Ch20 - Talk About Cat Health!

Mochi thinks it is better not to have eggie

Editor: Vez 

Translator has something to interrupt:

Teo: Vez, my editor, was awesome enough to get another chapter ready for me just in time for the holidays. So one extra chapter this week! Happy holidays everyone. (And shower Vez with lots of love)

The day Sparta video chatted with Dai Mochi, the traces of the surgery wound were pretty much healed. The issue in regards to eggie facing the knife thus came up. Sparta recalled the experience of that day and still felt bitter about the human doctor with ill intent. “He snatched me right out of Miwu’s arms!” Sparta angrily complained.

He did not expect Mochi’s reaction would be covering his mouth with his paw and meowing in laughter. 

Sparta was puzzled and asked, “What’s so funny?”

Mochi quickly licked his paws in an attempt to make himself forget the joke earlier. He replied looking more serious, “I already knew you were going to experience such a misfortune.”

Sparta got up instinctively and asked curiously, “How?”

“During your last examination at the clinic, I heard Dr. Yu and your human talking about removing your eggie.”

Sparta was even more confused. He grumpily paced back and forth and continued to ask, “But Miwu clearly did not know about it! Don’t you speak ill of him!”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Hey, hey. Don’t get too stirred up.” Mochi quickly comforted the anxious Dragon Li cat, “Why are you still so easy to anger without your eggie?”

Vqjgaj rwjmxfv atf mjwfgj klat tlr qjk. “Ccs wbgf ogbw sbe jcv P klii yfja sbe.”

Gjl Zbmtl kjr ralii islcu, cba mjglcu ja jii jr tf mbcalcefv ab ajix ribkis, “Olrafc ab wf, sbe mjccba yfja wf gluta cbk jcskjs. Pc ojma, sbeg tewjc tjr xcbkc atlr ibcu jub, jcv tf rmtfveifv sbe ab atja afgglyif tbrqlaji. Lbkfnfg, tf vlv atja obg sbeg bkc ubbv. Dfrlvfr, la’r pera gfwbnlcu atf fuulf. Pc ojma, P jirb vb cba tjnf bcf. Rba bcis wf, wjcs vbwfralm mjar sbe klii wffa lc atf oeaegf jgf jii bc atf rjwf ybja. Po sbe tjnf cba cbalmfv, atbrf mjar klatbea atflg fuulf jgf jmaejiis fjrlfg ab ufa jibcu klat. Cveia mjar atja ralii tjnf atflg fuulf, kfii, wbra bo atfw jqqfjg ifrr qbilaf jcv wbgf jccbslcu.” 

Dai Mochi mentioned to Sparta that he used to be a stray cat. Afterwards, he was adopted by the doctors in the veterinary clinic and became the clinic’s mascot. Surprisingly, the older cat also had his eggie removed. Sparta wrinkled his nose and sat back down, suppressing his emotions and waited for Dai Mochi to continue.

Dai Mochi suddenly changed the topic, instead of finishing the current one. He asked Sparta a question, “Xiao Lihua, hear me out, do you remember your previous estrus period?”

It was not embarrassing for cats to discuss their estrus period and mating face-to-face. Sparta did not mind at all and replied, “Of course I do, but what does it have to do with my human removing my eggie?”

“Do you remember how you felt during that period? Let’s rephrase that. Do you like going through your estrus period?” 

Do I like it? Sparta never thought about it. During a specific season, a cat would be in their mating season when the air is filled with this sticky smell. It was a natural thing, just like eating, drinking water or catching mice. Whether he liked it or not, there was no way for him to refuse. But if he really thought about it, the two estrus periods he experienced did not leave much of an impression on him. He was a cat born during the mating season in spring.

In the early spring of next year, he entered his first estrus period. Because of his mother’s early death, he was malnourished most of his childhood. Even though he was one year old, he was still a thin young male cat. He attracted no interest in the mating battlefield and could not gain any advantage, he was also not keen on competing for mating rights with other strong adult male cats. Despite the fever and discomfort caused by the wild estrogen in the air, he still chose to stay away from the war zone and spent his estrus period quietly.

The second time was this autumn, when he had grown into a decently good looking cat. He should have been victorious in this mating game, logically speaking. Instead, it was just around the time he received his aunt’s letter and learned that he would inherit a human. With his attention focused elsewhere, he paid no heed to those enchanting female cats. Therefore, to be honest, he did not have many good memories when it came to mating.

Coming to that conclusion, Sparta honestly shook his head. 

Dai Mochi glanced at him and sighed, “The youngster these days. Back in my day, I was very popular with young female cats. Many of them would line up waiting for me. Those were the good old days…”

His eyes were half-lidded as he recalled those memories. Then he stretched his head and resumed, “However, it was also very troublesome. Originally, cats in the wild will have one estrus season a year. Now, many domestic cats are well taken care of by humans. With a more healthy and nutritious life, their estrus season was prolonged. Especially those female cats. They are almost always in their estrus period, from spring to autumn. And we male cats had no choice but to enter the estrus period because of them.

“So tiring. Like fools, we could not do anything but scuffle, which could end up in us getting injured. What’s more, mating is not a happy thing. Most of the time, you are not yourself, you are not thinking straight. The whole process ends in an instant too, it doesn’t give you time to process the situation, as well as time to stay on guard against female cats who would suddenly become hostile. I have heard many stories of male cats getting clawed by female cats after mating. Isn’t that just terrible? Fortunately, I am fast on my paws, or else I would have been very sorry for this lovely face.

“Do you know about lions? They are a type of big cat. Our distant cousin. If the male lion does not escape in time after mating, he might get killed by the lioness. Such a sad life.” 

All this was newfound knowledge that Sparta had never encountered before. His eyes were open wide and round as he listened, a very silly looking cat. “Are female cats really that mean?” Although he knew that many female cats were fierce and very formidable. Male cats generally had an absolute advantage in weight, but female cats sure could beat the crap out of emotionally compromised male cats with their paws, which brought forth a whole new respect for them in him.

“I once asked a female cat I knew. She told me that mating was so painful that they couldn’t help but want to beat the other cat. It is clear that the estrus season does not just annoy the male cats.” Dai Mochi sighed.

Sparta looked at the ground, lost in thoughts, then it suddenly dawned on him. “So what you are trying to say is that humans removed our eggie so that we would no longer suffer such torment?”

“That is as far as I know. Hey, you are pretty smart.” Dai Mochi’s lips twitched, as if trying to smile but looked sinister when combined with his fierce-looking face. Sparta got the hibbie-jibbies from this. Seeing this, Dai Mochi’s ears pinned back as he lowered his head dejectedly, sighing, “I have been practising smiling lately.” 

Sparta did not understand. “What is a smile? Why are you practising such a thing?”

“You will know when you learn more about human society.” Dai Mochi licked his paws. “In short, if our eggies are removed, we will basically be unaffected by the female cats. Many female cats will also go through this, so that they do not have to worry about experiencing an endless estrus period. Moreover, I overheard Dr. Dai tells other cats’ human families that sterilisation can prevent some diseases and is overall beneficial for the cat’s health. Most domestic cats will go through the same operation under the humans’ arrangement. Although getting under the knife is not necessary for us, in the long run, the pros outweighs the cons. Of course, maybe not all cats agree, but who cares, I did not have a say in this anyway. Instead, I think it gives us more freedom.”

Sparta admired such an open-minded Dai Mochi and was very envious. He thought carefully, and did not have many obsessions with the estrus season. He probably would not have such an impulse if he was not controlled by instinct. The reason behind his earlier anger might be the subconscious thought that Miwu should not lie to him like this. But since Miwu did it for his own good, then he shall forgive Miwu. After all, he is a generous cat, and Miwu is the best human!

Xin Qin had noticed that these days, his Dragon Li cat was particularly well-behaved and loved to snuggle with him. Even if he was too focused on playing games, the cat would accompany him quietly. Maybe that saying circulating on the internet about neutered cats would be more clingy was true. Feeling such love from his cat, he ordered a pile of cat snacks and toys on impulse. 

Another happy thing was that he had signed a contract with the Fish Cat Livestream Platform. Of course, being a newbie streamer, there was still a long way to go before achieving the goal of making money and supporting his family. However, thanks to Sparta’s unexpected debut, Xin Qin’s fan group began to diversify. That meant more female fans. With more female viewers, it meant that there were more cute conversations, enthusiastic shouting and voluntary promotions of his livestream on their groups.

—[Hahahaha, when Sparta rushed over, it was like he was shouting ‘This is Sparta’! Such a great name]

—[Big gold chain, that pattern on his arms, three small dried fish a day! Dearest host, are you lacking in a younger sister that peels garlic]

Big gold chain: Insert image 

—[Such an amazing Chinese rural cat!]

—[Even through the mask, I can tell how good looking Sing God is! prpr]

—[My good friend got me here. Host, keep up the good work! Your cat is very cute as well!]

Sparta knew nothing about his popularity. After this sterilisation incident, he soon had a new headache: graduation. Graduation meant facing the problem of preschool coming to an end. The Dragon Li cat felt distressed. In fact, the preschool class’s learning content was not difficult as it was all related to common sense. There are only three lectures a week, and the learning assessment is also not too hard. However, Sparta, the oldest student who had a lot of life experience, could be said to be the proud head among the group of kittens who had not lost their baby teeth. Although Ms. Jiang Dabao was very strict, she gave good lectures. A month passed in the blink of an eye and soon, it was their last class. Ms. Dabao announced that the graduation subject for this kitten preschool class would be: speech. 

Meow, meow, what is a speech?

Other than some exceptionally strange breeds, cats are generally not the ones to be noisy as a whole. Most of the time, they like to keep silent. This habit is probably an instinct to protect themselves. Cats are naturally sensitive to sound and need to stay vigilant at all times, an essential ability for predators. Therefore, cats are often more willing to stay in a quiet and peaceful place than a restless and lively environment, that is why they gravitate toward people who do not make strange noises. From this point of view, a non-talkative cat is doomed to never be an orator. Obviously, the purpose of this teaching was to give cats a better understanding of themselves as well as challenge themselves.

However, the most challenging part in this speech was the topic: If I were an adult. He was already the oldest cat in the class with many months on him. Sparta silently fiddled with the big gold chain around his neck, feeling his dignity was insulted.

The author has something to say: 

Thank you for the donation!!! The discussion on eggie is finally coming to an end. The next topic is the big cat’s debut.