Page 58 of The Vet from Snowy River
Hannah met his eyes and dropped him a not-so-subtle wink. ‘No trouble at all.’
Sisters. Daughters. What-oh-what had he done to be saddled with one of each? He decided to drag the interview back into medical channels before his sister embarrassed him completely. ‘What makes you think the cat’s sick?’
‘I put some salmon out this morning and she wouldn’t touch it. Then before, when I was putting out some rubbish, I could hear her making a wheezing noise. Like she couldn’t breathe. She let me pat her, but as soon as I tried to put her in the box she went psycho.’
‘Uh-huh. Panleukopenia, most like. Pretty common in unvaccinated cats.’
‘Is it life threatening?’
He opened his mouth to say yes, but then caught his sister’s eye and downgraded his answer. ‘Not necessarily. Let’s have a look at her and see what we can do. Hannah, you do the box, I’ll get the cat. You ready?’
He pulled the longest, thickest gloves the practice owned onto his hands. ‘Poppy? Better shut the treatment door. We don’t want our friend here to spread her fleas all over the place.’
He heard the door shut and nodded to Hannah. ‘Okay, let’s go. Better stand back, Vera. Just in case.’
He slid his hands close to the join in the cardboard, and as Hannah lifted the flaps, he reached inside. Claws sank into the gloves, but not into him, and as the box opened he managed to get one hand securely on the cat’s ruff. ‘Well, you’re a big handsome girl, aren’t you? Come on, out you get.’
He set the spitting cat on the treatment table, held her firmly while Hannah moved the box off the table and came to stand by his side.
‘What’s the plan, Dr Expert?’
He chuckled. ‘You’re never going to let that go, are you?’
‘Not in this lifetime.’
‘I vote we sedate her. Then we can check for a microchip, run some bloods. See if she’s been spayed.’
Vera’s voice sounded by his side. ‘Spayed?’
‘If she’s a stray, she has to be spayed. We can bath her, too, to get rid of any fleas or other mites she may have. Sedating her will be the kindest way to do it.’
Vera huffed out a breath. ‘You know I’m broke, right? I don’t know if I can afford an operation.’
‘Council legislation. We can’t get around it.’
‘I knew I hated legislation for a reason.’
Hannah interrupted. ‘You know a lot about legislation, Vera? Hey … didn’t I hear along the Hanrahan grapevine that you used to be a journalist?’
Josh raised his eyebrows at his sister over the table. Where was she going withthatquestion?
‘That’s in the past.’
Vera’s tone of voice didn’t invite closer questioning. He figured they could set her mind at rest about the fee, because he knew what being broke felt like. ‘Don’t worry about the cost of the operation. Since you’re Poppy’s boss, you get the family discount.’
‘Don’t start sharpening your scalpel yet, Josh,’ said Hannah. ‘She might not be a stray.’
‘Can you do the honours, Han? I’ll hold her still.’
‘Sure.’ He watched her slide the thin needle into the thick fur on the cat’s neck, then held the cat until the dose began to work. When he felt it safe, he laid the now loose-limbed animal on the table.
‘Can I pat her?’
He glanced at Vera. ‘Sure. But she’s going to be asleep for a while, and we can keep her here overnight.’
Hannah moved in beside him with the microchip reader and slid the machine around the cat’s neck, along her spine. ‘Flip her for me, will you, Josh?’
He pulled the cat’s legs up and rolled her over onto her other side. The cat was breathing heavily, rough snorts of air coming through her snub nose. ‘Anything?’
