Concerning Diseases of Cats 



for a week or two has excellent effects. This is sometimes a 

 good remedy when an old cat seems to be " run down." 



When a cat has consumption, as sometimes happens, there 

 is little that can be done. The same may be said of asthma ; 

 and when it is positively certain that a cat has an incurable 

 disease, it is a mercy to put it gently beyond the reach of 

 suffering. 



Nervous diseases are not uncommon among cats. Mrs. 

 Spofford tells us how her Lucifer went insane at the sight 

 of a camera, and did not recover for months. Cats are 

 frequently frightened into a species of insanity, and there 

 are numerous cases on record where cats have become 

 almost imbecile from fear. A young cat, especially a high- 

 bred one, will sometimes get so excited at play that for half 

 an hour afterward nervous tremors can be felt by the hand 

 of the owner. 



There is no suffering of a cat apparently more acute than 

 that which attends milk fever. Cats often suffer intensely 

 in giving birth to kittens, and indeed for a week or two 

 before. A female cat in this condition should be handled 

 as little and as gently as possible. 



When a cat is ready to be delivered, give her a good bed 

 in a quiet, dark place, and she will take care of herself, — 

 unless she has been pampered as mine have, when she will 

 insist on sympathy and affectionate care. There are so 

 many stray cats, and it is so hard to find good homes for 

 them, that the kindest way is to drown all but one of every 

 litter of kittens, and this should be done as soon as they are 

 bom. If you wait longer the mother cat suffers more. On 

 no account should all the kittens be taken away, as the cat 

 is pretty sure to have milk fever. 



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