Evening star., 1945-01-10
This and That
By Charles E. TraceueH.

When the family cat comes down
With dlstemper you have a major pet
catastrophe and there is no joke about it.
This is second only to the family dog
taking the same disease. Dogs suffer
more, perhaps but not much. Dog and
cat distemper are two different dis
eases.
There is some tendency, even among
friends OF cats, to laugh a bit at their
ailments. There Is really nothing to
laugh about when it is distemper. 1t is
hard for both the suffering animal and
its friends.
Changeable Washington weather. with
many cloudy days, tend to give distemper
It's hold. 1t is virus disease, which
gets in its work when resistance is low
cred. The keynote of its cure is con-
tinual warmth.
Dlstemper is cross between the
grippe and intestinal flu, as suffered by
humans, with few extras thrown in
for the animal kingdom.
Nursing care is what turns the tide
in favor of the patient If any one
thinks that a cat should not be given
much care, when thousands of men are
suffering and dying the world around let
him or her remember that some old
Tom is one of the dearest memories of
home to hundreds of those same brave
men.
The cat suddenly stricken with dis
temper Is best placed in small room,
where 1t cannot roam around, and kept
there until it is we'll.
How long this will take depends upon
the constitution of the animal and its
age.
Kittens and young cats suffer the most.
There is belief that older specimens
cannot get distemper, but this is not so.
Like human flu, it is no respecter of age.
Day and night care will be necessary,
and will be gladly given in the family
where the cat occupies an honored place.
In all other households the animal
should be taken at once to the nearest
veterinarian. If this is done soon enough,
a serum may be given which will help
hold down the symptoms.
The stricken animal first shows signs
OF throat distress, followed by nausea
and coughing and sneezing.
The symptoms are remarkably like
those of intestinal flu in humans. There
is no desire to eat, and much prostra-
ton. Yet at the same time the animal
may want to move around the house
This is sign of nervousness, and should
not be allowed.
The results of some of the symptoms
are not at all nice, either to the victim
or the one who is taking care of the
creature, but they have to be endured.
1t is much better to have it all in one
room.
Vaporizing teaspoonful of compound
tincture of benzoin in pan of water is
the best way to relieve the cough and
sneezing.
small bowl full may be dipped out
and held about inches below the
patients nose for time Sensible cats
will welcome the relief others will shy
from it. In no case should the hot LIQUID
be put down before them unguarded.
Animals have had no experience with
boiling water in nature.
Cats may go four days without eating,
but after that, unless some appetite re-
turns, forced feeding is necessary
This is done with a medicine dropper
and cold broth from which the fat has
been skinned! Four or five droppers
full make meal The food is simply
squirted down as rapidly as possible.
sometimes it isn't possible).
Throat and stomach symptoms are
very distressing, but tend to mitigate
about the fourth day The creature may
be said to have recovered, specifically,
at the end of week, but under no cir
cumstances should it be allowed out of
doors until at least two or three more
weeks have passed. This is the danger
period, all the more so since the cat
seems well in comparison with the past
days. An unguarded half hour outdoors
may undo all that has been done. and
start all the symptoms again, with
pneumonia lurking in the of1ng.