Chapter 2: My cat does a ‘Dragon-Jub’ (2)
No belly button, is that possible?
"It looks like he's only been born a day or two ago, then it's supposed to have an umbilical cord attached to it. But there isn't even a mark."
I took the kitten from my sister's hand and looked at the belly. The stomach, which had just eaten colostrum and became chubby, was only smooth and clean with a pale pink color. This was really weird.
All mammals have a belly button. The only exceptions are the echidna and the platypus, which live in Australia. A platypus is a fascinating animal with a body resembling an otter, a duck-like beak, a beaver-like tail, and webbed feet.
Although I had never seen a platypus baby in person, it was certain that the baby that Baek-Ho had brought was not a platypus. Although it was still too small to reveal its shape, in the eyes of the veterinarian and veterinarian's brother, the baby was closest to that of a newborn kitten. Even if it is a congenital anomaly, it could be missing a limb or a body part, but it can't be born without a belly button. Could it be you were born from an egg? There's no way.
My sister, who had been wandering in the chaos for a long time just like me, finally came to her senses and sighed.
"I want to take him to the hospital and do some tests, but he's still too young, so let's just leave it alone. Saving it is the number one priority. The inspection can be done after it gets a little bigger."
My sister was also bold to accept a cat without a belly button so casually; if it were another veterinarian, they would have sent him to the laboratory or called the National Forensic Service.
I was a little anxious, but I just decided to take care of it like a normal kitten. Platypus also feeds on its mother's milk after hatching from the egg. Seeing that this little thing also eats colostrum, it seemed like it could be raised with formula milk.
Since my older sister had to go to the hospital and do chores there, I decided to take over the role of feeding. After all, I spent most of my time sitting at home because I was writing novels.
I have no experience with breastfeeding because Baek-Ho was brought in at around 2 months old when it was already weaning. After teaching me how to artificially feed it and induce a bowel movement, my sister left the house.
"You have to feed every two or three hours. After about 4 weeks, it will sleep a little longer, so it will be challenging until then. If you find it difficult to take care of yourself, tell me. I'll take him to the hospital during the day and drop him off when I finish work."
"It should be a month."
"If it's a male, it's Hyukgeose. If it's a female, Aryonng?"
TN: Historical Korean figures, these two are husband and wife.
Hey!"
"It's a joke; we'll match your name to Baek-Ho. If it's a girl, I'll call her Zhujak. If it's a boy, I'll call him Blue Dragon."
TN: Zhujak is like a phoenix.
I didn't know it then. But those words become seeds.
The baby finally woke up after 2 weeks. The way it looked at me with its tiny seed-like eyes open was so cute that I felt like I was being compensated for all the hard work I had to do while not sleeping, formula feeding, and collecting poop and urine. I weighed it on a kitchen scale and found that it had doubled its weight. Baek-Ho also licked to show it did well.
I almost forgot that the baby didn't have a belly button as it was steadily following the growth process of a normal kitten. It was because he seemed to grow up to be an average cat.
About three weeks after the baby came, my older sister, who had come to see it tilted her head.
"Myung-Hoon, what is this on his head? Has it been bitten by an insect?"
"Uh? Let's see, oh, you're right. It wouldn't have hit anything, so why is it like this? Pimples?"
There was no chance a baby crawling on a soft blanket inside the box would hit something, and there were no mosquitos. When I touched it with my fingers, two were on each side. What is this?Updated chapters at novelhall.com