196 
the  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
February  10,  19-J 
Cat  and  Bird  Notes 
Raising  Angora  Cats 
I  live  in  the  country  near  several  good 
towns,  and  have  thought  of  raising  pedi¬ 
greed  Angora  kittens  for  sale.  Is  there 
much  call  for  them,  and  much  profit  in 
it?  'Where,  and  for  how  much,  can  one 
get  a  good  pair  of  cats  to  start  with? 
What  are  the  colors  most  in  demand? 
Also,  what  is  the  average  sale  price  of 
good  kittens?  MRS.  W.  F.  S. 
Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Below  is  a  summary  of  facts  from  dif¬ 
ferent  sources ;  a  pet-shop  man,  a  ‘"cat¬ 
tery,”  a  breeder  of  pedigreed  Persians 
and  a  farm  woman  or  two  who  have 
“made  a  go”  of  the  business.  Let’s  hear 
the  breeder  of  pedigreed  pussies  first : 
“This  is  no  business  for  you  to  enter  un¬ 
less  you  are  able  and  willing  to  sit  up  all 
night  any  time  with  a  sick  cat.” 
The  pet-shop  man  is  evidently  biased 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  keep 
delicate  kittens  in  health  within  the  lim¬ 
its  of  a  city  store.  lie  says: 
“In  regard  to  raising  Angora  cats, 
there  is  no  money  in  raising  these,  as 
they  are  very  delicate.  The  preferable 
color  is  white.  We  do  not  handle  them, 
as  they  are  very  unsatisfactory.  A  pair 
of  full-grown  cats  would  cost  you  .$18. 
Kittens  six  weeks  old  are  selling  for  $6.” 
The  “cattery”  folks  raise  cats  commer¬ 
cially.  They  keep  the  animals  in  un¬ 
heated  houses  and  let  them  exercise  in 
wire-enclosed  yards.  They  claim  that  the 
cats  are  hardier  and  have  longer,  thicker 
coats  when  thus  raised.  One  point  these 
people  emphasize  is,  do  not  pamper  the 
cats.  Give  them  enough  good,  plain  food. 
Such  cats  as  these  have  to  be  house- 
broken  to  be  satisfactory  as  pets. 
By  far  the  most  helpful  information 
comes  from  a  woman  who  made  the  busi¬ 
ness  pay  on  an  isolated  New  England 
farm.  A  woman  in  the  same  town  who 
lives  nearer  the  main  road  has  been  more 
successful  financially.  Please  do  not  un¬ 
derstand  that  these  women  have  made 
fortunes;  they  have  only  earned  a  fair 
sum  for  their  time  and  trouble. 
Mrs.  D.  says  in  part :  “Angoras  are 
subject  to  all  the  ills  that  humans  are, 
but  with  care  I  do  not  think  they  are 
very  much  harder  to  raise  than  ordinary 
cats.  The  price  depends  on  locality  and 
pedigree.  White  are  the  most  desir¬ 
able,  but  are  said  to  frequently  he  deaf. 
Home  breeders  hold  that  this  idea  is  ex¬ 
ploded,  however;  that  white  cats  are  no 
more  deaf  than  others.  Yellow  cats  come 
next  in  demand  ;  yellow  cats  are  said  to 
be  more  treacherous.  My  yellows  were 
less  affectionate.  A  child  could  play  with 
any  of  my  cats  except  Bully,  but  Buffy 
was  yellow.  Two-color  cats,  such  a  gray 
and  white,  or  yellow  and  white,  sell  bet¬ 
ter  than  three-color  cats.  The  desirabil¬ 
ity  of  two-color  cats  depends  on  the  sym¬ 
metry  of  the  white  markings. 
“The  females  are  apt  to  be  three-color 
cats.  If  you  are  buying  a  pair  of  cats, 
choose  a  one-color  male,  if  possible.  If 
not,  select  a  male  with  as  little  white  as 
may  be,  prettily  marked,  too.  The  price 
you  pay  will  depend  on  what  you  can  af¬ 
ford.  and  your  location. 
“Do  not  blame  the  pet-shop  men  who 
do  not  keep  the  kittens,  because  it  is  so 
hard  to  keep  the  kittens  in  stores.  A 
woman  who  means  to  sell  only  at  home 
should  make  a  go  of  it  and  earn  a  profit 
besides. 
“I  do  not  consider  the  kittens  any 
harder  to  raise  than  common  kittens.  Of 
course,  I  love  cats,  love  to  fuss  over 
them  and  baby  them.  This  is  no  busi¬ 
ness  for  a  woman  who  does  not ;  one  has 
to  be  ‘half-cat’  to  understand  the  pussies. 
Only,  look  out  for  wet  feet  for  the  kits. 
Their  fur  is  so  long  and  so  thick  that  it 
takes  a  good  while  to  dry  if  it  gets  wet, 
and  there  is  great  danger  of  getting  cold. 
I  ket  my  grown  cats  out  in  snow  or  in  a 
warm,  light  rain,  but  the  kittens  could 
only  be  let  out  in  a  veiy  warm  rain,  if  at 
all.  The  cats  stayed  in  if  the  rain  were 
a  cold  one. 
“Perhaps  I  would  better  explain  that 
my  farm  was  a  mile  off  the  main  road, 
in  a  lonely  spot.  I  could  let  my  cats 
roam  over  the  fields,  and  they  helped 
themselves  to  various  natural  things  that 
aided  in  keeping  them  in  condition.  The 
exercise  helped  to  make  them  strong.  In 
this  location  there  was  little  danger  of 
having  the  cats  stolen.  Cats  that  have 
large  liberty  thus  are  much  hardier  than 
those  limited  to  exercise  in  wire-enclosed 
yards,  yet  a  large  yard  is  much  better 
than  the  pens  at  a  ‘cattery.’ 
“Of  course,  when  one  begins  to  raise 
I  ittens.  there  will  be  something  new  com¬ 
ing  up  every  little  while.  Then  the  be¬ 
ginner  can'  only  ask  somebody  who 
knows.  A  book  on  cats  can  be  bought 
at  a  pet-shop  or  city  bookstore,  or.  be  seen 
at  a  good  public  library  that  will  help 
Or  the  breeder  from  whom  you  purchase 
your  breeding  stock  might  be  willing  to 
answer  your  questions  by  ’phone  or  mail. 
“Show  or  pedigreed  cats  are  brushed 
every  day.  Farm-raised  cats  should  be 
brushed  as  often  as  possible.  This  keeps 
their  coats  in  condition  and  helps  to 
eliminate  the  loose  hair.  Farm  cats  can 
be  brushed  every  other  day.  though.  Do 
not  let  the  cats  swallow  their  loose  hair. 
Constipation  caused  by  this  is  the  worst 
ailment  you  will  have  to  fight.  Consti¬ 
pation  can  be  conquered  by  the  use  of 
castor  oil  or  olive  oil.  A  teaspoonful 
dose  for  a  large  cat  is  about  right;  you 
will  have  to  judge  by  the  size  of  the  cat 
and  how  much  you  can  persuade  it  to 
take.  Some  dose  cats  once  a  week  on 
general  principles ;  some  do  it  once  a 
month.  The  oil  helps  keep  the  coat 
glossy. 
“I  feed  my  Angoras  like  ordinary  kit¬ 
tens.  Any  of  my  cats  would  ordinarily 
eat  what  was  set  before  them.  I  rarely 
gave  raw  meat.  This  is  such  a  treat  to 
these  cats  that  sometimes  by  putting  sul¬ 
phur  on  a  scrap  of  raw  meat  the  cat 
would  take  the  medicine  when  otherwise 
it  might  not.  Sulphur  is  one  of  the 
things  that  are  good  for  cats.  I  used 
milk,  warm  for  the  kittens,  vegetables  of 
any  kind  I  happen  to  have,  and  mashed 
potatoes  sometimes  put  in  with  the  milk. 
If  the  cats  left  a  mixture  with  a  certain 
vegetable,  left  it  persistently,  I  did  not 
use  that  vegetable  again.  I  often  mixed 
their  food  with  gravy  or  meat  juice,  how¬ 
ever.  The  cats  are  as  individual  in  their 
tastes  about  food  as  people  are.  They 
are  also  as  individual  in  disposition. 
“All  cats  should  have  catnip.  There 
is  a  little  pill  called  santonin  that  can  be 
bought  at  any  drug  store ;  this  is  good 
for  pussies  that  do  not  feel  well. 
“If  a  female  is  to  be  bred  at  a  certain 
time,  she  should  be  shut  up.  I  prefer  to 
have  females  bear  only  one  litter  of  kit¬ 
tens  a  -vear ;  unless  the  mother  is  excep¬ 
tionally'  strong  it  is  better  so.  Angora 
cats  have  not  the  endurance  of  common 
cats;  they  do  not  live  nearly  so  long; 
eight  or  nine  years  is  ordinarily  the  lim¬ 
it.  The  cats  are  very  sensitive,  too; 
sensitive  and  delicate.  The  higher  the 
pedigree,  the  more  sensitive  the  cat. 
“Look  out  for  the  danger  from  motor 
cars  if  you  live  near  a  traveled  road  and 
your  cats  are  loose.  Cats  may  either  be 
run  over  or  stolen.  I  kept  my  pussies 
in  the  barn  at  night,  always  rounding 
them  up  at  bedtime.  They  were  fond  of 
us  and  would  trail  along  after  my  hus¬ 
band  and  me  in  single  file  when  we  visit¬ 
ed  distant  parts  of  the  farm.  They  made 
an  amusing  sight  so. 
“Finally,  remember  that  constipation 
is  the  chief  ill,  and  that  pedigree  and  lo¬ 
cation  govern  the  price  you  can  get.” 
Another  woman  assures  me  that 
Spring  kittens  are  easier  to  “house- 
break”  than  Fall  litters. 
EDNA  S.  KNAPP. 
Parrot  Loses  Feathers 
How  could  I  stop  my  parrot’s  feathers 
from  falling  out?  The  bird  will  eat  any¬ 
thing  I  feed  him  ;  he  picks  on  bones  or 
anything.  Would  that  cause  the  trouble? 
Could  you  tell  me  how  to  feed  the  par¬ 
rot?  He  also  pulls  the  feathers  out  him¬ 
self.  H.  H. 
Hackensack,  N.  J. 
Pulling  of  feathers  in  any  bird  is  apt 
to  be  caused  by  bad  blood  or  feeding  the 
bird  too  rich  (or  wrong)  food,  which 
starts  a  disease  of  the  skin,  causing  it 
to  itch.  Very  likely  your  parrot  is  not 
fed  just  right.  Does  he  have  good  sharp 
gravel  in  his  cage  all  the  time?  It  is 
not  a  bad  plan  to  let  him  have  access  to 
a  piece  of  cuttle,  as  canaries  do.  Par¬ 
rots  can  no  more  grind  their  food  with¬ 
out  gravel  than  a  mill  can  grind  without 
grindstones.  This  lack  of  gravel  is  a 
frequent  cause  of  lack  of  success  in  keep¬ 
ing  parrots. 
Keep  your  bird  on  a  plain  diet.  Don’t 
give  it  meat,  fresh  bread  or  any  greasy 
food.  The  best  food  for  all  kinds  of  par¬ 
rots  is  sunflower,  hemp,  padda  and 
cracked  corn,  but  it  is  well  to  give  them 
one  soft  feed  each  day  consisting  of  pilot 
crackers  or  stale  bread  soaked  in  boiled 
milk.  The  pilot  crackers  should  be  hard 
enough  baked  so  they  remain  spongy 
after  being  wetted  instead  of  being 
sticky.  An  occasional  bit  of  dry  cracker 
or  peanut  or  pec-au  meat  may  be  given  to 
healthy  birds.  Bread  should  be  three  to 
four  days  old  to  use  for  parrots.  If  your 
bird  can  drink  water  without  injury, 
leave  a  dish  of  water  in  his  cage  con¬ 
stantly  set  in  such  a  way  it  cannot  be¬ 
come  foul. 
During  the  moulting  season  a  bit  of 
red  pepper  or  a  piece  of  raw  onion  will 
sometimes  act  as  a  tonic.  Does  your 
bird  like  a  dust  bath,  or  is  it  one  of  the 
few  parrots  that  will  bathe? 
Give  the  bird  a  spool  to  play  with  and 
pick  at  in  his  cage.  See  that  he  has 
gravel  and  plain  food.  EDNA  s.  knapp. 
Damage  by  Trespassers 
What  is  the  limit  of  prosecution,  both 
criminal  and  civil,  for  trespassing  on 
marked  ground ;  also  for  cutting  and  tak¬ 
ing  good  (standing  and  fallen  trees) 
while  owner  is  South  during  cold  weath¬ 
er?  When  caught,  offenders  make  the 
excuse  they  thought  it  was  open  or  pub¬ 
lic  ground,  “They  thought  their  prop¬ 
erty  extended  to  my  woods,”  when  they 
knew  it  did  not.  J.  B.  H. 
Greene  Co.,  N.  Y. 
The  minimum  penalty  for  trespassing 
upon  posted  land  with  a  rod  or  gun  is 
$60.  Under  the  general  law,  it  is  a  mis¬ 
demeanor  to  cut  standing  timber  on  pri¬ 
vate  property  without  the  owner’s  per¬ 
mission.  Civilly,  you  have  an  action 
against  the  persons  who  cut  or  drew 
away  your  timber  for  the  damage  done. 
It  is  no  defense  that  they  did  not  know 
that  the  timber  was  on  your  property 
and  not.  on  the  property  of  the  person  by 
whom  it  was  cut  or  removed. 
1 
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