When cats have to be fed, artificially, as in many cases of disease, a great deal of trouble and patience has to be exercised, and considerable manipulative dexterity is called for.

First of all, the following artificial foods and stimulants are the principal ones: warmed milk; iced milk; milk and soda water; beef juice; Brand's Essence; Lactol; Oxo; Bovril; raw egg; egg and brandy; corn-flour; arrow-root; malt and beef wine; coco wine; Wincarnis; Liebig's Extract; raw minced meat, etc. For sick cats Lactol is truly excellent.

The main thing to observe in feeding a cat that is ill is to give a very small quantity, repeated, say, six times a day.

The stomach readily rebels-against artificial foods, and if too much is given the stomach is sure to reject it. A dessertspoonful is ample to give each time, and if raw meat is used, a teaspoonful of minced beef-steak is enough at once.

The condition of the patient will be the best guide in regulating the quantity, mode of administration, suitability of the aliment and its repetition. The proper way to give a cat fluids is through a small pewter syringe, which is charged with the material, then inserted at the side of the mouth, and the piston then driven home. Semi-fluids, however, cannot be given in this manner. A teaspoon is commonly used for the latter, - the mouth being held open meanwhile. Even when the greatest care is exercised, cats become very refractory to the artificial administration of either food or medicine, and the remedy may prove more detrimental than the disease, especially if the cat struggles violently meanwhile.

One person should hold the cat by gripping it after the fashion indicated in the chapter on General Management, whilst the second person administers the food. (It is better if a third party is present, to steady the head and to depress the lower jaw, through which a piece of tape may be passed inside the mouth and the free ends then used as a lever, for depressing the lower jaw.) When cats have to be fed by the lower end of the bowel, the chances of recovery are very small indeed. A clyster must be given to clear out the rectum, and the nutrient medium then injected - a little brandy, or brandy and egg, being the best for such purposes.