. Do not 

 give them fish while under three months old. 



