Page 28 of A New Family at Puddleduck Farm (Puddleduck Farm #6)

A few minutes later, both Natasha and Phoebe were in one of the consulting rooms with the cat, still in his crate.

‘Be careful, he tried to bite me when I put him in there,’ Natasha warned. ‘Shall I hold him for you while you examine him?’

‘Thanks, that would be great.’ Phoebe’s fallback method of examining animals who might be a bit prickly either physically or metaphorically was a towel.

Seth had taught her this when she’d first started working for him.

It was great for avoiding bites, scratches or even APH prickles as he’d reminded her recently.

The Maine Coon hissed and spat at her as she gently wrapped him in the towel and lifted him out.

‘If you can try to keep all four paws out of harm’s way that would be great,’ she said to Natasha, but the big cat wasn’t having any of it. He fought and wriggled and hissed and spat.

‘I think it might be kinder if I sedate him,’ Phoebe said after a few seconds. ‘He’s not having it, is he?’

‘No, you’re right. Bless him. He’s not a fan of humans, that’s for sure.’

‘Yes, it’s odd. Most Maine Coons are quite docile. They’re known as gentle giants. We’ve seen a few in the practice.’

While they waited for the sedation to take effect, they chatted about Christmas. Natasha and Marcus were staying at home.

‘We’ve got too many animals to go anywhere, but to be honest, we’d rather have a quiet one.

It’s all such a big fuss for one day. And don’t get me started on the cost. We’ve agreed to buy each other one not-too-expensive thing each and spend some money on the cottage. We could do with a kitchen makeover.’

‘Sounds ideal.’ Phoebe had fond memories of the little kitchen at Woodcutter’s, which was just about big enough to get in a small table and chairs. The kitchen had been getting a touch shabby when she and Sam had lived there, she seemed to remember.

‘We’ve got the animals presents, of course. Saddam’s got a Christmas stocking.’

Phoebe smiled at the thought of the half-feral cat, former terroriser of small dogs, opening his own Christmas stocking.

‘Right then, I think this sedation’s taken effect, but if you could still hold him for me, I’d be grateful.’

A few minutes later, having completed her examination and also scanned for a microchip – there was one – Phoebe frowned.

‘OK, you’re right, the cuts and bruises aren’t too serious, but there’s something else too.

I’ll need the results of this swab to be sure, but I think he’s got feline herpesvirus. ’

‘Is that the same as the human herpes virus?’

‘It’s along those lines, but it’s specific to cats.

It can only be transmitted cat to cat and you’d usually find it where there are lots of cats.

So it doesn’t look like this fellow here has been living on his own.

I’d say he’d been kept with other cats. That doesn’t explain why he’s underweight though. Or the minor injuries.’

When she’d weighed him he’d been about 15 per cent underweight.

‘Could he have been with feral cats?’ Natasha asked.

‘I suppose so, but where? And why would he have been wandering around the forest? Where did you say the woman found him?’

‘She said he was actually in a ditch. It was her dog that found him. He was tangled up in some barbed wire, hence the cuts to his paws. Luckily her dog’s used to cats and just barked at him.

But he was on his own. No other cats and there weren’t any houses around that she could see. Which is why she brought him here.’

‘Very odd. Well, as we saw, he’s got a microchip. So in a minute we’ll have a look on the system. That should shed some light on it. We’d better have him in here in the quarantine crate overnight, I think. Feline herpesvirus is very contagious.’

‘Is it curable?’

‘It’s manageable, but it’s not something you can ever get rid of entirely. It tends to flare up periodically. Although there’s a lot we can do about that, these days. There are some great new antivirals.’

‘So he’s got a chance. Bless him.’

‘We’ll get him on some special food too, so we can start upping his weight. That’ll help.’

They settled the cat in the quarantine kennel, and then Natasha helped Phoebe give the examining room another deep clean before they both did the same with themselves, washed their hands and went into reception to check out the microchip on the system.

The record showed that the cat – a Maine Coon as they’d suspected – was called Oscar and belonged to a Mrs Denise Wyatt.

‘That’s her,’ Natasha said with a smile. ‘That’s the woman who reported him missing. Well, this is going to make her day. It’s a pity he’s got something wrong with him, but it’s good news that it’s treatable.’

‘Do you want to do the honours?’ Phoebe handed her the Puddleduck Vets landline and Natasha took it eagerly.

Phoebe watched Natasha smiling as she listened to the reaction on the other end of the phone, before putting her hand over the receiver. ‘She wants to come and see him straightaway. Is that OK? I can wait if you’ve got to get home for Lily. She said she can be here in about twenty minutes.’

‘It’s fine. I’ll wait too. I’ll just nip in and tell Sam what I’m doing.’

* * *

Mrs Denise Wyatt was overjoyed to be reacquainted with Oscar when it finally happened about forty minutes later.

The big cat was clearly just as overjoyed to be reacquainted with her too. He made little kitten-like mewling noises as he rubbed his head against her hand and purred and purred. Even without the microchip evidence it was obvious that these two were the best of friends.

Phoebe swallowed a lump in her throat as she watched the joyful reunion. She could see Natasha was blinking back tears too.

Then finally Denise turned back towards them. ‘This is the best Christmas present I could possibly have. Thank you so much. I can’t believe it’s him. I know you said it was him because of the microchip. But I still needed to see it with my own eyes.’

She had tears running down her face but she didn’t seem to care. ‘Oh, my goodness. It’s a miracle. It really is. I never thought I’d see him again. Can I take him home? Can what he has be treated there? Or does he need to stay here? How serious is it?’

‘He doesn’t need to stay here, no, but he is infectious. Do you have any other cats?’

Denise nodded. ‘We do. My husband just got me a kitten. We picked her up yesterday, as it happens, so we could settle her in for Christmas. I know you shouldn’t get an animal just before Christmas but the breeder seemed really nice.

And we explained that we’d had one before – we weren’t just impulse buyers or anything.

She’s another Maine Coon. She’s a similar colour to Oscar.

That’s why Ken bought her for me. We’ve called her Freda.

We weren’t trying to replace Oscar – that would be impossible, but I truly never thought I’d ever see him again. ’

She turned towards Oscar again. ‘Oh, my sweetie. You’re going to love your new friend. I can’t believe you needed to sedate him for treatment.’ Denise turned to Phoebe with tears in her eyes. ‘He’s usually so friendly.’

Phoebe believed her and she didn’t want to spoil the moment by saying she was pretty sure Oscar had been kept by someone who wasn’t such a cat lover as Denise, so she didn’t voice this.

Instead she said, ‘Kittens are very vulnerable to this infection, so Oscar would need to be kept separate from Freda. Otherwise you’ll have two of them with it.

There are medications that Freda can have as a preventative for the future.

Do you have her registered with a vet? I’m assuming she’s already been microchipped and had her first vaccination? ’

‘She’s not had her first vaccination yet.’ Denise flushed. ‘We’ve got that booked in for the New Year. It was our fault, not the breeder’s. She wasn’t quite old enough and we wanted to take her home before Christmas.’

‘I see.’ Phoebe felt warning bells ringing. No reputable breeder she knew of would dream of letting a kitten go before its first vaccination at Christmas or any other time of year.

‘How old is she, exactly?’

‘Five and half weeks. She’s fully weaned so it’s only a little bit early, and the breeder said their vet couldn’t do the jab until January, due to the Christmas rush. But Ken did make it very clear we’d get it done.’

‘Do you mind me asking where you got her from?’

‘I must admit I don’t know all the details because Ken bought her, not me. She’s a Christmas present, as I said. But I think he saw an advert online. He said he’d seen the kittens with their mother, as you should do. And we did get some paperwork. We’re not completely na?ve.’

‘I’m sure you’re not.’ Phoebe hoped she sounded more reassured than she felt.

Denise changed the subject. ‘I’m so grateful you found Oscar. How much do I owe you?’

Phoebe told her, and as they went out into reception to settle up, Phoebe reiterated what she’d said about it being especially important to keep the cats separate.

‘There’s no reason for Oscar to stay here, you can do the medication yourself at home, but I’d hate your kitten to fall ill. She might not survive. Kittens don’t have the same immunity as adult cats.’

‘I understand. And I will make sure that Oscar’s kept well away from Freda.

We’ve got a big utility room. He’ll have plenty of space in there.

And Freda will have the run of the conservatory until she’s housetrained.

Also…’ She hesitated. ‘Would you mind if we registered both Freda and Oscar as patients here? I can cancel the other vet.’

‘Of course not. I’ll put them into the system now.’

As she typed in the details, Phoebe said as casually as she could, ‘I’d be quite interested in the details of that breeder if you could maybe ask Ken. Or even the details of the advert would be good. I can give you my mobile number so you could maybe text them through.’

‘OK. I’ll ask him and I’ll text them through to you later,’ Denise said. ‘They won’t get into trouble, will they? The guy was really nice.’

‘No, no.’ Phoebe smiled reassuringly. The breeder might be guilty of some pretty sharp practice, but she doubted they’d done anything criminal.

* * *

By the time Denise had put Oscar gently into a cat basket into the back of a brand-new Land Rover and they’d driven off, it was nearly three thirty.

‘Thanks for helping out,’ Phoebe told Natasha. ‘Marcus will be wondering where you are, won’t he? Sam just texted me to see how much longer I’ll be too.’

‘At least we can tell them you’ve been performing Christmas miracles and not having to deal with some sad emergency.’

‘Hmm, yes, although I’m not so sure about the Christmas miracle side of things. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled we were able to reunite Oscar with his owner, but I wasn’t so thrilled to hear about that kitten.’

‘No, that was definitely off. I can’t imagine a breeder letting one of a litter go without a first vaccination. That was very odd. Hopefully she’ll let you know about the breeder.’

‘Yes, fingers crossed,’ Phoebe said as she locked up her practice for the second time that Christmas Eve.

‘I will definitely keep you posted on that one.’ She hesitated.

‘This is a bit of a long shot, but I don’t suppose you’ve still got the number of that guy who tried to rehome our kittens and pass them off as Savannahs, have you? ’

‘I do. Why? Do you think there’s a connection?’

‘It’s possible, isn’t it? Definitely worth checking anyway.’

‘I’ll forward you the number.’ Natasha whipped out her phone. ‘There you go. Done.’

‘Thanks. Have a brilliant Christmas, won’t you?’

‘You too. See you in a couple of days. Let me know if you need any help with anything at Puddleduck Pets.’

‘We’ll be fine. We’ve got it covered. Sam and I will be on the case tomorrow. Maggie and Eddie will help. It’s a good excuse not to do any cooking.’

‘Who’s doing that?’

‘My mum and Jan and Alexa. They’re all much better cooks than me or Sam anyway. We’re doing animals and childminding duties. The kids adore the animals. Lily’s the same.’

‘Have fun,’ Natasha called.

‘We will.’ Phoebe walked back up to the house.

The events of the last couple of hours had unsettled her.

There was definitely something odd going on.

But in the meantime there was Christmas, Lily’s first Christmas, and she felt a flutter of excitement in her heart at the prospect of having her whole family over to Puddleduck Farm.