一路向西 粤语

Chapter 1326: Treatment

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Saline water would be less irritating to the wounds. Zhang Zian applied it to Big Orange’s wounds and then wrap them with clean gauze. This was to prevent further infection by parasites and bacteria. This treatment may touch the wounds, causing Big Orange to feel pain. Nevertheless, throughout the process, Big Orange neither made a single sound nor moved around. It was indeed a good cat.

After finishing his work, Zhang Zian took a can of cat food from the shelf. He hesitated and took two cans instead. He opened them and placed them in front of Big Orange.

If they wanted the wound to heal as soon as possible, the most important thing was to improve the body’s immunity. If the body did not have enough food, no immunity could be built.

Big Orange had been hungry for a few days. Upon smelling the scent of canned cat food, he was already salivating. However, he looked at the other stray cats around him, and they looked equally hungry. He decided to give it to them instead and pushed the can towards them.

The other stray cats then pushed the can back to him.

“No need to push. Everybody... Wrong, every cat will get one,” Zhang Zian said.

Hearing this, Big Orange was able to eat his food in peace. He eagerly plunged his head into the canned food. Perhaps two cans would not even be enough.

“Do you want to wear this?”

Zhang Zian picked up an Elizabethan collar and posed the question out loud. It was unclear if he was asking Vladimir or Big Orange.

“No need. I have told him not to lick the wounds,” Vladimir said.

Vladimir had stayed in the pet shop for a long time and listened to Zhang Zian’s explanations to customers about pet health. For example, after a pet was injured, it had the tendency to lick its own wound. Many uneducated individuals thought the pet’s saliva could help to sterilize the wounds. Perhaps it could even accelerate the healing process. This was, however, a big mistake. Saliva did contain some bactericidal ingredients, but it contained more deadly bacteria that caused greater harm to the wounds. If saliva was such a great tool to fight bacterial infection, why would there be a need to develop various antibiotics?

Thus, pets licking wounds would not help the healing process, but would cause further infection.

It wasn’t just pets. It was also unsuitable for people to use animal saliva to treat wounds. People sometimes got injured but did not pay much attention to taking care of the wound. They then played with their cat or dog, and the cat or dog instinctively licked the owner’s wound. This was not a good thing.

The first problem was that of rabies. Some cats and dogs had this parasite, but it did not erupt. However, it could be transmitted to humans via open wounds.

Even if the cat or dog did not carry rabies, their saliva also contained other germs that were harmless to them but harmful to humans. There were even rumors that they carried some germs that had the potential to lead to amputations in humans.

Many dogs liked to eat their own droppings. Most cats also liked to lick their own anus. They carried fecal matter on their tongue and used the same tongue to lick their owner’s wound... Good things couldn’t possibly come from this interaction.

When Vladimir had found Big Orange in the cave, he’d immediately stopped it from licking its wounds and let the other cats bring it back to the pet store.

Zhang Zian nodded and kept the Elizabethan collar. He continued his check on the other stray cats.

Some of the stray cats’ injuries did not seem to be too severe. However, it was often the case that the injury was not that bad, but the subsequent infection was worse. These cats were not physically as strong as Big Orange, and their wounds were in varying stages of infection. After all, the weather was already hot and humid. This was ideal for the growth of parasites and bacteria on their wounds. Thus, they were in more critical situations than Big Orange.

There was a calico cat which was, naturally, female. Its right hind leg had been bitten heavily. Although it only had this single wound, the tooth imprint was deep. The wound had become severely infected, and it was limping.

The most troublesome thing was that the calico cat had fleas. The blood-sucking fleas had made it slightly anemic due to over-extraction of its blood. Physically, it was not in a good place.

Among the dozens of stray cats, its situation was the most critical.

Zhang Zian had not dealt with such a serious injury before. It was reasonable to say that this kind of injury should be treated at a pet hospital or a pet clinic. Only professionals should handle cases like this.

The problem was... Professionals may very likely choose the easiest method to solve the problem. In this case, it would be to amputate the cat’s leg. This was the best choice, as it ensured the highest possibility for recovery...and the surgery fee was the highest.

Zhang Zian shared his concerns with Vladimir. Should he go for a more dangerous but conservative treatment here or send it for a more comprehensive but safer outcome at a pet hospital?

Vladimir thought about it. He was also in a dilemma. In the end, he said firmly, “Conservative treatment. If a stray cat has one leg missing, it might as well be dead in the wild. I believe it can survive this. If not, it will not belong to the Meow Meow Doctrine!”

Zhang Zian understood his decision. In fact, even human beings might choose the same option. Many people preferred to risk death and attempt conservative treatment. They would not choose an amputation and acquire a disability.

For stray cats, the consequences of amputation were even more dire.

First, he thoroughly cleaned the wound and cut off the hair near the injury. Then, he used a knife to remove the damaged and infected tissue.

In the absence of anesthesia, the pain of this process was comparable to that of Guan Gong scraping meat off his own bone.

He had originally wanted to tie the cat to a sturdy object with a rope. This would prevent it from struggling too much during the operation. However, Vladimir had said it was unnecessary. The calico cat was tenacious and could bear it.

So he went ahead and operated on its leg. The calico cat was in such pain that it twitched. Nevertheless, it bit down hard and tried its best not to move at all.

He was both sympathetic and full of admiration for the calico cat. If he had been the one going through this operation, he would not have been able to stomach such pain. It seemed that this cat was suitable to be a Meow Meow Doctrine believer after all.

Both doctors and nurses were tough in front of patients. This was because if they were not, they could cause more pain to the patients instead.

He did his best to clean the rotten tissue around the wound with a sterile knife and scissors. Then, he repeatedly disinfected the wound with hydrogen peroxide and chlorhexidine. After that, he rinsed the solutions off and dried the wound with sterile gauze. Finally, he applied a medical gel to the surface of the wound. It would help to promote healing. He finished up by wrapping the wound with more gauze.

Alas, this would not be enough. As the wound had become infected, the cat needed to be given antibiotics. However, Zhang Zian did not have the qualifications to prescribe medicine and thus did not have access to these pills. Without antibiotics, he could only wait to send it to Sun Xiaomeng’s clinic the next day. He would ask her to help the cat.

With this painful treatment, the calico cat was close to fainting. At least eight and a half of its nine lives had probably been lost by now. It was hanging on its final half breath. Nevertheless, it still held on.

Zhang Zian took the anti-flea spray and sprayed all the stray cats that had parasitic fleas on them. This included the calico cat.

The effects of the spray were very good. After ten minutes, the fleas on them had all died. The dead fleas landed on the ground as black spots.

He continued with his treatment and treated the other injured stray cats. He sterilized and bandaged their wounds before getting them cans of cat food to eat.

With these stray cats, a life saved was a life saved. As long as it had been bitten by a stray dog, regardless of the presence of infection, it would be sent to the pet clinic for a rabies vaccine tomorrow.

It seemed that his wallet would have to bleed again.