Pet King

As Zhang Zian walked, the cat carrier swung gently beside him. The rhythm spread through the straps and into his palms.

The Siamese cat seemed to be struggling, or seizing, or twitching. It was not lying still, anyway. Maybe it was already at the terminal stage of its rabies and had sunken into complete hysteria. It was highly aggressive.

In other words, it was no longer a pet cat, but a dying beast who recognized nobody. It bit and scratched every living creature that got close to it.

Fina followed them quickly, sniffing around the cat carrier.

Maybe it had felt that Fina was approaching, because the Siamese began to struggle even more violently inside the carrier.

“Don’t get too close. This is a deadly, infectious disease. You may be infected by simply touching the saliva.” Zhang Zian switched the cat carrier to the other hand, separating the cat carrier and Fina with his own body.

“Don’t treat me as a fool.” Fina pouted with contempt. “Do you think I’m ignorant?”

“Oh? You know about this?” Zhang Zian was surprised.

Fina gazed in the distance in a trance. “Of course I do. In the Holy Black Land, 2,000 years ago, this disease had already claimed many feline and human lives… No, it was even earlier than that. When the first pyramid was built on the Holy Black Land, this disease was already spreading silently. People believed that jackals had bitten the traveling merchants in the desert and they brought the disease into the kingdom… Many scholars and pharaohs’ doctors racked their brains for a cure to this horrible disease. Countless times, they believed that they had found a cure, but all of them failed. Some people even tried to intentionally get themselves infected in order to prove themselves in front of the pharaohs. But all them of died, along with their stories.”

Zhang Zian didn’t know what to say…

He knew that rabies had a very long history, almost as long as human civilization––i was recorded in ancient civilizations all over the world––but he didn’t expect Fina to know about it.

He thought of another question right away.

“If you know, then why are you not afraid?” He showed it the cat carrier in his hand. “Look at yourself, jumping at it in the shop. What if it suddenly runs out of the carrier and starts biting and scratching everyone?”

“For the glory of Mytha, I’ll kill it on the spot, for sure! This will be my mercy,” Fina answered without hesitation.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting scratched?” Zhang Zian asked again.

Fina put on its poker face. “Are you looking down upon me? How can an ordinary cat possibly hurt me?”

“In case––I mean just in case.” He had to make an emphasis, as it was feeling too good about itself.

“Even so, I have to stop it,” Fina said resolutely. “If I’m afraid of death and can’t be an example in front of my warriors, how can I command millions of cats to fight for me?”

“…It’s okay to be afraid of death once every in a while. To live is the most important thing. You can live without dignity sometimes, but you must first live,” Zhang Zian said while shaking his head.

He didn’t agree, as he was just an ordinary human––a petite bourgeoisie. He could not understand Fina’s sense of pride and glory.

Fina tilted its head and looked at it. Surprisingly, it didn’t mock him, but said, “According to what you just said, there’s already a cure for rabies at this time?”

“It’s not really a cure,” Zhang Zian explained. “It’s just a vaccine. After getting bitten or scratched by an infected animal, if you can get to the hospital in time and get vaccinated, then your chance of infection will be greatly reduced. But, the vaccine is not all powerful. Many people don’t bother and don’t think they need an injection. Some people want to take a chance instead of spending money on the vaccine. Others don’t even know that they need an injection, such as Liu Wenying just now––she didn’t think about it at all. She thought that rabies was only carried by dogs, while cat scratches were safe.”

Many people had the same misconception: that rabies could only be spread via saliva. Vaccines were only needed when one was bitten by a dog or a cat, but it was not necessary if one was simply scratched by a cat. It was a huge mistake, as felines had a habit of licking their paws… just look at Snowy Lionet.

“Not everyone that is bitten by an infected animal will get sick. In fact, only 15 percent will get sick. But it’s not worth risking your life for the 15 percent chance. Even if you get vaccinated after you’re bitten, there’s still a one percent chance that the vaccine will not work. It’s not an elixir, after all,” he added.

“Is this why you worry? That you might be the one percent?” Fina asked, staring at his face.

Zhang Zian paused.

“You should look at yourself in the mirror.” That was all Fina had to say.

Zhang Zian smiled bitterly, but didn’t say anything. There was nothing he could do, even if he was considered a coward.

He was not worried of getting infected himself, nor that he would be so unlucky to be the one percent for which the vaccine was useless. In fact, he was thinking about the stray cat that infected the Siamese cat with rabies.

The pet shop was very close to the pet clinic; they were almost there when his phone beeped.

Zhao Qi had texted him, saying they were already at the Health and Epidemic Prevention Center. The doctor suggested some kind of globulin shot for Liu Wenying. Neither her nor Liu Wenying had any idea if she should get it or not, so she asked him to reply soon.

He stopped to reply. At first, he texted, “Get it.” Then he edited a second message and sent it, informing her that globulin was also called “passive immunization” for rabies and was specially designed for those who had severe animal bites, or didn’t get vaccinated in time after being bitten. It injected the viral antibodies directly into the body. The action was fast, but could not last long. It was only used to prevent the virus from spreading inside the body as an emergency measure.

“Is that woman fine?” Fina asked.

“Should be fine.” Zhang Zian put his phone back into his pocket. “Her skin didn’t bleed, and she appears quite healthy. Her chance of infection is low. Getting the vaccine is just precautionary.”

As they spoke, they arrived at the pet clinic.

As they entered, Shi Shi was sitting in the waiting area, playing with her phone joyfully. After seeing him there, she asked in surprise, “How come you are here? Did you leave your shop behind?”

“I have something to do here. You may go back now,” Zhang Zian said. “Except that Zhao Qi is not at the shop right now. She’s at the Health and Epidemic Prevention Center with Liu Wenying. I guess your fancy dinner won’t happen tonight.”

“What!” Shi Shi ignored what he had said earlier, and jumped up excitedly. “Qi Qi is lying again! I just declined Liu Sanlang’s movie invitation for her fancy dinner!”

“That’s fine. As long as you say it, Liu Sanlang surely would not mind.” Zhang Zian glanced around the clinic, and saw two people waiting in front of Shi Shi, while one person was waiting behind her.

“Humph! Of course I know it! I just don’t like the fact that movies are not good for WeChat moments. Food pictures get more attention!” As Shi Shi mumbled, she picked up her purse and rushed out of the clinic.