Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Jadu the Parrot
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As soon as they arrived at the animal hospital and opened the carrier doors, the cats bolted out.
Whoosh, whoosh.
In just a few bounds, the cats had scaled to the very top of the cat tower.
"Hahaha. Now ya look like yerselves."
Go Gi-jin let out a big laugh as he spoke to Lee Jun.
"Zoom right up there in one go. Like birds, they are."
"Looking good."
Lee Jun smiled as he watched the cats leap nimbly.
That was when it happened.
Meowr, meowr! Meow!
Woof! Woof woof!
A loud cat yowl mixed with dog barks rang out.
Lee Jun reflexively glanced at Sapsari right beside him.
Sapsari's ears just twitched, his mouth firmly shut.
The cats staring wide-eyed this way wore puzzled expressions too.
"Hm? What's that?"
Lee Jun tilted his head, and Go Gi-jin muttered as he pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"Who the heck's callin' this early in the mornin'?"
"Oh, it's Teacher Go's phone?"
"Sure is."
Go Gi-jin grinned and tapped his phone.
"Yeah, it's me."
-…….
"Yeah? That's fine, ain't it?"
Go Gi-jin, speaking into the phone, glanced at Lee Jun and continued.
"Hang on a sec~. Lemme ask Big Brother."
"What's up?"
"Says the cat won't eat and has diarrhea? Oh, and it's losin' weight too."
"Yeah? Ask when it stopped eating."
Go Gi-jin was about to ask into the phone but switched to speaker.
"Put it on speaker now, so ask Big Brother yerself."
-Hello? It's an honor to meet you like this, Senior Lee Jun. I'm Kim Woo-yeon...
"Yeah, Woo-yeon. Greetings later. So, what's wrong with the cat?"
Lee Jun gently prompted the question.
-Yes. It's been picky about food for about a week, and hasn't eaten at all since the day before yesterday.
"Anything different from usual? Like what it's eating or something."
-She fed it a lot of salmon. Normally once or twice a week, but it loved it so much she gave it salmon every day for a week. So at first, she thought it was just being picky.
"That's the problem."
-What? Giving it something too tasty?
"No, salmon's the issue. You can't feed cats that much fish."
-What?
"Can't do it?"
Kim Woo-yeon on the phone and Go Gi-jin asked at the same time.
"Yeah. Causes thiamine deficiency. Vitamin B1 deficiency, like what's happening to that cat right now."
-Thiamine poisoning?
"Yeah, it's in the feline internal medicine book under thiamine deficiency."
-Huh, not seeing it.
"Oh. You're large animal, right?"
Mainly cows and pigs, so no wonder he wouldn't know small animals.
Lee Jun himself was no expert on cows either.
-Yes.
"Sorry, slipped my mind. I'll explain in detail next time. For now, here's the treatment."
Lee Jun explained the treatment and said he'd email detailed materials.
-Thank you.
"No need to thank me. Anytime you're stuck, just ask. Let's meet up sometime."
After hanging up, Go Gi-jin asked Lee Jun.
"That the case? Cats can't eat fish?"
"Fine occasionally. They ate shrimp in Gangneung too. Every day is dangerous."
"Gotcha."
"Send Woo-yeon the materials first, and you study up on thiamine deficiency while you're at it."
Lee Jun headed to the exam room to find the files when he heard meows and barks.
This time, it was Gray, Shadow, and Sapsari.
[Someone's coming.]
Soon, the glass door opened with a jingle.
Woof woof! Woof woof woof.
"Sounds like a dog's here?"
Go Gi-jin stepped out, and now cat meows followed.
Meow, meow, meowww.
"Cats too?"
Lee Jun hurriedly sent the email.
"Come on in. But looks like there's a dog and cat together in there."
Go Gi-jin chuckled as he approached the owner. But something felt off.
'Weird? Carrier's too small for two.'
The carrier the owner held was tiny.
"Guess they get along great."
Jang So-ra followed Go Gi-jin's lead, smiling at the owner.
She thought the same.
But without showing it, she asked the owner.
"What's wrong with them?"
"Oh, actually, it's just one."
"Pardon?"
"One?"
"It's a parrot."
All eyes turned to Lee Jun as he stepped out of the exam room.
Go Gi-jin and Jang So-ra gawked wide-eyed, contrasting the owner's delighted face.
"Oh, yes."
"Come on over. You too, Teacher Go."
"......Yes."
Go Gi-jin, who'd never seen a parrot exam, hurried in.
"Our Jadu's not well."
"Parrot named Jadu, huh."
"Yes. Named her that 'cause her feathers were strawberry-like and pretty."
"Strawberry lutino? Sounds like a lutino galah cockatoo."
Thanks to Choi Woo-jin raising parrots since childhood, Lee Jun knew his birds.
The man relaxed a bit, leaning back comfortably as Lee Jun nodded confirmation.
"You know your stuff."
Meanwhile, Go Gi-jin felt dizzy beside them.
'What's a cockatoo? Strawberry lutino?'
His parrot knowledge stopped at "colorful talking bird," so their talk sounded like code.
But one thing was clear.
'Pink bird? Must be gorgeous.'
Go Gi-jin eyed the carrier, expecting snow-white and pink feathers.
"So, Jadu, wanna come out?"
At Lee Jun's gentle words, fluttering wings and tapping sounds came from the carrier.
Click.
The owner opened it.
Gulp!
Go Gi-jin, lover of cute and pretty things, swallowed hard.
And then.
"Eek!"
He yelped shrilly.
But quickly clamped his mouth shut and held his breath.
'What the...?'
The bird was plucked bald.
Pink, bumpy skin fully exposed...
Plus blood spots on its body.
Go Gi-jin pouted, eyes welling up.
"Must hurt so bad!"
[Hurt! Hurt!]
The parrot mimicked Go Gi-jin, crying "hurt."
Lee Jun opened a drawer for a blanket and spoke to the parrot.
"Jadu, cold?"
The parrot flapped its skinny wings on the perch and replied.
[Hurt! Hurt!]
The owner took the blanket from Lee Jun and began.
"Thanks. First vet to give a blanket right away."
"It's sterilized, so it's fine."
The owner wrapped Jadu and continued.
"As you see, Jadu keeps plucking her feathers. She's bald now but still pecks till she bleeds. So..."
"PBFD, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease, right? That's your worry."
"Yes. Tested negative once. But no improvement..."
"Oh, you've seen a vet before."
"About three months of treatment. Meds, injections, everything promising. But still like this. Heard there's a more accurate test. Something... RT-something."
"RT-PCR."
"Yes, that's it."
"And previous PCR was negative?"
"Yes. Thought we were clear, but no healing despite treatment. Now seems itchy too, so maybe bad test? It's a virus, right?"
Viral diseases were hot topics lately.
"We'll test, but PBFD isn't zoonotic. Doesn't spread to humans. Just bird-to-bird."
"Oh, really?"
The owner looked relieved.
"We'll draw blood first, then send to the lab."
"Yes. But Doctor, Jadu's a bit dramatic."
"No worries. How old's Jadu?"
"17."
"Oh, Jadu's in her prime."
"Trying to get her a friend, but..."
PBFD wrecks the immune system, high fatality.
"Worried about spreading it."
"That's what worried me, but your words eased that."
Lee Jun looked puzzled, then nodded knowingly.
"Ah, you mean a dog or cat friend."
"How'd you know?"
"Jadu's mimicking them."
"......Makes sense. Till last year, she got along great with her cat siblings."
The owner showed phone photos.
In them, Jadu boasted snowy white wings and pink body feathers.
The forehead was the crown jewel—gradient white-to-pink, stunning.
'Jadu smiling at the dogs and cats.'
Lee Jun recalled a memory.
Kongdori, Goldmoon, Chacha always together.
Lee Jun's precious schnauzer Kongdori, Kwak Su-ho's cat Goldmoon, Choi Woo-jin's parrot Chacha—besties.
As Lee Jun smiled in reminiscence, Jadu flapped and folded wings, shouting.
[Nyango! Nyango!]
"Your friends' names?"
[Yes! Yes! Friends nyango!]
Jadu spoke to Lee Jun for the first time.
[Wanna see nyango! Wanna see nyango!]
To others, it just sounded like "Nyango. Nyango."
The owner pitied Jadu calling for nyango and replied.
"Yes. Nyanyang and Totto."
"Nice, easy names for Jadu."
"Yeah. The three grew up together from babies."
The owner's eyes filled with longing.
Suddenly, Jadu whipped her head and pecked her body.
But blanketed now, she pecked the blanket. Lee Jun's eyes sharpened.
'Maybe not disease. Wait, it is—a disease of the heart.'
Two days later, tests came back negative, as Lee Jun suspected.
"No fungus, minor bacterial from pecking. That'll clear with a few days' meds."
"Then why no improvement so long?"
"Pet loss syndrome. Or friend-loss syndrome. Loneliness. Friends gone overnight."
The owner stroked Jadu slowly.
"Suspected that, tried to help, didn't realize how bad."
Then a meow. Jadu's eyes sparkled.
[Nyango! Nyango!]
Thrilled by Gray and Shadow's voices outside.
Lee Jun asked.
"Wanna meet my kids?"
"Gray and Shadow?"
"Sapsari too."
Go Gi-jin, teary from Jadu's tale, chimed in.
Soon after, Jadu fluttered amid Sapsari, Gray, and Shadow, crying "Nyango nyango" happily.
"Director, can we hospitalize Jadu a few hours daily?"
"Was gonna suggest it."
From then, Jadu "commuted" to Meongmeong Animal Hospital daily.
Days passed...
Feathers started growing back.
[Whoa, sis got feathers!]
[Jadu sis, so pretty.]
[Pretty.]
Delighted by the trio, Jadu laughed loudly.
[Love Gray! Shadow too, Sapsari!]
***
Jadu's feather regrowth spread fast via the parrot cafe.
Popular with bird owners and exotic vets.
News rippled through vet circles.
"Hoo, Lee Jun pulls it off again?"
"What's his secret?"
"Yeah. Owners say he reads animal signals spot-on. Pinpoints the pain."
"Signals?"
"You know, hang with animals long enough, you get it."
"Hmm. Jealous skill anyway."
"Right? Surgery whiz, animal whisperer. Envy city."
"Wanna ask Lee Jun his secret—how he communicates so well."
"Me too."
Vets bloomed into Lee Jun talk whenever meeting.
Then one vet said.
"How 'bout asking him to chart dog and cat expressions?"
"Expressions?"
"Like, this face means that hurts."
"Oh, good idea. This posture? Suspect pancreatitis."
One vet planted hands on table, butt raised.
"Yeah. Know more tells like that, better we diagnose."
More vets hoped for Lee Jun lectures.
Requests flooded the vet association.