Paw Prints in the Moonlight Read Online Free PDF

eyes, which had still failed to open. Sick at heart, I coldly reviewed the situation. His condition
was ultra serious, it was probably some form of influenza, possibly pneumonia or pleurisy. It might even be cat flu which I’d heard was almost incurable. Whatever it was I considered it likely to be fatal. This small creature could not keep on going against such odds. What should I do? I suddenly felt totally weary of it all, too weary to bother to take him to Mac’s for the inevitable. I decided that I would continue to do everything I could for the little fellow and, if he did have to die, it would be on my lap.
    Then a strange thing happened to me, something which I couldn’t ever remember happening before: I began to weep uncontrollably. Much later, my feelings eased somewhat. Resigning myself to whatever might lie ahead, I began to deal with the situation as positively as possible.
    Of course, I did what I could to treat his condition but I did it without hope. I bathed his face, and cleaned his nostrils and his mouth. I squeezed fresh orange juice into a cup and soaking the end of a cotton handkerchief in it, I dripped some into his open mouth so that he would get the vitamin C. I’d read somewhere that this was what people did in the olden days to unblock the throats of children who were dying of diphtheria. And all the while my tears flowed as my feelings overwhelmed me.
    I had already grown to love this creature and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him now. I had put a huge emotional investment into trying to save the kitten and
looking down at him I felt as if it had all been for nothing. He lay limply in my hand except when the coughing convulsed him. All night long I continued these ministrations. It was important to me that I gave him as much comfort as possible because it was through my arrogance in believing that I could save him that he was suffering now. I wouldn’t let him die alone. Sometime later during the night I forced a quarter of an aspirin into him. Then, exhausted, I fell asleep sitting in the chair, with the kitten on a towel in my lap.
    I awakened feeling stiff and cold. It was just after six o’clock in the morning and still dark outside. The kitten still lay where I’d put him. He felt warm and had stopped coughing. I placed him in his box and then I loaded and stoked the fire into roasting flames. I needed to shave and shower as soon it would be time to leave for work. After a cup of tea I attended my patient. He was still alive but there was a sickly aura about him. I fed him and washed him as best I could. All the sorrow of the previous night had left me drained and I felt much relieved as if my tears had washed away the residue of tension which had accumulated since the rescue. It was again a relief to go to work for a brief respite but he was on my mind all day.
    The next few days seem in retrospect to blend into one another as I continued to care for the kitten. I spent all my time at home looking after him. If I read or wrote anything
it was always close to where I could see and hear him. Fortunately, there were no more crises.
    When I checked him on Saturday morning there appeared to be a change. Somehow, he looked different. It was perhaps the way he was lying in his box. No longer was he lying on his side in a huddled curve, rather he was upright in a more typical cat-like position with feet and paws tucked under him like a nesting hen, although I must say, a very tiny hen. When I lifted him he mewed softly. Could he possibly be on the mend? Adrenaline rushed through me and filled me with the excitement of new hope. This put a fresh vista on everything. I felt happy for the first time in days and everything around me seemed brighter and better. I was more than ever determined to do whatever was necessary to save this kitten if I could.
    From appearances the kitten seemed little changed but at least now when I fed him, amidst the splutters and snorts,