The cat is very fortunately free from many of the skin complaints that affect the dog. Nevertheless, domestication and improper surroundings - the curses of health - demand a few victims now and again, and hence the much-maligned cat is not exempt from this bane.

The diseases are either contagious and con-veyable from one cat to another, or simple and not spread by contact.

The contagious skin diseases are due either to an animal parasite (as in mange) or to a vegetable parasite (as in ringworm).

Sarcoptic Mange is a contagious skin disease of the cat due to an animal parasite or mange-mite, termed Sarcoptes minor, var. cati.

It generally attacks ill-fed, neglected, and badly housed cats which are allowed to stray, and is seen chiefly in the autumn. It frequently occurs as an epizootic, and where no attention is bestowed on the victims it is very fatal.

The adult or mature mite has an almost circular body. When viewed under the microscope, its limbs seem to be under its body. It has eight pairs of legs in the adult and six in the larval stage. In the female the hind legs are provided at the extremities with bristles only ; but in the male the central pair of hind legs are provided with suckers, although the outer pair have bristles. It does not excavate a subcutaneous gallery, or burrow, like the mange-mites of other animals, but makes a simple nest, that appears as a minute eminence. The larvae, nymphse, and males wander in the midst of the crusts.

It is capable of being transmitted to man, and to the dog, rat, horse, and ox.

Whatever part of the body it first touches, it always goes to the head to do its injurious work. At first small reddish pimples, no larger than a pin's head or a turnip-seed, appear; these exude a yellowish fluid which dries and forms crusts. The animal scratches, the hair falls off, numerous other scales appear, and become thicker and thicker, until the whole head and ears become encased in a cast of dirty yellowish crusts. The crusts may be absent in young kittens or cats, but slightly adherent scales are seen instead.

After a time the disease spreads to the neck and shoulders, elbows and thighs, or even to the whole body. In kittens or young cats the complaint is more likely to spread to various parts of the body, but in older animals it is generally confined to the head, or head and neck, but may, as in young cats, spread to the other parts or to the whole body, the skin of which, after some time, becomes wrinkled, and gives off a musty odour.

The nostrils and eyes may be blocked up by the thickened crusts, so that the animal can see, or breathe through the nostrils, only with difficulty. The cat hides or strays away, it mopes and seems sad; it becomes emaciated, and indifferent to its surroundings, and finally succumbs to exhaustion or some concurrent disease. It may be associated with ringworm or parasitic ear canker ; it is nearly always accompanied by the elliptical tapeworm.

It quickly kills within five or six weeks if no treatment or attention is bestowed on the cat, especially if young ; but where it is partially treated, it may linger for months, even years. Cold weather retards its progress, but its energy is renewed in the following spring. It spreads slowly on well-cared-for cats.

Treatment

The mangy cat should be kept isolated from the healthy animals, and kept away from children. Its basket, bedding, or cage should be boiled, burnt, or thoroughly disinfected. The cat must be carefully dressed with sulphurated lime lotion, which should be applied by means of a piece of lint every day, taking care that the animal is kept warm and well fed.

Follicular Mange is due to a caterpillar-shaped mite - the Demodex or Acarus follicu-lorum, var. cati - which inhabits the sebaceous follicles of the skin. It is sometimes found in the ears, nose, and head of the cat, but rarely causes severe itchiness. It produces pimples and scabs, which are only of short duration, and seldom occasions trouble. It is frequently associated with sarcoptic mange. The parasite is a quarter smaller than that of the dog.

Treatment

A lotion composed of sulphurated potash (1 drachm), glycerine (½ oz. to 6 parts of rose-water), applied by means of lint to the affected part once a day, generally suffices to cause its disappearance.

Grey Ringworm, or Tinea tonsurans, is not a common affection of the cat. It is due to a vegetable parasite or mould, termed the Trichophyton felineum, which attacks the hairs, these becoming much altered and broken, and their ends split up and frayed like a brush. There will be noticed circular or oval bald patches, covered with an abundance of scales, which are of a slaty or greyish appearance, and vary according to the colour of the animal. These are seen on the head and limbs and round the eyelids and mouth, but also on other parts of the body. They may run into one another, and form large patches. There may be itchiness and scratching ; and in this latter case the crusts may be covered with blood and resemble eczema.

Treatment

As this disease is conveyable to other cats, to the horse, ox. dog, and children, the affected animal should be isolated and the patches dressed with tincture of per-chloride of iron once every third day. (Whole families, and even a whole school, have been known to become affected with ringworm from a cat.)

Yellow Ringworm, or Tinea favosa, or favus, also termed " honeycomb ringworm," is a commoner disease in the cat than grey ringworm. It is due to a vegetable parasite named Achorion Qiunckeanum, which causes at first yellow-coloured crusts that are arranged as cup-shaped masses, which disturb the hairs so that they are shed. These cup-shaped masses resemble a honeycomb in appearance, hence its name. The sulphur-yellow colour after a time changes to a dirty yellow or grey. The patches may be circular or zigzag, and raised above the skin, but the centre is depressed so as to give them a cup-shaped appearance. They vary in size from a pin's head to a shilling, or larger. They may run into one another, so that the circular form is no longer present. The hairs are stiff and lustreless, and can be easily pulled out. They seem to grow in the centre of the " cups." After a time the parasite loosens the hair in the follicle, so that it is shed.

It prefers to affect the root of the claws, or the belly, sides of the chest, elbows, head, base of ears, nose, and then spreads all over the body. When it attacks the head, it ensheaths the face and scalp as if clay had been moulded to the parts, so that the eyes become hidden from view.

The cat hides itself, or strays away; it moans or mews, crouches on all fours, and seems utterly miserable. The skin gives off an abominable odour, which resembles mouldy decaying wood in a damp, dark building, or a mousy smell. When the disease is in an advanced stage, the animal dies from exhaustion or some concurrent disease.

It affects old cats as well as young ones, and it is said they contract it from mice and rats, which become affected behind the ears. A week or a fortnight elapses before any symptom appears after infection. Young animals are easily infected, but older ones may resist it. It is transmissible to children and adults, from cat to cat, from man to cat, and from rats and mice to man and cat. It may be associated with mange and parasitic ear canker.

Treatment

The cat affected with yellow ringworm should be kept away from children and other cats: the affected patches may be painted with the following : Salicylic acid . . . I drachm.

Ether . . . . .2 drachms.

Spirit of wine . . ½ ounce.

Glycerine . . . . 4 drachms.

Camphor-water . . . to 3 ounces.

The term Eczema is given to all those skin eruptions that are characterised by pimples and vesicles followed by scabs and scales, and accompanied with great itchiness.

It is said to be non-contagious, and as far as the cat is concerned this seems to me to be true. On the other hand, in the dog some of the varieties of eczema appear to be spread by contact. It very often runs a chronic course, and frequently recurs.

It generally affects the back, loins, root of tail, and back of the thighs, although any part of the body may be attacked. There is great itchiness, the animal bites or licks itself, the skin becomes red, pimples the size of a head of a millet seed, or even a small pea, appear; these, after a time, burst, and a fluid issues from them and dries, forming scabs. Sometimes the itchiness is so intense as to cause the animal to bite or lick itself until the skin becomes raw and bleeding. In rare instances it produces a kind of mania for licking, which is followed by epileptiform seizures. The hair falls off, leaving bare patches, or it becomes matted together by the gluey discharge and ultimately sheds itself.

In suckling cats, after sudden deprivation of their offspring, an eczematous eruption may appear on the belly, back, and loins, but it is not, as a rule, severe.

The she-cat, especially of the light-coloured variety, when not allowed to breed, is often troubled with a scattered vesicular eruption; which is too difficult to eradicate, and is very liable to recur.

In the castrated male cat it is very common to find a papular and vesicular eruption, which breaks out every spring and autumn.

The causes of eczema in the cat are an unnatural, sedentary life and an abundance of rich food without any compensatory or sufficient exercise in the fresh air. Hot weather, especially when accompanied by wet, predisposes to it, but the affection is seen also in the cold months of the year.

Treatment

The animal suffering from eczema should be allowed as much exercise of its functions in the open an as possible. Grass or freshly boiled green vegetables, or asparagus, should be put within its reach. Raw meat, uncooked fish with the bones in, or birds with the feathers on, or bullock's liver are suitable as ordinary food. Rice-pudding, oatmeal, and milk should not be given.

The treatment of the skin is chiefly local. The itchiness must be allayed. This can be obtained by applying precipitated sulphur (2 drachms), zinc oxide (2 drachms), mixed in olive oil (2 ounces) twice a day to the affected parts. If the eruptions are spread over a wide area, the hair should be cut off close to the skin before applying the dressing. For internal treatment a powder composed of calomel (1/8 to ¼ grain) and bicarbonate of sodium (2$ to 5 grains) should be given twice a day. If the disease runs a chronic course, arsenic bromide or iodide (1/100 grain in a pilule) should be given three times a day.