Concerning Diseases of Cats 



ment for two or three days, a dose of physic should be given 

 the cat (at night), to carry off the dead and dying parasites. 

 The course of santonine powders should be repeated for at 

 least three consecutive times, giving the physic each second 

 or third night, as only in this way can the newly hatched 

 worms be killed and carried off before laying their eggs ; 

 and only thus can the cat's system be cleansed from these 

 troublesome pests. In cases of the smallest of these para- 

 sites, scientifically known as olulanus, even this treatment 

 fails: the parasites, resembling trichiniB, infest the lungs, 

 liver, and other visceral organs, and cause death. 



Some authorities advocate giving the santonine in castor 

 oil, but as there is very little taste to it, and as cats will 

 swallow a powder if their mouths are gently opened and the 

 powder is emptied carefully on the back part of the tongue, 

 the latter seems to me the better way. Of course, two 

 people whom the cat knows and loves should administer 

 the medicine. 



For the physic, a very mild cathartic pill may be given, 

 placing it so far back on the cat's tongue that he will 

 swallow it on closing the mouth. If castor oil is given, let 

 one person hold open the cat's mouth, firmly but gently, by , 

 the back of the jaws, while another pours a teaspoonful 

 carefully into his throat. "Garfield Tea," steeped quite 

 strong and given in teaspoonful doses, is better than castor 

 oU. 



In case the cat will not take liquid medicine, or will not 

 keep quiet long enough, it can be smeared on the fur. In 

 their desire for perfect cleanliness cats will lap their fiir 

 clean, and thus swallow the medicine. For this reason it is 

 not safe to use the carbolic soap that is good for washing 



273 



