_Thirdly. How to get size_. This is accomplished by the quantity and
quality of pussy's food, and the regularity with which she gets her
meals. Whatever you give a young cat, and a growing cat to eat, do not
let it be too abundant. Never let her gorge herself; give her little
and often. Don't let her want for a saucerful of pure water, to which
she can always find access. Let her allowance of milk be put down to
her and taken up again when she has had all she wants; what she leaves
had better be given to the pigs. Bad milk is a fruitful source of
diarrhoea, dysentery, and some forms of skin disease. A little
sulphur--about as much as will lie on a fourpenny-bit--should be given
at least once a fortnight, or half that quantity once a week.
Train your cats early to habits of cleanliness. Don't forget the
flower-pot saucer; and remember that, if the cats you wish to take
prizes with, belong to any of the finer breeds, they _must_ be parlour
cats, and not kitchen-bred brutes.
If you want your cats to grow large, let their food be nourishing but
not stimulating; boiled cow's or sheep's lights they can eat their
stomachs full of; but avoid beef, it is too gross and heating, and don't
patronise the cat's-meat man.
Kittens and growing cats, in order to grow large, must have plenty of
exercise and fun. Leaping exercise is best. Teach them to jump through
a hoop, and keep them at it. They ought to have a ball as a toy, or a
hare's foot; and ridiculous as it may seem to many, it is a positive
fact, that cats--especially queen cats--thrive best who have a
looking-glass conveniently placed to admire themselves in, and to wash
and dress in front of.
"Ilka little maks a mickle," is a good old Scotch proverb, and believe
me it is attention to little matters, to minutiae, which makes one
successful in properly rearing any animal.
_Fourthly. How to get Good Pelage on a Cat_. The feeding of course has
much to do with the length and gloss of the coat. Fish I have found is
good for the coat, and a mixed diet generally, with not too much
vegetables to scour them. But your sheet-anchors, after all, are the
brush and the comb. The comb must be fine, and not too close in the
teeth, and it should be used gently, after which brush the coat briskly
all over with a long-haired soft hair-brush--a baby's brush in fact.
The comb is not only a gentle stimulant to the skin, but it prevents
matting, while the brush removes dust, and gives a nice glitter to the
pelage. Both together act as a charm.
_Fifthly_. In cats other than white you will find that certain kinds of
food strengthen the colours of the pelage. I am convinced, for
instance, that boiled bullock's lights do, and so does sheep's blood.
This fact is perhaps worth knowing. I am making experiments with other
foods and some condiments, but am not yet in a position to state
results.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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