Evening star., 1928-06-10
This and That
BY Charles e. TraeeWeu.

Jack Spratt was suffering from a
cold.
Like his human friends, he was
sneezing. As q matter Of cold fact.
nearly every one In Washington seemed
to be snee8ing.
The unusual weather, despite the
disclaimers OF the Weather Bureau,
had caused a slight epidemic of
snuffiing. from which even the animal
creation did not seem exempt.
The cat Jack had wet eyes, and a
moist nose, and spent his time alter
nately wheeling and sIlee1ing.
The only thing that did not seem
affected was his appetite.
each afternoon, when he knew his half
pound OF veal outlet or round steak, as
the case might be, would appear upon
the dietetic horizon.
It Is true that some evenings he
would leave few bites upon his paper,
most unusual procedure for him, but
often enough he would devour his en-
tire allotment.
Perhaps IL Is not generally known that
q cat has no grinding teeth, but only
those capable of cutting and rending,
so the verb "devour" Is correct.
When Jack got no better, q decision
was reached to call In the cat doctor.
This very necessary individual, how
ever. Is regarded by Spratt as bitter
enemy. or, rather, a strange nuisance
In his otherwise placid life. ..
We hesitate TO state the fact that
Jack can differentiate the sound Of the
doctors car from that OF any other
automobile.
SO we content ourself with stating
that our tiger striped friend has some
means Of detecting the doctor.
Perhaps 1t Is by his sense OF smell,
with which he Is able to Whit the scent
OF antiseptic which veterinary surgeons
carry around with them.
At any rate, no sooner had We
brought the patient into the living
room than the furry fellow refused TO
look In the direction Of the man with
the small black handbook,
Failing In an attempt to climb up and
over our shoulder. Jack settled down
with his eyes and nose hid In our arm.
and remained In this position until his
temperature was taken.
"He has q slight fever" said the
Doc, sighting critically at the tube. "A
degree and a half too high. Now, Jack.
hold STILL"
Holding still. however. was just ex-
actly what Jack Spratt did not intend
to do.
With mighty squirm he rose ON his
hind legs and tried to act free. As he
felt the doctors hand deity open his
Jaws for the insertion of q mighty pill.
The pill. to Jacks round eyes, no
doubt took on the proportions Of toy
balloon.
When you are a cat. however and
cat doctor gets hold OF you, your Jaws
come open, and the pin IL dropped
upon the tongue.
And then, as II 10 add insult 10 In
jury. two smaller pills follow In quick
succession. so quick, indeed, that a
fellow does not have time to spit them
out.
We learned from the veterinarian
that one should not attempt to pour
q spoonful OF medicine down q cats
throat rapidly.
The cats throat Is not made for the
swallowing OF large quantities OF liquid
at q time. he said. but only for very
small portions, a. In tapping milk,
Funny how one never thinks OF AuOh
plain facts. when administering medl.
cine but frightens the pet and at the
same time gives him 10 much that he
cannot swallow itl
Liquid medicine should be eased down
d cat, almost drop by drop, while the
animal Is held wrapped tightly In
blanket,
This should be accompanied by the
customary pleasant language used IN
talking 10 the furry friend In the nor
nal tone, and with q gentle rubbing
Of the forehead