Vomiting - Diseases of the Teeth - Obstruction in the Throat - Indigestion - Inflammation of the Stomach - Inflammation of the Bowels - Congestion of Liver - Tuberculosis of the Bowels - Poisoning - Diarrhoea and Dysentery - Constipation - Worms.

Vomiting

The vomiting centre in the cat is evidently well developed, as this animal - like the dog - can almost vomit at will, hence the reason why it readily rejects offending substances from its stomach.

Certain toxic substances are absorbed so rapidly by the stomach that the animal is unable to deal effectively with them, hence the cat - like other animals, especially those of a scavenging nature - readily falls a victim to poisoning.

Vomiting is salutary, and ought not to be checked, unless prolonged and exhausting. It must be looked upon as symptomatic, and treated accordingly. Bismuth is a useful remedy.

Diseases Of The Teeth

Both kittens and adult cats are troubled with irregularities of their teeth, but decay of the teeth usually affects the latter, though these animals, on the whole, are singularly free from dental troubles. A loose or decayed tooth must be extracted, and the same remark applies when the permanent teeth are replacing the temporary ones.

Entanglement of the fang, especially of the molars, occasionally occurs, preventing a permanent tooth from occupying its proper place in the jaw. Cats should be allowed to gnaw at a bone now and then, as this is their natural tooth-brush.

Obstruction In The Throat (Choking)

The cat seems particularly unfortunate in suffering from the lodgment of foreign bodies in the back part of the mouth and gullet, and most extraordinary substances have been taken from the latter by veterinary surgeons. In one case, a cat swallowed a steel hat-pin, four or five inches in length, shown in position by the X-rays. This was extracted, and the cat did well. The writer has frequently found pieces of bone lodged across the back part of the mouth, likewise fish-bones, but it is not necessary that the offending body should be inside, because compression, externally, on the gullet, may lead to obstruction.

The mouth must be fixed by the aid of a gag, and the cat securely held, but it is far better to take the animal to a veterinary surgeon, as the throat may be easily damaged through unskilful manipulation.

Indigestion

Although only symptomatic of disorder or disease, symptoms of indigestion do occur without any obvious reason, and this is one of the reasons why it is usual to speak of it as a disorder. Cats, especially if ill fed, are notorious scavengers, and the filthy substances they sometimes consume certainly derange the stomach.

Worms, if numerous, act in a similar manner especially the round worm (Ascaris mystax), which, by the way, is not an uncommon cause of vomiting,

General unthriftiness, indicated by a staring coat; lack of energy; drowsiness and an irregular condition of the bowels are the principal signs of dyspepsia. Diseases of the heart, stomach, liver, kidneys, intestines, and other organs are represented, in part, by symptoms of indigestion.

Treatment

The cause will probably be unascertainable, therefore treatment must be regulated in accordance with the predominating symptoms.

A simple remedy comprises the daily administration of a powder, composed of

10 grains of carbonate of bismuth. 1 „ „ pepsine. 5 „ „ charcoal. 5 „ „ bi-carbonate of potash.

Place dry upon the tongue. Feed on liquids and Spratt's malt milk, etc. If worms are the cause, treat accordingly.

Inflammation Of The Stomach {Gastritis)

The chief cause of this condition is the ingestion of irritant poisons, but we are inclined to think that it does occur in severe forms of distemper, and, possibly too, through the presence of a large number of worms in the stomach.

It is a very serious condition. The most prominent signs are acute pain in the belly, vomiting, thirst and collapse. Its treatment calls for professional assistance, but, in the mean time, water must not be given, but milk and soda-water be allowed, and the stomach requires all the rest possible.

Inflammation Of The Bowels (Enteritis)

This is closely allied to the preceding condition, in fact, the two are frequently intercurrent, their causes being practically the same, whilst their symptoms are indistinguishable to the non-professional. To allay the pain, a dessert-spoonful of castor oil, combined with twelve drops of laudanum, or six drops of chlorodyne - if the latter is used a slightly smaller dose of oil must be given, say a big teaspoonful. The chlorodyne may be repeated in a little milk and water every three or four hours, until an abatement of pain occurs. This is practically always a fatal disease. A kick, or other external injury, may provoke an attack of this nature, combined with inflammation of the covering of the bowels (peritonitis).

Tuberculosis Of The Bowels

The reason why cats are sometimes affected with this disease is apparently due to the channel of infection being through ingestion of some substance - it may be, meat or milk - containing the germs of tuberculosis.

Cats are very fond of the fresh livers of poultry, and this frequently leads to infection, as the latter are much troubled with this disease.

It is the glands - mesenteric - which are implicated; these become enlarged, and such enlargement may, sometimes, be felt through the abdominal walls. The leading signs are: gradual wasting away; loss of energy; want of appetite, etc. Destruction is the most economical.