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■Fai
When I returned to Hong Kong after living in the U.S for more than a quarter of a century, I brought back with me two cats. They are brother and sister. The adjustment(n.適應、調整)for them in this trans-Pacific(adj.橫過太平洋的)move has not been easy. They grew up as outdoor cats in the U.S, where they were free to roam in the yard and beyond. They would leave the hours in the morning, and when they showed their faces again in the evening, they would look as if they had rolled around in the dirt for hours. Their fur would be all ruffled(v.弄皺). Who knows what they had been doing? Getting into fights with other cats in the neighborhood, climbing up trees and fences, chasing down squirrels or being chased down by them? I did not enquire, nor could I, our way of communicating with each consisting mainly of meowing at each other.
Their freedom of movement has been greatly curtailed(v.phr.大受限制)since moving to Hong Kong. We live on the 10th floor of an apartment building. Unlike dogs, cats prefer to get around on their own, and do not take to being walked on leashes(n.皮帶)easily. Our apartment has a balcony, but we are unwilling to let them go out there because we are so high from the ground. As a result, they can only move around indoors.
Being locked inside all day long must have gotten to them(讓他們受不了). A few months ago, one of the cats, the sister, began to lose weight drastically. She was about 10 pounds when she arrived in Hong Kong, but has now come down to only a little over 5 pounds. A more worrying sign is that she throws up(v.嘔吐)two or three times a week. In the morning, we sometimes find two or three patches of cat's vomit on the floor. As if to compensate for this loss of food, she has become quite ravenous(adj.狼吞虎嚥的). We continuously fill up her bowl with cat food, but that does not seem to satisfy her. Instead, she has taken to jumping up on the dinner table to snitch our food when we are not looking, something she was never known to do in the past.
Worried, I took her to the vet yesterday. It was a very long process. We had to leave her at the clinic for half a day, where she went through a number of tests. The preliminary conclusion is that she suffers from what is called hyperthyroid, which heightens her metabolism(n.新陳代謝). Even when she is asleep, her body continues to use up considerable amount of energy. That explains her precipitous weight loss. The vet is now considering different treatments.
It is always interesting to visit an animal clinic. I often find it amazing that animals can sit together in peace when they are crammed(v.被塞進)in a small quarter. The clinic that I went to yesterday is no exception. The waiting room is roughly 200 square feet, and was filled with animals waiting to be treated when I arrived with my cat. Now, dogs and cats are almost born enemies. Under normal circumstances, a dog would lunge at(v.撲) a cat whenever the latter comes in sight. It would strain against the leash even when it is pulled back. Threatened, the cat puffs itself up like a porcupine. Its hair would stand up to make itself look bigger as it hisses fiercely at the attacker. The dog naturally barks in return. The din(n.嘈雜聲)then becomes unbearable, which of course makes the two animals all the more agitated.
Somehow, in a clinic, they behave. They might eye each other warily(adv.謹慎地). They dog might even take a step forward and sniff, while the cat recoils and sits further back in the carrier. The owner of the dog suddenly gives the leash a tug, and the dog withdraws. A whimper(n.低吠), but never a growl(n.咆哮), may escape from its throat as it forces itself to sit down on its haunches next to the owner. Immediately, the cat relaxes. It paces around the carrier a few times, and plops down, having decided that the threat has been successfully neutralized by the dog's owner and that it would be safe for it to close its eyes to doze. Before long, it begins to purr away.
■kingfaitam@gmail.com
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