‘No luck,’ says Chelsea, slumping on a chair in the corner. ‘We’ve looked everywhere, Mrs Fletcher.’
I walk over to look at Noodle. I feel angry with him for eating the rat, even though as a vet I know he is just doing what comes naturally to him. The food chain and all that stuff.
Then I look more closely.
‘Chelsea, can you get the tape measure again?’ I say, not taking my eyes off Noodle. Mum comes over as I measure the lump again. I double-check my notepad.
‘It’s bigger!’ I say.
I show my notes to Mum.
‘That’s really odd,’ she says, carefully lifting the snake from the cage. She runs her hand down the snake’s long body.
‘Girls, I don’t think this is a rat in here. It’s too hard and round and the rat wouldn’t grow in the snake’s stomach. I’m going to have to X-ray him.’
Chelsea and I get to watch Mum X-ray Noodle. We all stare at the image.
‘What on earth is that?’ says Mum, touching the outline on the screen.
I know straightaway. ‘It’s Max’s expanding dinosaur egg!’
‘So it is,’ says Mum, shaking her head. ‘Oh dear, we’re going to have to get that out of there. Doesn’t it get to be the size of a small football?’
‘I’ll get Max,’ says Chelsea, running from the room.
They are back in no time at all. Even Dad has come.
‘How big will this get, Max?’ asks Dad, looking at the X-ray.
‘Huge!’ squeals Max, holding up his hands excitedly.
‘I’m going to have to operate,’ says Mum, ‘or this snake is going to die.’
Dad takes Max from the room but Chelsea and I are allowed to stay.
‘Operations are part of being a vet, so you can watch if you want to,’ says Mum, ‘but it might get a bit gory.’ She laughs as Chelsea and I jump around excitedly.
We have to put on gowns and masks and everything. I even get to hold the gas over Noodle’s face to put him to sleep. I pass Mum the instruments when she needs them.
‘I think I’m going to be sick,’ moans Chelsea from the other side of the operating theatre. She slumps onto a chair.
‘We might need to buy Max a new egg,’ says Mum as she lifts the slimy lump out of the snake’s stomach.
She is right. Vets need to have strong stomachs.
Chelsea heads for the door making gagging noises.
‘Wait a second!’ I say. ‘What’s that?’
We both lean over the open wound and Mum pulls her magnifying goggles down again. ‘Ah,’ she says. ‘This poor snake has a cyst.’
‘What’s that?’ I say. ‘Is it bad? Is that why Noodle hasn’t been eating?’
‘Maybe. It’s a lump but it’s not too serious,’ says Mum. ‘I’ll remove it now and he should be fine. It was probably lucky he ate that egg after all or we wouldn’t have found this.’
‘I knew it would all be okay,’ I beam.
Mum just looks at me.
I watch as she removes the cyst and carefully sews up the snake. I put the lump in a specimen jar. I am sure Millie would want to keep it! Noodle goes back under his warm light to recover. He will have to stay in the surgery for a few more days.
When we’ve cleaned up, Mum gives me a big hug. ‘You were the vet that worked out what was wrong with the snake,’ she says. ‘That was very clever.’
I smile and hug her back. Vets like to hear when they’ve done a good job.
‘I feel really bad about losing the rats, though,’ I reply.
‘I know,’ says Mum. ‘Looking after animals is a big job, and you need to be really, really careful with other people’s pets.’
The moment is lost when we hear Dad yelling again!
That can’t be right, I think. The rooster’s not crowing.
We race outside to find Dad in his fishing gear standing with his back against the shed door and his arms spread wide as if he is trying to hold back a stampede.
‘Rats!’ he yells. ‘We’ve got rats in the shed!’
‘Hang on, Dad,’ I call. ‘I’m nearly a vet, I can get them.’
I throw open the shed door and find two frightened rats sitting in Dad’s fishing ‘box’.
Chelsea and I are too excited about finding the rats to be mad at Dad for scaring them so badly.
Chelsea’s Mum comes for dinner to help us celebrate.
While we are eating, Maisy’s dad calls to say they will keep the cat after all, to keep the mice down in the dairy. Mum says she will de-sex Shredder for free so she doesn’t have any more kittens.
‘But what about the little kitten?’ says Mrs O’Sullivan.
Chelsea looks at her mother. I can see she is holding her breath.
‘I guess they’ll find a home for her when she’s eight weeks old,’ says Mum.
‘Maybe they’ll let us have her?’ says Mrs O’Sullivan. ‘We could do with another girl in our house, couldn’t we, Chelsea?’
Chelsea claps her hands over her mouth. She jumps around in circles. She hugs her mum, my mum, me, and even my dad. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you!’
After dinner Dad is more than happy to help me carry Meatloaf out to where Mitchell is waiting.
‘Thanks,’ Mitchell says, reaching for the cage. ‘He looks really happy and well groomed and very fit!’
‘He?’ I say, a little confused. ‘Don’t you mean “she”?’
‘No,’ he laughs. ‘I was going to tell you it was a boy, but your dad looked a bit . . . ’
Mitchell and I look at Dad.
‘Oh, you have got to be kidding me,’ says Dad. He holds up his hands in disbelief.
‘Time for me to go!’ says Mitchell, and he bolts out the front gate.
‘Me too,’ I say, making a quick getaway. I can’t wait to tell Chelsea. After all, apart from Dad, who wouldn’t be excited that Twiggy and Lulu might have babies?
Chelsea jumps up and down on her bed when she hears the good news.
‘Now there’ll be even more guinea pigs to do fancy hairstyles on!’ she cheers. ‘And nails to be clipped. And Maisy said we can visit Shredder on the farm!’
I’ve always wanted to get to know more about farm animals. I whip out my Vet Diary and make a few notes.
Quiz! Are You Nearly a Vet?
1. When you trim a guinea pig’s nails, should you:
a. Always paint them with a nail polish in a colour that suits their fur.
b. Cut them back to the furry part.
c. Only cut the very tips off – making sure you don’t cut the quick.
d. You shouldn’t trim them at all.
2. How can you stop a rooster from crowing?
a. Turn your radio up.
b. Teach it to bark instead.
c. Make sure it sleeps somewhere dark.
d. Put the rooster in with a heap of other roosters.
3. How can you tell if your cat is close to having its kittens?
a. Its feet swell up.
b. It starts knitting little mittens.
c. It is very restless and won’t eat.
d. It packs a suitcase.
4. Which of these noises can’t a cat make?
a. Growl.
b. Hiss.
c. Purr.
d. Whistle.
5. What can cause a rat to bite?
a. Feeding her through the bars of the cage.
b. Waking her up before nine a.m.
c. Singing nursery rhymes to her.
d. Calling her a mouse.
6. How do you know if your dog has an ear infection?
a. You will find one of his ears on the ground.
b. His ears will smell.
c. He will be very hungry all the time.
d. He will tell you he has an earache.
7. How do you make a parrot talk?
a. Say the same thing over and over to it.
b. Tell it bad jokes.
c. Buy it a telephone.
d. Ask it a question.
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8. What do snakes need before they can digest their food?
a. A menu.
b. Heat.
c. Dessert.
d. Privacy.
9. How much room does a goldfish need in its tank?
a. Enough to fit a TV and a sofa.
b. Enough to be able to invite friends over.
c. At least two litres of water per fish – and they HATE bowls.
d. At least twenty litres of water per fish.
10. How do you get your parents to buy you more pets?
a. Nag them all the time.
b. Make them think it was their idea.
c. Look sad all the time.
d. Cry when you see animals on television.
Answers : 1c, 2c, 3c, 4d, 5a, 6d, 7a, 8b, 9c, 10b. Well done!
From Rebecca Johnson
When I was growing up, I was mad about animals. Not just the normal kind like cats, dogs and horses, but anything that moved. The best part of all was that I actually lived next door to a vet! We are still great friends and he’s 95 now. One of my fondest memories of growing up is going out in a canoe with my sister and brother after a flood and rescuing animals that were stranded on sticks and twigs and ferrying them to safety. Not every girl I know would be happiest in a canoe full of mice, bugs and the odd green snake, but I’m sure Juliet would!
From Kyla May
As a little girl, I always wanted to be a vet. I had mice, guinea pigs, dogs, goldfish, sea snails, sea monkeys and tadpoles as pets. I loved looking after my friend’s pets when they went on holidays and every Saturday I helped out at a pet store. Now that I’m all grown up, I have the best job in the world. I get to draw lots of animals for children’s books and for animated TV shows. In my studio I have two dogs, Jed and Evie, and two cats, Bosco and Kobe, who love to watch me draw.
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ISBN: 978-1-74253-530-2
The Great Pet Plan Page 3