Thomasina

Strictly speaking, this novella isn’t really about a cat named Thomasina—it’s about the fate of a man named McDewey. In his youth, he dreamed of healing people, but his father, threatening to disinherit him, forced his son to become a veterinarian. McDewey hates the profession forced on him—and accordingly, he hates his patients. What’s more, his beloved wife died when she was very young, and the thought haunts him constantly: if he had been a “real doctor,” the tragedy wouldn’t have happened.

A veterinarian can’t—and won’t—understand how dearly his cats and dogs are valued by their owners, once they’ve come to him for treatment.

He will even put a sick cat to sleep for his seven-year-old daughter, and only then, with horror, will he suddenly realize that he is beginning to lose what is last in his life—the only child he has. The girl was found to have no illnesses; she’s simply fading away. The best doctor in the area, called to see Mary Rue, explained her condition like this: “…in my grandfather’s day people fell ill for many reasons that are now written off. The rejected fiancé turned yellow and grew thin; the betrayed girl weakened and couldn’t even walk. Abandoned—just aging—wives became disabled, and all these diseases were considered real. A child dies of a broken heart.”

What wouldn’t McDewey give to bring back Thomasina, whom he himself killed!..