Homeless

Chapter Four

Dr. Mac crosses the railroad tracks carrying a big first aid kit and an empty cage. Maggie calls her over. As she walks, Sunita explains that they can’t find Socrates. And there’s a huge colony of stray cats living here. Some of the neighborhood kids have been feeding them and the parents are upset and think the cats are bad and Animal Control is going to take them away and—

Dr. Mac patiently says that they need to take care of one thing at a time. Sunita can tell her the rest on the way back to the clinic. Sunita isn’t sure how old Dr. Mac is. Fifty-five, or maybe sixty. She has white hair, but that is the only thing that identifies her age. She runs marathons and wears blue jeans and t-shirts from The Gap. She writes a newspaper column about pets and travels all over the world giving lectures. She has lots of energy, she’s smart, and she’s great with animals and kids.

Dr. Mac kneels in the dirt, a foot away from the injured cat. Sunita says he was hit by a car. The cat won’t eat or drink anything. Dr. Mac evaluates the cat from head to paws. She doesn’t even bother trying to touch him. Sunita offers to hold him, but Dr. Mac says that Sunita can’t help with this one. In fact, she wants the kids to back up a little. This isn’t a stray cat. This is a feral cat. Strays are cats raised by humans, so there used to being touched. But feral cats are born and raised in the wild. They hate being touched by people. They think of humans as predators, something that will hurt them. Maggie and Sunita exchange surprised looks. Sunita can’t imagine a cat that wouldn’t like Dr. Mac or her. Dr. Mac opens the equipment box and takes out a giant pair of oven mitts. She says the guy could be infected with diseases. He’ll for sure try to scratch and bite her. She’s going to need the oven mitts just to get him in the cage.

Dr. Mac is right. As she picks up the blanket the cat’s on, he jerks his neck and sinks his teeth into the nearest mitt. Dr. Mac says the best thing to do is to get him to the clinic as soon as possible. Once he’s there, he can be given a sedative to calm down. She puts the feral cat in the cage, closes the door, and drapes a big towel over it. Dr. Mac says the cover will make him feel more secure. Dr. Mac asks if they found Socrates. Sunita sadly shakes her head. She emphasizes that he’s hurt.

Dr. Mac sighs. Zoe told her about the fight. She’s seen Socrates chase cats out of the yard before, but he always comes right back. She’s probably thinking about all the dangerous things a cat can run into: cars, dogs, poisonous plants. Sunita can’t even think about it. They just have to find him.

Dr. Mac looks at her watch. If he doesn’t show up by tomorrow, the kids can make flyers with his picture and hand them out. But now they, they have to go back to the clinic. Dr. Mac picks up the cage, and the cat meows. Sunita asks about the other cats. Jamie’s mom said that Animal Control is going to come by tomorrow to pick them all up. What if they capture Socrates, too? Dr. Mac promises that they will talk at the clinic.

When they arrive back to the clinic, the kids head to the kitchen for a snack, but Sunita follows Dr. Mac into the exam room. Dr. Mac sets the cage with the feral cat in it on the metal examination table, and prepares the sedative. She takes a syringe out of the drawer, and sticks it through the rubber cap of a vial to draw out the liquid sedative. She explains that this will relax the cat and take the edge off the pain. Then they’ll be able to see what’s going on.

Dr. Mac walks behind the table, until she’s standing behind the cage. Dr. Mac says she wants Sunita to stand where the cat can see her, but stay far away. She tells Sunita to distract him. Sunita makes squeaking noise, trying to get the cat to look at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Dr. Mac ready to stick the needle through the bars of the cat carrier. The cat watches Sunita, right as Dr. Mac sticks the needle into the cat’s rump. The cat turns fast as lightning and shoots a paw through the bars.

Dr. Mac yelps. The cat got her. A thick line of blood oozes from the long scratch on her hand. She turns on the hot water and squeezes soap on the cut. The scratch is pretty deep, and this is why she gets shots every other year. Even if he has a disease like rabies, her vaccinations will keep her safe. Sunita asks if she’ll need antibiotics. Dr. Mac answers if it were a bite, she would. She’ll put some antibiotic cream on the scratch and it should be fine.

Dr. Mac explains that this is how cats are. Dogs usually give signs that they’re irritated and might bite, but a cat can turn and attack before a human knows what’s happening. Perhaps they should call this cat Tiger. She tells Sunita to be careful. Feral cats are not predictable.

Sunita says he just needs to feel better. Then they can find him a good home. But Dr. Mac shakes her head. He might look like a house cat, but he’s not. He was born in the wild, probably to an abandoned or runaway pet. Cats raised in the wild won’t have any interest in being a pet.

Sunita knows she can’t say anything, but she thinks that Dr. Mac is wrong. Tiger has had a hard life so far, and he just needs some tender, loving care. Sunita can teach him and show him that humans aren’t bad. So that’s what she’ll do. Sunita will take care of Tiger while he’s recuperating and help get him used to people. Sunita can tame him. But that won’t happen overnight, and Animal Control is coming to get the cats by the train tracks tomorrow. They have to find a way to stop them.

The sedative relaxed Tiger so much that Dr. Mac can take him out of the cage to start the examination. She listens to his heart and lungs with a stethoscope. His heartbeat is strong and his respiratory rate is fast. There’s no wheezing or whistling. There’s no broken ribs, which is good. The leg might be fractured, so they’ll need an X-ray. He’ll need to stay confined for a while as it heals. They’ll have to neuter him as well, so that he won’t make any kittens.

Dr. Mac takes out an I.V. from the cupboard and hangs it on a metal stand. It’s a mixture of sterile water and nutrients to help injured animals. She connects the thin, plastic needle into a vein in Tiger’s leg. The I.V. will rehydrate him and make him feel better.

Sunita tells Dr. Mac about the conversation with Jamie’s mom. Dr. Mac explains that the woman can get the county to put all of the cats to sleep. The law in every state allows officials to remove animals that pose a danger to the health of people. The woman is probably most concerned about rabies. It’s usually seen in foxes, raccoons, skunks, and bats, but domestic animals can get it, too. Rabies, is a disease that is passed in saliva, when an infected animal bites another animal or person, it attacks the nervous system and the brain. Infected animals can become very aggressive. An infected animal drools and attacks anything that comes close. Rabies can be prevented if a bite victim receives treatment quickly, but without treatment, the victim will die. Animal care workers get vaccinated preemptively because they’re around animals everyday, but it doesn’t make sense for an average person to do that. Instead, the law requires pets like dogs, cats, and ferrets to be vaccinated. This keeps the animals and their owners safe.