SICKNESS OF CATS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22099, 1 November 1933, Page 14

SICKNESS OF CATS

EPIDEMIC IN LONDON RESULT OF HOT WEATHER. Hundreds of cats have died in various parts of London lately from gastroenteritis, which has been caused primarily by the exceptionally hot weather. It is the biggest epidemic among cats for years. The disease is carried by flies from one cat to another and, as a consequence, the death rate has gone up by leaps and bounds. The symptoms among cats are similar to those of enteric fever in human beings. Many people cab it “cat enteric,” but veterinary surgeons specialising in the treatment of cats call it cat influenza. A leading animal doctor at the Royal Veterinary College at Camden Town, said lately;—“ A cat perfectly well in the morning has been known to die from the disease 12 hours later. I have seen a big, fat cat shrink almost to nothing in less than three days. It is just like putting a wax cat into a hot oven. It seems to melt away. In most cases, if the complaint is taken in time, the cat’s life can be saved.” Another prominent cat doctor in the north of London said that his treatment for gastro-enteritis is an injection of bacteria which he calls enterophage. “It is usually successful if injected in time,” he said. “ But delay is often fatal. Many a person has lost a pet through not taking It to a veterinary surgeon at once.”