370 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



removed, and the inner surface of the cavity 

 washed out with a 5 per cent, solution of 

 chinosol. The ear must be gently pulled 

 every day to prevent shrinking, and, con- 

 sequently, deformity. 



True Canker is an inflammation of the 

 deeper part of the cavity of the ear, accom- 

 panied with a chronic foetid, whitish, cheesy, 

 or gluey discharge, and sometimes ulceration, 

 and, rarely, warty-looking growths. It usually 

 runs a long course, unless skilfully treated, and 

 is liable to recur. 



Treatment. The ear should be carefully 

 washed out with tincture of calendula, and 

 then well dried with cotton-wool, and after- 

 wards have finely sifted boracic powder blown 

 down the cavity. This treatment should be 

 carried out at least every other day until 

 recovery takes place. 



Quite 90 per cent, of long-haired varieties 

 and cross-breeds suffer from Parasitic Canker. 

 It is seen in kittens a month old, as well 

 as in aged cats, and is conveyable to the dog. 

 The ferret also is liable to it. 



It is due to the ear-mite called Symbiotes 

 auricularum, which was first found in the ear 

 of the dog by Professor Henng, of Stuttgart, 

 in 1834, and in the cat by Huber, of Memingen, 

 in 1860. 



It resembles the mange and cheese mites in 

 general characters, and is only with difficulty 

 seen with the naked eye. When viewed in 

 strong sunlight, it appears as a small whitish 

 or cinnamon-coloured woolly speck, resembling 

 a grain of meal or flour crawling about on the 

 brownish dirt in the ears. These mites nearly 

 always collect together in large colonies. 



There is frequent scratching of the ears with 

 the hind limb. The cat suddenly stops, sits 

 down, inclines its head to one side, and 

 scratches away as if it gave it great pleasure 

 to do so. In some cases, however, it becomes 

 quite frantic, and swears. Frequently there 

 is an abrasion of the skin behind the ears due 

 to this scratching, and occasionally the flap of 

 the ear becomes the seat of a serous abscess, 

 which I have described. 



When the mite wanders over the drum of 

 the ear, especially in warm weather, some cats 

 are seized with convulsions, others become 

 delirious, and many reel about as if intoxi- 

 cated. 



Treatment. The ears should be washed out 

 with warm soap and water, and then well dried 

 with cotton-wool, and afterwards have a lini- 



ment composed of oil of stavesacre (2 drachms) 

 and almond oil (6 drachms), mixed together, 

 and poured in every day until all signs of irri- 

 tation have passed away, care being taken to 

 wipe off the superfluous dressing from the 

 ears after each dressing. 



DISEASES OF THE EYE. 



In certain respects the eye of the cat differs 

 from that of the other domesticated animals. 

 It resembles the eye of the dog in its shape, 

 which is somewhat rounded and globular. The 

 membrana nictitans, haw, or third eyelid, is not 

 so well developed as in some other animals, as 

 the cat is able to protect the eye with the paw 

 to a considerable extent. The tapctum lucidum 

 is of a brilliant metallic golden yellow or 

 greenish (in Siamese and albino cats pinkish 

 colour), and is so well developed that it probably 

 enables the animal to see better at night, by 

 reflecting the rays of light a second time 

 through the retina. 



It is also the cause of the well-known glare 

 of the cat's eyes in the dark. 



The iris, or curtain, is yellowish-green, orange, 

 or golden in most cats ; sometimes it is amber- 

 coloured, and in other cases golden, with a 

 tinge of metallic green around the pupillary 

 circumference. Some cats, especially white 

 cats, have the iris of one of the eyes of a bluish 

 white appearance, and the other a golden, 

 amber, or greenish golden colour. 



The Siamese cat and many white cats have 

 pale blue or bluish eyes. The shade of the iris 

 generally varies with the colour of the cat's 

 fur, and is taken into consideration in the 

 judging of points at shows. 



The pupil, or opening in the centre of the 

 iris, when widely dilated, is circular in shape, 

 but when contracted it becomes vertically 

 elliptical, and may become so narrow as to 

 appear as a mere thin perpendicular slit. 



The optic disc, or entrance of the optic nerve 

 before it expands in the cavity of the eyeball 

 to form the retina, is small, round, and cupped, 

 and of a clear grey colour, and the veins in it 

 can be distinguished from the arteries which 

 radiate from the optic disc. The choroidal 

 vessels are rarely seen, but in the Siamese cat 

 they are seen in the red peripheral zone. 



Kittens, like puppies, are, as a rule, born 

 with the eyelids closed, and this condition lasts 

 usually from nine to twelve days, when the 

 membrane joining the two lids together wastes 

 and finally gives way. Sometimes, however, 



