THE DISEASES OF CATS, AND THEIR TREATMENT. 



369 



milder vaccines) would not produce any dis- 

 turbance in the vaccinated creature. 



Medical or Curative Treatment. The sick 

 animal should be kept in a well-lighted and 

 well-ventilated but not draughty room, which 

 ought to be dry, and kept at a temperature of 

 about 60. The floor should be covered with 

 a thick layer of fresh pine sawdust, heaps of 

 which should be placed in tins, boxes, or old 

 coal-scuttles for the convenience of the animals. 



If the cat is seen in the first stage of the 

 disease, an emetic of } to grain of tartar 

 emetic in a teaspoonful of warm water may 

 be given to clear out the stomach and bronchial 

 tubes. In place of this drug, - 3 V to ^V grain 

 of hydrochloride of apomorphine in tabloid 

 iorm may be injected under the skin. After 

 the emetic has passed off, easily digested and 

 nourishing food, such as milk, should be 

 offered, and, if refused, forced upon the 

 animal. When the appetite is fairly good, 

 to J grain of calomel may be given twice a 

 day, but must be stopped as soon as it causes 

 vomiting or intense diarrhoea. 



When the appetite is bad, quinine sulphate 

 (t- grain) given three times a day for a length- 

 ened period may be useful in remedying it. 



The eyes and nostrils should be bathed 

 three times a day with the following lotion : 



Chinosol . . . 3i grains, 



Rose-water ... .8 ounces ; 



and then smeared with an ointment composed 

 of 



Boracic Acid . 

 Cold Cream . 



. drachm, 

 4 drachms. 



When the throat is very much inflamed, it 

 should be painted on the outside, after all 

 the hair is clipped off from ear to ear, with 

 tincture of iodine or the setherial tincture of 

 capsicum, three times a day, until soreness is 

 produced. As it is a difficult job to paint the 

 inside of the cat's throat, the following powder 

 dropped on the tongue will act in a similar 

 manner : 



Quinine sulphate : . . grain. 



Borax . . . . 2^ grains. 



To be given morning, noon, and night. 



If there is either pleurisy or pneumonia, or 

 both combined, the hair should be cut off 

 over the ribs, and the skin painted with a 

 solution of tartar emetic (composed of i drachm 

 of the drug to an ounce of spirit), and then 

 wrapped up with a binder, under which a 

 layer of cotton-wool is placed. 

 24 



In case there is repeated vomiting, a powder 

 composed of 



Bismuth carbonate . . 5 grains, 

 Cocaine hydrochloride . . \ grain, 



should be shaken on the tongue every four 

 hours until twenty-four hours have elapsed 

 since the last vomiting took place. If there 

 should be a persistent and profuse diarrhoea, 

 it must be moderated, but not suppressed, 

 by means of 2-J- grains of tannigen given morn- 

 ing, noon, and night. When there are any 

 convulsions -or much pain, i to grain of 

 extract of opium in pill should be administered 

 morning and night. 



Light and easily digested food such as 

 peptonised milk, Mosquera's beef jelly, Benger's 

 peptonised food, etc. should be given in small 

 and repeated quantities during the earlier or 

 active stages of the disease. Later on, in the 

 convalescent stage, scraped raw beef, boiled 

 fish, rice pudding, etc., may be offered. 



Parrish's chemical food and cod-liver oil, 

 given by some cat-owners during the acute 

 stage of distemper when there is no appetite, 

 are harmful and cruel remedies. 



DISEASES OF THE EAR. 



The external ear in the cat is short, upright, 

 triangukr, pointed, and opens in front. Its 

 apex in some cats especially Persians has a 

 tuft of hair growing from the inside. In the 

 outer margin the ear doubles on itself, forming 

 a pouch, in which lumps of dirt, ear-mites, 

 etc., frequently accumulate. 



A Serous Cyst, or abscess, forms between 

 the skin and cartilage of the inside, and some- 

 times also of the outside, of the ear or ears. 



The ear is swollen, feels tense, has a bluish 

 or reddish tint, but is not very painful. The 

 contents of this swelling are a thin, reddish 

 fluid and a blood clot, which separate the skin 

 from the cartilage and its covering. 



It is always associated with ear-mites, and 

 generally results in the ear shrinking and be- 

 coming drawn down, which, when both ears 

 are affected, give the animal a peculiar ap- 

 pearance, resembling some wild variety of the 

 cat tribe that usually carries these organs in 

 a semi-pendulous manner. 



Treatment. It can be prevented by keeping 

 the cat's ears clean and free from ear-mites. 

 When it is present, the cyst should be freely 

 opened (which can be done painlessly by pre- 

 viously injecting a few drops of a 4 per cent, 

 solution of cocaine), the blood clot carefully 



