CATS AND DIPHTHERIA by J. Lewis Smith

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 4, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 30.

CATS AND DIPHTHERIA.

By J. Lewis Smith

[Extract from an article by J. Lewis Smith, M.D., clinical professor of diseases of children in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York.]

KLEIN has made experiments showing the identity of feline and human diphtheria, though diphtheria in the cat presents some anatomical characters different from those in man; and the following observations appear to show that it is sometimes communicated by this pet of the nursery to the children that fondle it. The Medical Press and Circular, June 4, 1890, states that Dr. Lawrence reports two cases under his care in which diphtheria seems to have been communicated by cats. In the first case, that of a little girl, a careful inquiry showed that she had not been exposed to any patient with diphtheria, although this disease was prevailing within a mile of the patient's residence, but that she had nursed a sick cat some days previously. The cat died soon after, and a second cat became sick, and was killed. Further inquiry disclosed the fact that a neighboring farmer had lost seventeen cats, and another farmer fifteen cats, from a throat distemper. One of the farmers stated that he had examined the throats of some of the cats and found them covered with a white membrane. Dr. Bruce Low, in a report to the local government board, states that a little boy at Enfield had fatal diphtheria and vomited on the first day of his sickness. A cat licked the vomited matter from the floor, and soon after the boy's death it was noticed to be sick, and its sufferings and symptoms so closely resembled those of the dead boy that it was destroyed by its owner. During the first part of its sickness it frequently went to the rear yard, which was frequented by cats, and a few days subsequently the cat of the near neighbor was observed to be sick. The second cat was nursed during its sickness by three little girls, all of whom took diphtheria. British Medical Journal, May 10, 1890.

P. C. Coleman, of Colorado, Texas, states that, after a residence of five years at Colorado, he saw the first case of diphtheria. A child of four years, living thirty miles distant in the country, and with no neighbor within six miles, had diphtheria, followed by paralysis. The child was far away from any source of human contagion, and had rarely seen other children. The father stated that two kittens had recently died from what seemed to be the same disease, and the child had frequently kissed them. Dr. Coleman does not doubt that the diphtheria was contracted from them. Medical Record, November 1, 1890. Dr. George Turner states that a cat fed with the refuse food of some children sick with diphtheria also suffered severely with what seemed to be the same disease. Dr. A. Jacobi relates the following example: Three kittens were allowed to remain with five children sick with diphtheria. The kittens sickened and died, and a post-mortem examination revealed the presence of the diphtheritic pseudo-membrane in their throats. Cats travel from house to house, often congregate, and are petted by children, so that they are likely to communicate any contagious disease which it is possible for them to contract. It appears from the above observations that they have communicated diphtheria in some instances in which its origin was obscure.—Babyhood.