These experiments were performed on well-fed animals which were kept under observation for several days before the tests with caffein were made. The diet consisted of meat exclusively. In some cases the urine was examined for albumin and sugar before caffein was given. No tests with caffein were made if large amounts of albumin were found. It may be remarked that sugar was never found in cats before the administration of caffein, but that considerable amounts of it were found in some cases after it was given. Studies by various modes of administration were made, by subcutaneous injection, intraperitoneally, or by mouth. Attention was also directed to the resistance to caffein in young cats, several experiments on kittens being made with this object in view.
SUBCUTANEOUS INJECTION.
Rost stated that caffein is eliminated in the urine unchanged after its introduction into the body and that the amounts found varied with different species of animals. In the rabbit the amount eliminated was about 21 per cent; in the dog about 8 per cent; and in the cat somewhat less than 2.5 per cent. It would appear, therefore, that the cat decomposes caffein more readily than the rabbit or dog; its resistance consequently ought to be greater than that of the other animals. Moderately large doses were accordingly employed in the preliminary experiments (series A), but the results obtained, as shown in the protocols, indicated that caffein is fully as toxic for the cat as for the rabbit or dog. The doses were then decreased and experiments were performed in order to ascertain the smallest toxic as well as the smallest fatal dose.
Series A.
Three decigrams of caffein per kilo were administered in these experiments. The results are shown in the following protocols:
Cat 4. Black and white. Weight, 1,440 grams.
May 26: 10.05 a. m., 22 cc 2 per cent caffein (0.3 gram per kilo) injected subcutaneously; 11.10 a. m., copious salivation, cat irritable, muscular stiffness present, but no tetanus; 11.45 a. m., cat restless, convulsions, attacks of short duration, no paralysis observed after the convulsions, pupils dilated; 4.45 p. m., cat quiet, slight paralysis present.
May 27: Cat exhausted.
May 28: Found dead.
Cat 5. Black and white male. Weight, 1,396 grams.