Medicating Cats - Victorian Style. (1 of 2)

There is a saying in the veterinary world, ‘A cat is not a small dog.’

 This refers to the fact that feline physiology is very different to canine, and it’s definitely NOT appropriate, at best, and dangerous at worst, to give smaller doses of dog drugs to cats. Felines lack some of the enzymes necessary to break up common drugs, leading to liver damage and death. Up until the 20 or 30 years, cat medicine as a science was in its infancy and this meant that the commonest option when treating a sick cat was to give it a scaled down dog remedy.

Perhaps the one thing that saved many cats from being made considerably worse by their well intentioned but misplaced efforts of their owner was the cat’s reluctance as a species to swallow pills and potions.

This description of pilling a cat dates from the 1860’s and it seems little has changed.

“Have ready a large cloth and wrap the patient therein, wisping the cloth round and round her body, so that every part of her, except the head, is well enveloped. Any one may then hold it [the cat] between their knees, while you complete the operation [giving the pill] Put on a pair of stout gloves, and then with a firm hand open the animal’s mouth wide!”

Charles Ross 1868.

However Mr. Ross also writes of an easier way to medicate a cat, but this method requires planning and forethought.

“Seriously speaking a lady who is kind to her domestic pets will have no trouble in giving them medicine. When they are kittens, they should be taught to lie upon their backs, and in this attitude with the head rasied, the physic is easily enough administered.”

Yeah right!

“A sick cat, too, does not fly from those for whom it has an affection; on the contrary I have always known cats to come for sympathy to those who nurse and feed them.”

This makes me wonder if modern cats are the same species as their Victorian forebears! No cats of my acquaintance will co-operate just because its good for them.

And finally, some good advice.

 “Administer the physic with a teaspoon, if liquid and be most careful when the dose has been given to gently wash from the cat’s face or breast any drop of the stuff that has fallen there, so that she may not find the nasty taste lingering about her when she goes to clean herself, as otherwise she has the unpleasantness of the physic long after the doses have been discontinued.”

In next week’s post the ‘remedies’ used in Victorian times are discussed….and I shudder.

The Value of a Cat...according to Medieval Welsh law.

You may have twigged by now that I'm a bit of a cat fanatic. I love them for their independance, their honesty and sheer cute furryiness. But centuries ago, when times were tough a pet was expected to earn their keep, and as such had a value. In Medieval times cats were valued as catchers of mice and even had a price according to their skill, as laid down in the 10^th century Welsh ‘Law of Hywel Dda.’

This states:

‘The value of a kitten from the night it is born until it opens its eyes, one legal penny;

And from then until it kills mice, two legal pence;

And after it kills mice, four legal pence,

And at that it remains for ever.

Her properties are to see and hear and kill mice.’

Although Old English Law stated cats and dogs were:

‘Not property, being base by nature,’

the medieval Welsh Dimetian Code laid down that if a husband and wife separatede and their chattels needed to be divided;

‘The husband takes the cat if there were only one, it there were others then they are taken by the wife.’

No comment is made about what happens to the children of the marriage!

Fiction Books 5 / 5

I was thrilled, this evening, to find this lovely review of 'A Dead Man's Debt' by Yvonne from

'Fiction Books.' 

A creative, page-turning drama, a poignant story, characters totally engrossing in their complexity, with the distinctive essence of each easily discernible, sensual and evocative writing, from a great new author.

—

Worthy of:  5 out of 5 for a book in this genre.

http://www.fiction-books.biz/new-authors/my-thoughts-a-dead-mans-debt-by-grace-elliot/comment-page-1/#comment-636

The Lambeth Pedlar, his dog and a church window.

A 17th century Pedlar, his Dog and a Painted Glass Window.

A drawing of the Lambeth pedlar window.

         I came across the story of the Lambeth Pedlar and his dog whilst researching an article for the veterinary press. In the parish church of Saint Mary’s, Lambeth there is a painted glass window showing a man weighted down with a back pack, with a dog at his feet. This is not the original window, which dated back to 1608 (destroyed in a WWII bombing raid.) After the war Saint Mary’s parishioners, loyal the memory of the mysterious pedlar, commissioned the replacement window that exists today. But who was the pedlar, and why is there a picture of his dog on a church wndow?

A view over Lambeth Palace in 1685.

Local lore has it that this window depicts the Lambeth Pedlar and his faithful companion. The story goes that this eccentric salesman hoarded the money earnt by selling his wares door to door and the only comfort he allowed himself was his dog. When the dog died the pedlar was so bereft that he pledged to leave all his money to the parish if they agreed to either bury the dog in the churchyard, or commerate him in the church.  The churchwarden’s account for 1608 includes the following:

            “Two shillings paid to the glazier for a panel of glass for the window where the picture of the pedlar stands.”

Pedlars, illustrated above, were a common sight in the 1600's.

An alternative explanation of the Pedlar’s window has also been suggested. This involves one Henry Smith or “Dog Smith” a wealthy London Alderman who died in 1627. At the time he was a well known benefactor to the poor and it was rumored that Henry sometimes dressed in rags to travel in cognito, accompanied by a dog to test out the character of those he was thinking of helping. His would visit a village and beg a bone for the dog and bread for himself. If the villagers turned him away empty handed then he to, declined to give charity to the Parish.

           

            Whichever explanation is correct; a story of doggy devotion or eccentric benevolence, this glass window reminds us to this day, of the generosity of the human spirit. 

A Cats Meat Man - another type of street trader who peddled his wares door to door.

NEXT POST (Tuesday) "The value of a cat" - in Medieval Wales.

The Name of the Cat.

If you take the responsibility seriously, it is surprisingly difficult to choose the right name for cat. I was recently thrown into confusion when an RSPCA inspector asked me to name the litter of kittens she’d brought in for vaccination. Rescue names usually follow a theme eg. Animals abandoned at Christmas will be named Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe, Noel et.c. When suddenly landed with the responsibility of naming my mind went completely blank – each theme I thought of seemed too cliched or not nice enough, so despite my best efforts those kittens left nameless.

Going back to medieval times the most popular name for a cat was ‘Gibbe’ which is a shortened form of the name ‘Gilbert.’ Chaucer mentioned “Gibbe our cat” in ‘Romance of the Rose’.

 In Skelton’s 1509 elegiac ‘Phyllp Sparrow’ it is a cat called Gyb that is responsible for the death of Jane Scrope’s pet sparrow. The name was equally popular in France, where the equivalent name was Tibert or Thibert. The name remained popular, especially in Northern England, until the 1860’s but is now largely forgotten.

The most common cat names in 2010 were; Molly, Charlie, Tigger, Poppy, Oscar, Smudge, Millie, Daisy, Max and Jasper. A recent list of the worst cat names includes; Small Man in a Cat Suit, The Urinator, Hanibal Lickter, Ducttape, Fattie and Uranus.

           My personal favorite humorous name is Furkin. A good school friend called her cat this….think about it…calling out; ‘Has anyone seen the Furkin cat?’    

"What did you just call me?"

So how about you? What is your favourite name for a cat. Do leave a comment, I'd love to hear your stories.

Devilish Cats - how felines got a bad reputation.

In the Middle Ages, any self respecting witch kept a familiar, an animal acting as a link to the devil. The most commonly recognised familiar was a cat, preferably a black one. But have you ever stopped to wonder how such a perfectly adorable animal became linked to black magic and evil?

To answer that question we need to look at the reputation cats had in medieval times. Highly prized as a catcher of mice the 10^th century law of Hywel Dda has this to say.

“The value of a kitten from the night it is born until it opens its eyes, one legal penny:

And from then until it kills mice, two legal pence:

And after it kills mice, four legal pence,

And that it remains for ever.

Her properties are to see and hear and kill mice.”

But it was this reputation as a mouser that also got cats into trouble, as typified by this quote by Caxton from the ‘Royal Book’ of 1484.

“The devil playeth often with the synnar [sinner] lyke the catte [cat] doth with the mous. [mouse.]”

This symbolism, with the cat as the devil, toying with the human soul was widely popular in churches and depicted in the misericords. These small wooden ledges, designed to rest against during long periods of standing, were often ornately carved with scenes from cautionary tales. Misericords were seen, and the message understood by illiterate ordinary folk at church.

An example of a misericord - a simple wooden ledge for leaning on during lengthy church services.

With this in mind it’s not surprising that as early as 1211 Gervase of Tilbury writes about the cat as a shape shifting manifestation of a witch’s familiar.

“Women have been seen and wounded in the shapes of cat by persons secretly on the watch.”

These same wounds were later identified on the woman….Just a thought but surely having the cat and woman present in the same room at the same time would rapidly discount this argument?

The Cats' Meat Man ...and Jack the Ripper (Part 2)

Following our introduction to ‘The Cats’ Meat Man’, this second post looks further at his work and considers the grizzly (and real!) link between a Victorian pet food seller and Jack the Ripper.

            But firstly, consider what a service the Cats’ Meat Men provided to previous centuries of animal lovers. Each Meatman had a territory and knew where prospective clients lived and who was prepared to pay what. Some customers were ‘every other day’ clients and on the off day, the neighbourhood cats learnt to ignore the Meatman as he passed by.

For regular customers the Meatman was prepared to post meat skewers through the letter box and collect his money weekly. The cheaper cuts were dyed green as unfit for human consumption and the customer would dip it in weak vinegar and rub with a cloth to remove fly eggs and maggots! Yewh!

But not all customers were good ones; again Charles Ross writing in 1868;

            ‘Old maids are bad though very plentiful customers… they will pay one half-penny and owe another, and forget that after a day or two.’

            Cats’ Meat Men were not just a UK phenomena and in New York, there was also a thriving community of them. Artist and cat lover Louis Wain celebrated their humane services to strays by hosting an elaborate supper in honour of the Cats’ Meat Men. It seems the American Meatman offered whale to his customers, as well as horsemeat; the meat sold raw, except for a small amount boiled specifically for invalid cats. Not to be outdone there was shark on the menu for customers of Meatmen in Australia.

A typical painting by 'cat' artist Louis Wain.

            But what has this to do with Jack the Ripper – I hear you ask. Well,

            Even in deprived areas of London selling pet meat could be lucrative enough to finance a shop. One such shop at

29 Hanbury Road

, Whitechapel hit the news in 1888 when one of Jack the Ripper’s victims was discovered in the back yard. The shadowy cut through neighbouring the property was popular with local residents, a fact that hadn’t escaped the Ripper.

29 Hanbury Street, Whitechapel.  A Pet Meat shop and site of Anne Chapman's murder.

The mutilated body of Anne Chapman was found in the yard of Samuel Stockton’s Meatshop on 8^th September, by one of the 17 residents living in rooms above the shop.

The back yard at Hanbury Street. Anne Chapman's body was found lying parallel to the fence, her head almost touching the steps.

Of course, feeding cats or eating cat, was perhaps a matter of need and perspective. In Victorian times, it seems a not uncommon dish for the less well off was ‘Cat Pie,’ as hinted at in this passage from Charles Dickens’, ‘Pickwick Papers’.

‘Veal pie,' said Mr. Weller, soliloquizing, as he arranged the eatables on the grass.  'Very good thing is veal pie, when you know the lady as made it, and is quite sure it ain't kittens … they're so like veal that the very piemen themselves don't know the difference.'