The Cat 



ease from the alley cats. The tendency of cats to 

 climb often results in fractures or other injuries,^ 

 while fights with other cats or with dogs account 

 for a variety of wounds. 



Vital Functions. — Keeping a check on the func- 

 tions is of even more importance in the cat than in 

 the dog. Being more closely confined there is a 

 greater natural tendency toward constipation and in 

 males there is a frequent stoppage of urination from 

 calculi. Since cats when sick hide away and brood, 

 rather than show any outward manifestation of ill- 

 ness, trouble is not so quickly detected, and if the 

 condition of the functions is knoAvn, sickness will 

 be anticipated much more quickly. In Persian cats 

 the hair about the rectum becomes easily attached 

 to the stool, which, as it becomes matted and dry, 

 prevents further passages until it has been cleaned 

 away. 



Since the cat subsists largely on a meat diet, the 

 feces are not very copious and there is rarely more 

 than one movement a day. The stool when normal 

 is black in color, cylindrical in shape and firm and 

 moist in consistency. Very dry stools are abnormal, 

 as well as very loose or watery passages. Diarrhea 

 stools may be either yellow or black in color, and 

 may be tinged with blood. Mucus may, at times, 

 be present in the movements. Passages of urine 

 may occur one or more times a day. They are 

 usually abundant in quantity and of a strong char- 

 acteristic odor. 



