Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The first time it met Scald-head, it had an immediate bad impression due to the several spots of balding on the cat’s head and body. The exposed skin was red and swollen or had rashes. It was ugly. Those particularly bad spots were even scabbed over with pus. Even the other strays didn’t like it, and they didn’t play with it even if it was a purebred American Shorthair—cats didn’t care about breeds after all.
Even though Scald-head was ugly, it loved to learn, and it was determined to improve itself. It was always able to understand Vladimir’s preaching during lessons quicker than other strays, and Vladimir had high hopes for it. Though it disappeared after only coming for lessons once, and Vladimir couldn’t help its disappointment.
He didn’t expect to see Scald-head after some time had passed in this vet clinic.
The nickname “Scald-head” no longer suited it, as its rashes had healed, its scabs fallen off, and the balding spots had short baby hair growing out of it. It was a little uncoordinated with the rest of its body, but it was a great improvement. It would go back to looking like any other American Shorthair in no time.
But it was wearing an Elizabethan collar now, and it looked just a little funny in it.
It seemed to recognize Vladimir, and it clawed at the cage in its excitement, wanting to leave this place and go back to its team.
Zhang Zian observed it before asking, “The cat’s ringworm’s all better?”
“It can be discharged. There are a few other strays too, so you can bring them all back…” Long Xian took the Elizabethan collar off Scald-head.
Its first action was to turn around and lick its body. After so many days of not being able to do so, it couldn’t think of anything else but the relief of being able to lick its own fur again.
“Alright, then I’ll bring all these cats with me.”
“There’s a trolley there.” Long Xian pointed at the trolley stashed in the corner for the loading and unloading of goods.
Zhang Zian put the strays, Scald-head included, onto the trolley before pushing it out.
When they passed by the clinic, he saw Sun Xiaomeng still busy with her operations. There was a different cat getting tied onto the table in a spread-eagle position, looking similarly defeated. There were still a lot of clients in the waiting area, so he asked Long Xian to thank her on his behalf instead of going in to interrupt her work.
Back at the nurses’ desk, Long Xian got Zhang Zian to wait for a bit while she fetched a bottle of medicine from their pharmacy.
“What’s this?” he asked.
Long Xian picked out another card from the nurses’ desk. It was a short doctor’s note that Sun Xiaomeng had written. She read it aloud. “The next time you feed strays, add some VB in their food. Look at the dosage in the user manual. This can prevent ringworm and will lighten our workload. Also, let the cats out in the sun often. UV rays can kill bacteria and prevent ringworm… Well, that’s what Xiaomeng had written in the doctor’s note, but she seems to have forgotten that these are strays.”
Zhang Zian put down the proposal he held in his hands and put the note, along with the VB, into his jacket pocket.
“What’s this? Advertisement flyers?”
Long Xian was quick to pull the proposal towards her in her curiosity and read it over.
“Wow, it’s actually a proposal to protect small animals? Did you write this? It seems pretty good… All these are others’ signatures? That’s awesome! You must have spent a long time making this.” Her eyes widened exaggeratedly in her surprise.
“Heh, it’s alright…” Zhang Zian chuckled. “I’m free either way.”
“Hey! Come over here! Does anyone want to pledge to protect animals?” Long Xian hollered at the few clients they had in the waiting area.
The clients were bored too, and some of them came over to the nurses’ table to read the proposal.
“It’s good! I said a long time ago that this should have been implemented!”
“I think so too. That news about cat and dog abuse had my blood boiling. Why had no one stopped them?”
“I support it! Where can I sign?”
Even though occasionally people abandoned their sick pets at the clinic, it was undeniable that the clients that were willing to spend money at a clinic to provide medical care for their pets, and were willing to spend time waiting, were people that really loved their pets. They came from all walks of life and had a certain financial freedom. They were the main pillars to the protection of small animals and pets.
With the few of them setting the momentum, the rest of the clients came over to take a look and sign their names under the proposal. The phone number was not that important, since the clinic’s records had their phone numbers anyway.
Not too long later, the empty space had almost been completely filled up.
Long Xian signed too, but she didn’t sign her own name. Instead, she signed “All medical professionals of the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic” and wrote the clinic’s number.
“Xiaomeng would definitely approve of me signing it this way if she heard about it. Even though there are only two people in the clinic now, we would definitely grow bigger and better!” She beamed at him as she passed him the proposal.
“Thank you. Thank you so much, everyone.”
He took the proposal back into his hands, sincerely expressing his gratitude to everyone. He hadn’t expected to achieve his target so quickly here, but neither did he regret walking the streets earlier. It was a rare opportunity and experience to have.
Long Xian opened the door for him, and he left the clinic with his trolley, the sounds of the clients’ well-wishes following him out.
“What’s with all these cats?”
The moment they went out the door, Vladimir impatiently asked a question after seeing that there was no one around. It was referring to the strays in the trolley, especially Scald-head, who’d mysteriously disappeared and suddenly reappeared again.
Zhang Zian explained while he pushed the trolley along.
Ever since a huge amount of strays had begun congregating in the patch of grass behind the pet shop, he had been worried that they would disturb the neighboring area in their search for food and that it would worsen the relationship between people and strays. So he’d asked the employees to give them some cat food every day.
Occasionally, when they saw a sick or injured stray, they would bring it to this clinic so that Sun Xiaomeng and Long Xian could care for it. They would only charge him for the medication and one-time-use equipment.
Scald-head was brought to this clinic in that manner.
When it was discovered, the ringworm infestation had been at a pretty bad stage. This illness was extremely contagious, not just to other cats, but to dogs and humans too. If it was not cured in time, a lot of the cats in the area would be infected.
If the ringworm infestation hadn’t been that bad, there would have been no need to bring it to the clinic. The owner could do the treatment themselves. All they had to do was shave off the fur on the affected areas, buy some medication to apply it on those spots, and make the cat wear an Elizabethan collar to prevent it from licking at the affected spots. But Scald-head had a bad infestation, and oral medications were needed, so it had been a lot more convenient and safe to send it to the clinic for a full checkup.
