Great attention should be paid to cats' teeth when kept in confinement; bones, raw or cooked, should be given both to cats and kittens several times a week, if not every day.

The best bones for young kittens are raw ones, and should the kittens be quite young, all pieces of fat, small splinters of bone, etc., should be removed, leaving only the lean raw meat; if a marrow bone, the marrow should be taken out before feeding.

It is best not to give kittens bones until they are three months old, then the middle day meal can be discontinued, and bones given instead. If these are given regularly during the period of teething, which is from four to eight months, there will be little trouble with cutting their teeth.

If they do not gnaw these bones readily, you may be sure the kittens are being overfed, as nothing is more relished than a nice fresh bone.

Remember a cat is essentially a carnivorous animal, and must be treated as such to be kept healthy.

Bones are as indispensible for the cat as the dog, and without them the teeth soon get furred up and decay, giving the animal months of pain before they finally drop out. When troubled with bad teeth the cat will be noticed to refuse its food and dribble from the mouth.

The teeth should be examined, and if there be one loose, it should be immediately removed; they can usually be removed by placing a dry, soft cloth over the tooth before pulling; if quickly done the cat is too astonished to protest. If any are furred they should be cleaned and scraped. The same method of extraction should be applied to the first teeth of kittens; at about five to eight months of age, it will be noticed that some of the second teeth have appeared before the first have fallen out.

During teething kittens are popularly supposed to be subject to fits, but as mine never have any, I am more inclined to think the cause of these fits is the presence of worms, which, when the kitten becomes somewhat out of condition while teething, cause fits. (For treatment see chapter on fits.)

Lime-water should be given to all kittens from the very first, this in addition to bones will make them cut their teeth without difficulty.

When very old cats begin to lose their teeth they should be extracted, and the cat must then either be fed on finely minced meat or destroyed, as they cannot possibly eat large pieces of meat, and milk food is starvation to old animals.