35* 



THE DISEASES OF CATS, AND THEIR TREATMENT. 



By HENRY GRAY, M.R.C.V.S. 



GIVING MEDICINE. 



ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICINE. 



IN the treat- 

 ment of 

 the dis- 

 eases of the 

 cat, the cor- 

 rect method 

 of adminis- 

 tering what- 

 ever medica- 

 ments are 

 deemed ne- 

 cessary is a 

 most import- 

 ant consider- 

 ation. To the 

 uninitiated 

 and timid the 

 task is gener- 

 ally a difficult 



one, and may, in some cases, appear almost 

 impossible ; but with a little practice, aided 

 by courage and determination, the difficulties 

 can nearly always be overcome. The admin- 

 istration of medicine, however, is seldom so 

 easy in the case of the cat as in that of 

 the dog. 



Some cats are so gentle that the mouth 

 can easily be opened by means of the index 

 finger and thumb of the left hand acting 

 as a wedge between the jaws. The palm of 

 the hand rests on the top of the head, while 

 the finger and thumb gently but firmly press 

 the cheeks at the angle of the jaws inwards, 

 until they intervene between the finger and 

 thumb of the operator and the posterior teeth 

 of the patient. 



The jaws being thus kept open, and the 

 head at the same time raised, the right hand 

 of the operator drops the pill or powder at the 

 back of the mouth between the tongue and 

 palate. This having been accomplished, the 

 right hand is passed under the lower jaw, so 

 as to keep the head raised until the animal 

 swallows, while the left hand is withdrawn 

 from its previous position and the jaws allowed 

 to close, thus facilitating the act of swallowing. 

 For the administration of liquid medicine 



it is not necessary to open the mouth. The 

 operator grasps the head with his left hand, 

 and taking the spoon in his right he slowly 

 and carefully drops the liquid between the 

 teeth, or into the space between the cheek and 

 teeth, at the angle of the mouth. For the cat, 

 a coffee-spoon is preferable to a tea-spoon, and 

 care must be taken that too much is not 

 poured into the mouth at once. The dose 

 should be administered drop by drop, and 

 time allowed for swallowing. 



DISEASES OF THE STOMACH. 



Vomiting, though a symptom common to 

 many diseases, may be quite natural in some 

 instances, such as over-feeding or during the 

 weaning period, when the mother-cat eats a 

 lot of animal food and then brings it home 

 and vomits it up for her young kittens to feed 

 upon. 



The act consists of ejecting the contents 

 of the stomach up through the gullet and then 

 out of the mouth. 



The causes of vomition are various : Worms 

 travelling from the bowel into the stomach, 

 emetics, expectorants, poisons, foreign bodies 

 (as hair, cork, pins, etc.) ; bad or altered food, 

 blood-poisoning, distemper, gastritis, tumours, 

 tuberculosis, jaundice, diseases of the kidneys, 

 etc., may produce it. 



It may also occur from parasites in the 

 ear, foreign bodies in the mouth, and as a 

 symptom of brain disease, such as meningitis. 



Treatment. This depends upon the cause, 

 which should be removed if possible. When 

 due to foreign bodies or altered food, an emetic 

 (especially the hypodermic injection of Vo to 

 oV grain of apomorphine hydrochloride) would 

 most likely remove the source of trouble. If 

 the foreign body cannot be removed by simple 

 means, an operation may be deemed necessary. 

 If due to inflammation of the stomach, bismuth 

 and aerated soda-water are of great value. 

 Ice and cocaine or chloretone are occasionally 

 useful when these have failed. Sometimes it 

 is necessary to wash the stomach out with 

 mild antiseptics. If of nervous origin, a hypo- 

 dermic injection of T V to | grain of morphine, or 



