Cat Treatment

Information on how you should treat your cat.

Cat Treatment

More than any other beast the cat needs gentle treatment. Ages of persecution have made him suspicious, and it will require ages of kindness to eradicate that trait from his character. He is, therefore, on the lookout for injustice and cruelty ; a rough word makes him shrink as from a blow; harsh reproof strikes upon his sensitive nerves with terrible effect. He must be won by gentleness and loving care before he will be convinced of the friendship of a human being and be his nat- ural self; and he must not be blamed for it either; it is the fault of the race which has so long ill-treated him. He cannot, like the dog, take good-will for granted, because the whole experience of his life teaches him otherwise.

His confidence won, however, no pet is so delightful in a quiet-loving home as the cat, and the difference between one thus treated and the ordinary beast is marvellous. " His gestures and actions," says Rev. J. G. Wood, describing his own pet cat, " are full of that spirited yet easy grace which can never be attamed by any creature, be it man, beast, or bird, who has once learned to crouch in ter- ror, and to fear a harsh tone or an uplifted hand." And, further, the fearless, confiding movements, the clear, open glance, and intelligent expression of a well -treated cat are so different from the furtive, scared look of a poor animal that is hunted about and kicked out of the way, that the two seem hardly to belong to the same species. The wild savage, whose education is a perpetual distrust of everybody and everything, is not more unlike the high-born and accomplished European gentleman than an ill-used cat unlike one treated kindly."

Their confidence won, the individuality of cats is marked ; they differ as greatly as children, and should be treated accordingly. I had in my home at one time two cats so nearly alike that without seeing the face and its expression they could not be told apart. They were Maltese, with silvery tips to their exquisite fur. One was emphatically an aristocrat, who lived in the parlor, slept by preference on a satin-covered mantel, and was most dainty in her tastes and manners ; the other equally well treated, took naturally to the kitchen, and was happiest there.

The above-quoted good friend of the feline race, who has often used his pen in their service, advises that if a cat needs correction it should be given in such a way that it will appear to be the natural result of his deed, and not a punishment at the hands of man. For example, a cat was cured of killing chickens by having one he had killed securely bound into his open mouth, and kept there for some time.

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