He gazed at the book, then his eyes looked beyond me into somewhere only he knew. I wondered then if Alaska and the wild Yukon territory might have been the scene of his wanderings andfora moment I hoped he might be going to tell me something about his past, but it seemed he didnt want to talk about that. He wanted to talk about his cat.
It is the most extraordinary thing, Mr. Herriot. I have lived on my own all my life but I have never felt lonely, but I know now that I would be desperately lonely without Emily. Does that sound foolish to you?
Not at all. Possibly its because you havent had a pet before. Have you?
No, I havent. Never seemed to have stayed still long enough. I am fond of animals and there have been times when I felt I would like to own a dog, but never a cat. I have heard so often that cats do not dispense affection, that they are selfsufficient and never become really fond of anybody. Do you agree with that?
Of course not. Its absolute nonsense. Cats have a character of their own, but Ive treated hundreds of friendly, affectionate cats who are faithful friends to their owners.
Im so glad to hear you say that, because I flatter myself that this little creature is really attached to me.
He looked down at Emily, who had jumped onto his lap, and gently patted her head.
Thats easy to see, I said and the old man smiled his pleasure.
You know, Mr. Herriot, he went
on, when I first settled here, he waved his hand round his dwelling as though it were the drawing room in a multi-acred mansion, I had no reason to think that I wouldnt continue to live the solitary life that I was accustomed to, but one day this little animal walked in from nowhere as though she had been invited and my whole existence has changed.
I laughed. She adopted you. Cats do that. And it was a lucky day for you.
Yes yes how very true. You seem to understand these things so well, Mr. Herriot. Now, do let me top up your cup.
It was the first of many visits to Mr. Ireson in his strange dwelling. I never went to the Carless farm without looking in through the sacks and if Eugene was in residence we had a cup of tea and a chat. We talked about many thingsbooks, the political situation, natural history, of which he had a deep knowledge, but the conversation always got round to cats. He wanted to know everything about their care and feeding, habits and diseases.
While I was agog to hear about his world travels which he referred to only in the vaguest terms, he would listen with the wide-eyed interest of a child to my veterinary experiences. It was during one of these sessions that I raised the question of Emily in particular.
I notice she is either in here or on the lead with you, but does she ever go wandering outside by herself?
Well, yes now that you mention it. Just lately she has done so. She only goes up to the farmI make sure she does not stray along the road where she may be knocked down.
I didnt mean that, Mr. Ireson. What I was thinking about was that there are several male cats up there at the farm. She could easily become pregnant.
He sat bolt upright in his chair.
Good heavens, yes! I never thought of thathow foolish of me. Id better try to keep her inside.
Very difficult, I said. It would be much better to have her spayed. Then shed be safeyou couldnt do with a lot of kittens in here, could you?
No no of course not. But an operation He stared at me with frightened eyes. There would be an element of danger ?
No, no, I said as briskly as I could. Its quite a simple procedure. We do lots of them.
His normal urbanity fell away from him. From the beginning he had struck me as a man who had seen so many things in life that nothing would disturb his serenity, but now he seemed to shrink within himself. He slowly stroked the little cat, seated, as usual, on his lap. Then he reached down to the black leather volume of The Works of Shakespeare with its faded gold lettering which he had been reading when I arrived. He placed a marker in the book and closed it before putting it carefully on the shelf. I really dont know what to say, Mr. Herriot.
I gave him an encouraging smile.
Theres nothing to worry about. I strongly advise it. If I could just describe the operation, Im sure it would put your mind at rest. Its really keyhole surgerywe make only a tiny incision and bring the ovaries and uterus through and ligate the stump.
I dried up hurriedly because the old man closed his eyes and swayed so far to one side that I thought he would fall off the wicker chair. It wasnt the first time that one of my explanatory surgical vignettes had had an undesirable effect and I altered my tactics. I laughed loudly and patted him on the knee. So, you see, its nothing-nothing at all.
He opened his eyes and drew a long, quavering breath.
Yes yes Im sure youre right. But you must give me a little time to think. This has come on me so suddenly.
All right. Im sure Eddy Carless will give me a ring for you. But dont be too long.