Chapter 5
I thought they liked me!
They left me! I thought
they liked me, then they left me at the cat-doctor’s place. I cowered inside a
metal cage listening to the howls and whines of the other animals. I put my
paws over my ears to shut out the noise.
What had I done wrong? I tried to be a good doggie. I
hadn’t done my business inside the house. I hadn’t chased the cats. I didn’t
leave a mess when I ate. I was tidy when I drank water. When I was still
covered with bugs and dirt, I napped outside.
What did I do wrong?
I thought I had found a new home, and now here I was
trapped in a crate. There were so many other unhappy animals in cages that I
howled with uncertainty and fear.
“Shh. Sparky, it will be okay,” a pretty young woman
with dark hair and kind brown eyes said to me in a soothing voice. “Easy, baby,
we’re going to help you.”
I stopped my howling, but I was still quivering. She
was speaking Spanish, and I understood her, except I didn’t believe a word she
said. It had to be a trick to make me calm down.
“Come on, sweetie,” she said, lifting me out of the
cage. “We have a couple of minor procedures and a few tests to do.”
Procedures? Tests? That didn’t sound good.
But then she held me while the evil cat-doctor stuck
something sharp in my neck. I suddenly felt extremely sleepy. I struggled to
stay awake, but it was useless. My eyes closed, my body went limp, and I sagged
into the assistant’s arms.
“What a good boy,” was the last thing I heard.
A little bit later, when I woke up, I was back in the
awful crate. I was stiff and sore, and very thirsty.
“Oh, good, you are awake. I’ll take you to your
people,” the same young woman said.
People? I have people? I
must be dreaming.
She gently lifted me out of the crate, carried me to
another room, and placed me on a tall metal table. Inside the room, the people
who brought me here were talking nicely to that cat-doctor.
I tucked my short tail under my bum and crouched low.
The curly-haired woman gently stroked my head and
smiled into my eyes. “It’s okay, Sparky, you’re safe,” she said.
“He’s in good health,” the cat-doctor said. “He’s been
neutered and checked for heart problems or other diseases. He’s been given
vaccinations against both rabies and distemper. We also cleaned his teeth,
trimmed his nails, and groomed his fur,” the cat-doctor said with a wide smile.
The curly-haired woman asked
the cat-doctor. “What type of mix do you think he is?”
The cat-doctor smiled, “You know this is an island,
and the pet genetics go around and around. His ancestors could be anything from
a Great Dane to a Chihuahua.”
The woman laughed, “I think he is a pure-bred Mexican
low-rider,” she said, motioning to my short legs.
“Exactly, and now he’s ready to go home,” the cat-doctor
said.
Home?
Maybe this cat-doctor wasn’t as mean as I thought. He
just said these nice people could take me home. I couldn’t help myself, my butt
started to wiggle, and I stood up on my back legs to give him a quick little
lick on his face.
“I’m so glad he’s okay,” the man said. “We’ve already
been shopping and bought him food, a collar, a harness and leash, and a comfy
bed.”
The cat-doctor said, “You’re going to have a great life, Sparky.”
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