As stated, when referring to some of the previous diseases, the scavenging nature of the cat predisposes it to the ingestion of various noxious substances, but beyond this, many human beings seem to have a strong inclination towards the destruction of cats, especially when they become a nuisance to an adjacent neighbour's garden.

When criminally destroyed such substances as strychnine, arsenic, antimony, phosphor-paste and various vermin-destroyers are those usually resorted to, but the worst of all is strychnine. It causes remarkably painful and distressing tetanic spasms - the body being convulsed from head to foot; death sometimes occurring within a quarter of an hour - the muscles of respiration being paralyzed.

Arsenic and antimony both cause rapid signs of collapse. Pain in the belly is indicated by the cat howling: purgation: vomiting: death within a variable time.

The other poisons give rise to allied symptoms. Treatment, accordingly, must be left to the veterinary surgeon, but death usually occurs.