Page 90 of Escape for Christmas
‘I’ll look around and see if I can find anything that might have upset them.’ Vee hurried to the other side of the bed. ‘They’ve been sick here as well – poor loves. Hang on a mo, there’s something under the bed.’ She pulled out a green sprig with white berries.
‘Mistletoe?’ Sophie cried in horror. ‘That’s toxic to cats!’
‘Shit, I’d no idea. How did it get in here?’
‘Una and Hugo must have brought it. They went to thegarden centre yesterday and were joking about how the holiday had revived their love life.’ Sophie groaned.
Vee put her arm around Sophie. ‘Right, get on the phone to Brody now. Ask him what you can do.’
‘I don’t know if he’s in. He was meant to go to work today. Maybe I should call the surgery?’
‘Try him first. It’ll be quicker,’ Vee urged.
‘I hope he’s still at Felltop,’ Sophie said, uttering a silent prayer as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.
The call rang out, while her pulse skyrocketed. What if Brody wasn’t there and she was too late by the time she reached the vet’s? What if she lost both of her cats?
‘Brody!’ she cried when he answered the phone just as she was about to give up and rush the cats to the surgery. ‘Thank God I’ve got you. The cats are really poorly! They’ve eaten some mistletoe that my guests left in a room, and they’ve been sick and worse – and now they’re lying on the bed, drooling.’
‘Mistletoe?’ Brody said, then the phone went silent for a couple of agonising seconds. ‘I’m at home, so I’ll come round as fast as I can. Get their carrier ready. We’ll need to take them into the surgery.’
Sophie wanted to sob, but pulled herself together and focused on finding their carrier and bringing it up to the bedroom. The cats were conscious, but still drooling. Belle was letting out pathetic miaows and Jingle had been sick on the bed again.
It seemed like an age before she heard Vee open the door to let Brody in and he rushed into the bedroom.
‘They look bad,’ she said, fighting back tears. ‘Can you save them?’
‘I need to get them to the surgery for some proper treatment,’ he replied. ‘Can you show me the plant, so I can see exactly what it is?’
Vee held up the innocent-looking green plant with its white berries.
‘Yep, mistletoe. Sorry, but I had to double-check. Do you know how much they’ve eaten?’ he asked, doing a quick examination of the cats.
‘No. I didn’t realise the cats had been in here. Una and Hugo stayed in here and must have left the mistletoe. We found it on the floor,’ Sophie said, rubbing her hands together.
Brody gently stroked Belle’s head. ‘Come on, you two. Let’s put you in your carrier, so we can look after you properly.’
Gently he helped Sophie place the cats in their carrier. They made no objection, which told Sophie how poorly they were. Plus, Brody hadn’t answered her question of whether they would survive.
He took the cats out of the door.
‘I’ll stay here and look after the house,’ Vee said to Sophie and patted her shoulder. ‘Jingle and Belle couldn’t be in better hands.’
Fighting back tears, Sophie carried Belle downstairs and out to Brody’s Defender. With both cats on the floor in the rear, she strapped herself into the passenger seat. She could hear faint miaows from the back, which at least meant thecats were conscious, but what if they didn’t make it to the surgery?
Brody drove swiftly out of the gates and down the steep lane that led to Bannerdale and the practice.
‘Can you do anything for them?’ she asked. ‘Please be honest.’
‘I’ve only treated one case of mistletoe poisoning before, and that was a small dog, which recovered well. Try not to worry; the cats may only have eaten a small amount, and you caught it quickly. The problem is that mistletoe contains all kinds of toxins that will irritate and upset their stomachs.’
‘Could it – be fatal?’ Sophie said, suppressing a shudder.
‘In the worst case, it can affect their breathing and could cause a cardiovascular collapse.’
Brody put his hand over hers. It felt so good on hers, warm and strong and comforting.
‘But wecantreat them and we’ll soon be at the surgery. I’ve phoned ahead, so they know we’re coming. You’re lucky you caught me, because I was about to leave the house on my way down there.’
