Sneakers: The Amazing Felis Domesticus

 

The woman in the pound named the little kitten Sneakers because he was all black except for his paws, which were white. It looked like he was wearing four tiny sneakers. No one knew yet that the little kitten would use those four little sneakers to sneak outside almost every night, because he found the world a whole lot more exciting in the moonlight.

Sneakers' mother lived with a family in a small town called Demville. Her owners decided not to have her spayed because they wanted their little boy, Zim, to have the chance to see baby kittens being born. As it turned out, though, the kittens were born while Zim was at school. He came home and heard a funny sound coming from his closet. Throwing open the door, he saw the mother cat lying fight there in his box of baseball cards with her five newborn kittens.

Before many weeks had passed, the kittens were running around all over the house and Zim's parents decided it was time to find them new homes. Zim made a big sign saying: CUTE KITTENS FOR SALE! But guess what! Nobody wanted to buy a kitten, not even a cute kitten. So Zim made another sign: FREE KITTENS! But guess what! Nobody wanted a free kitten. Zim's mother told him what to write on the third sign: FREE BAG OF CAT FOOD WITH EVERY FREE KITTEN! But guess what! Nobody wanted a free kitten, not even if it came with a free bag of cat food.

Zim was amazed at how hard it was to find homes for kittens. So were his parents. And that is how Sneakers ended up at the pound with his four brothers and sisters.

He didn't like it at the pound. Most of the time he had to stay in his cage, and there wasn't much room in there to roam around and play and pounce. But the people were nice, especially the woman who named him Sneakers. She gave him a ball to bat around his cage and when she wasn't busy, she took him out and stroked him. Still, it was pretty boring. After he'd been at the pound for five days a family came in to look for a pet.

Six-year-old Arga fell in love with him at once. "Oh, look at this cute little kitten!" she cooed. Sneakers rolled and meowed and purred and gazed at her with his pale green eyes. When Arga's seven-year-old brother Rass poked his hand through the cage, Sneakers rubbed his soft fur against the boy's fingers. Maybe Sneakers sensed how important it was that someone adopt him. The truth is, only a very few cats find new homes. Most have to be "put to sleep" because no one wants them.

Sneakers went to live with Arga and Rass that very day. They lived in a town near Demville in a small house with a big backyard with lots of trees. At the back of the yard was a ravine that led down to a river.

Sneakers had just about everything a kitten could possibly want: two children to play with him, a scratching post, a litter box and his very own food bowl. Best of all he loved the big backyard with all its inviting smells and places to explore.

A few days after Sneakers moved in with his new family, they took him to visit the veterinarian. He didn't like the car ride, and he didn't like the smell of the clinic, and he especially didn't like the two large and very hungry looking dogs in the waiting room with their owners.

He started to explore a big rock on the floor, when all of a sudden the rock sprouted legs and lumbered away from him. Sneakers had never seen a turtle before. He made a dash for the door, but didn't get far. Rass caught him and held him in his arms until it was Sneakers' turn to see the veterinarian. Sneakers was so scared that his heart was racing and his feet were sweating. Dr. Doolittle stroked the little kitten and talked to him quietly until he began to relax. Then she listened to Sneakers' heart and lungs with her stethoscope, checked his fur for fleas and lice, looked in his mouth for sores, and checked his eyes. Then she peered in his ears with an otoscope.

"Uh-oh," she said. "I'm afraid Sneakers has ear mites." "Is it serious?" asked Mother.

"No, but they're ugly," said Dr. Doolittle. She showed them a picture of ear mites.

"Yuck!" exclaimed Arga. Rass made a face.

Dr. Doolittle showed Mother and Father how to put drops in Sneakers' ears to get ride of the mites. "Twice a day for a week," she told them.

Just when Sneakers thought he was free, OUCH! He felt a sharp pain between his shoulders. The children winced too as they watched the needle go in.

"This vaccination could save Sneakers' life," Dr. Doolittle told them. "The vaccine protects him against lots of diseases, including rabies."

"What's rabies?" asked Arga.

"It's a disease of the central nervous system," Dr. Doolittle explained. "If Sneakers ever got it, it would destroy his brain and he would 'die."

Arga sucked in her breath. "How could he get it?" "By being bitten by another animal that has rabies," she explained. "Guess how many animals die from rabies every year in Canada."

Arga and Rass looked at one another and shrugged. "Fifteen thousand," Dr. Doolittle told them. "Most are wild animals, not pets. As long as Sneakers gets his vaccinations, he will never get rabies."

Sneakers soon settled into life with his new family. For a long time nobody knew that Sneakers had a secret. Every night after everyone had gone to bed, The kitten would sneak downstairs into the basement, climb through a small hole in the wall that led to the garage, and from there he would slip underneath he garage door, which didn't close properly. Once outside, Sneakers would go exploring in the moonlight. A cat's eyes are especially well designed for seeing in the dark. Their pupils grow bigger to let in lots of whatever light there is, and the backs of their eyes reflect that light, which is why their eyes seem to glow in the dark.

Pretending that he was in the jungle, Sneakers would prowl around under the ferns growing near the paths that lined the river at the bottom of the ravine. Sometimes he would catch little field mice and carry them back up the ravine to leave on the doorstep for the children to find when they left for school in the morning. For a long time no one figured out that it was Sneakers who was leaving these trophies.

Sneakers' family knew how hard it was to find homes for kittens, so they decided to have Sneakers neutered. That way he wouldn't be able to father any kittens. So when he was eight months old they took him to Dr. Doolittle for the operation. He had to stay in the veterinary hospital for two days. The operation didn't hurt because he was asleep. He woke up feeling very groggy from the anaesthetic. He slept most of the day, and the next morning his family brought him home again. Dr. Doolittle told them that while Sneakers was asleep for his surgery, she also removed a baby tooth which hadn't yet fallen out.

"Do you still have the tooth?" asked Rass.

Dr. Doolittle was surprised by his question, but she managed to find the tooth. Rass put it under Sneakers' cat mat to see if the tooth fairy would come. Arga was pretty sure that the tooth fairy came only for human children. In the morning, the children raced downstairs to check. The tooth was gone and Sneakers was playing with a rubber mouse with a pink nose that squeaked when it bounced on the floor.

Not long after this, Sneakers had an adventure that no one would ever forget. He jumped in the trunk of Aunt Binter's car and was locked in when she left. Fifteen kilometers later, when Aunt Binter arrived home, she opened the trunk to get her suitcase and out popped Sneakers. He vanished down the road. Everyone was so upset. They advertised in the paper and posted notices but two weeks went by without a single call from anyone who'd seen Sneakers. Just when everyone was about to give up hope, a much thinner, scruffier looking Sneakers arrived at the back door. No one could ever figure out how he'd managed to find his way home, and he certainly never explained it. The whole family was overjoyed to have him back, and he was spoiled for weeks afterwards.

They told him that he was the handsomest, the smartest, and the bravest cat there ever was.

As much as Sneakers loved his family, once he'd had a taste of freedom his night excursions became more frequent. "He's like a baby who doesn't know day from night!" said Mother. "He sleeps all day and he's out all night!"

Sneakers was well aware of the difference between day and night. And as far as he was concerned, night was more fun.

Late one night when he was on his way home, Sneakers happened to pass by a raccoon. Now this had happened on many occasions, because raccoons also like to prowl around at night. Usually, though, they would politely avoid each other. This time the raccoon hissed at Sneakers and snarled. Sneakers was so surprised that it took him a moment to realize he was in danger. The raccoon lunged at him before he could run away, and bit him on his side. Luckily, rabies had made the raccoon slow to respond, so as soon as Sneakers got over his surprise, he dashed away before the raccoon could bite him again.

Arriving home, he sat on the back step and yowled until he woke up Arga, whose window was fight above the step. Arga switched on the outside light and opened the back door. There sat Sneakers, blood matting his fur. With a cry, Arga ran to get her parents. Poor Sneakers. Mother carried him into the bathroom and washed his wounds. They had to wait until morning to take him to the veterinarian's. Arga didn't sleep very well that night.

In the morning, when Rass heard what had happened, he wanted to go to the vet's with Sneakers. Mother made both children go to school, but she promised to come by at recess to tell them what had happened.

Dr. Doolittle carefully examined Sneakers. She could tell that the wound was a bite, and she knew that bite wounds often get infected. So she clipped Sneakers' fur and flushed out the wound and gave Sneakers an injection of antibiotic. Then she gave Mother some antibiotic pills to give to Sneakers twice a day for five days.

"There's a chance that Sneakers tangled with a rabid animal," Dr. Doolittle said. "There's been an outbreak of rabies in the area. But there's no need to worry because it says fight here on Sneakers' chart that he was vaccinated for rabies six months ago."

What a lucky cat! If his family hadn't taken such good care of him and made sure that his vaccinations were kept up to date, he would probably have died from rabies in a few weeks.

From then on everyone took extra care not to let Sneakers out at night. Sneakers still had his secret exit, but he rarely used it because he wasn't interested in any more adventures with raccoons! He preferred to curl up on his mat and sleep safely all night long.