Page 20 of Tom's Chance
“I’m sure I can find room for them. Do you think Baby’s owner will disown her?”
“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate in his answer and jumped ahead with his explanation. “Why? Because Baby’s owner is an entitled witch that only has to have the best of everything, even in her pets. If she learns thatBaby got knocked up by the local riffraff, she will disown her in a heartbeat. The same with Rose here.”
“Who?”
“Rose, the Yorkie.”
“Ah.” Lorissa said as she petted the dog she was giving oxygen to and watched Tom inspected the puppies, then came over to her.
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” she said as she stepped back. For some reason, she didn’t have a problem with him inspecting her work. It felt like he wasn’t second guessing her, but giving a second opinion. He got down so his nose almost touched the wounds on her side and nodded as he saw the ointment she’d applied. When he listened to Rose’s lungs, he looked at Lorissa with a sad expression.
“What do you think?” he asked her as he stood to take in the situation.
“I think Baby and her babies will make it. I’m going to leave them in the cage and make sure there’s a warming blanket, as well as plenty of food and water for Baby. I believe she will be able to nurse them.”
“I agree. Do you need or have another warming blanket?”
“Yes, it’s brand new and over in the bottom cupboard.” She pointed and watched as he went to retrieve it and set the cat up to be comfortable. He even put some food in a bowl, and that was whenLorissa realized he’d brought the food. Again, causing her to give herself a mental slap to make sure her home clinic was fully furnished.
“What do you think about Rose?”
“She’s going to have a rough time. I’d like to put her on oxygen, maybe even put a tube down her throat for a few days. I would also like to leave the puppies with her, so they have the bonding, but I’m going to bottle feed them until she’s better. I don’t know if she’ll dry up, or even accept them after she recovers, but I think if her babies are close, she should be okay.”
“I agree.” Tom looked around then stared at her. “Do you mind if I look at what supplies you have?”
“Not at all,” Lorissa waved her hand toward the cabinets, and it wasn’t long before Tom started taking things from them and lying them on the other table in the room. When he was done, he stood across the table from where she stood.
“You have everything here to put her under and put the tube down her throat. Would you like to do that, or would you like me to?”
“I can, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, but why don’t you continue to give her the oxygen while I get these people set up and show them how to feed the puppies? I figure they could go out into your small waiting area to feed them while we get Rose situated.”
Lorissa looked at her mother, grandmother, Cole,and Ducky. By their expressions they looked scared, so she looked at Tom and whispered just as he’d whispered his question to her. “I think you’re right. They don’t need to be here when we work on Rose.”
Together the two of them were able to keep Rose calm and rigged up the oxygen so it didn’t have to be held. While Tom went out to his truck for some supplies, Lorissa started gathering what she needed. Ten minutes later they handed the first puppy to Lois and everyone watched as she began feeding the puppy. It was Ducky who gathered them all and left the room with the promise that he wouldn’t return until they called them back.
As soon as the others left, Lorissa and Tom scrubbed up, covered their street clothes in the proper attire, donned gloves, and went to work. It took almost an hour to complete because Rose’s esophagus was damaged more than they had thought, but they were able to get the tube down her throat, an IV in, and enough drugs to keep her under for the next few hours.
They cleaned up and when the others returned, Lorissa set the puppies up in the cage with their mother, and made sure they couldn’t pull the IV or breathing tube out. She closed the cage and looked directly at Tom. “If the puppies were any older, I wouldn’t keep them with Rose. I estimate that they’re less than three days old.”
“I concur on both points. They’re little enough yetthat they’re just going to burrow into her for warmth. If they happen to latch onto a teat, then it shouldn’t do any harm.”
“I agree.” Lorissa stood there and watched the puppies, then went over to the cats and opened the cage to look at them. After giving Baby some love, she shut the cage and stepped back to turn to the others.
“I don’t expect anyone to help, but if you want to volunteer to help feed the puppies, let me know.”
“You don’t need to feed the kittens?” Cole asked.
“No, they seem fine. I think that the little bit of oxygen I gave Baby helped. As long as she rests, I don’t see any problems. I’ll keep Rose sedated for at least the next forty-eight hours, and we can assess the situation then. Fingers crossed she recovers enough that we can take her off the oxygen, she accepts her babies, and I can move her into the house.” She looked at Tom with a frown. “I hate keeping pets in a cage, and I’m assuming they had free rein of the house at their home?”
“Yes, the only time Emily and Chad caged Rose and Baby was when they brought them to the clinic.” He shook his head then and chuckled lightly. “They didn’t even have Rose on a leash, she had her own pet carrier. Both of them were spoiled rotten. I’ll reach out to Jim later to let him know where Rose and Baby are, and see if Emily or Chad want to come get them after they get a clean bill of health.”
“You don’t think they’ll reject them, especially Baby?”
“I don’t know, I hope Emily’s threats were jokes, but I don’t know how bad the fire was and what their situation is. I hope after learning their animals are in capable and loving hands, they can concentrate on the aftermath of the fire, knowing their animals are safe.”
