Chapter 41 part 1

A cat has 112 acupoints on its body. As members of the feline family, tigers might have even more acupoints. However, regardless of the exact number, a tiger definitely has all the acupoints found on a cat. After all, as long as there isn’t a significant difference in their bodily structure, the location of acupoints won’t change due to variations in size.

In ancient times, veterinarians primarily treated warhorses or livestock that helped farmers with their work. They might not have had much understanding of tigers. Similarly, modern traditional Chinese veterinary doctors also don’t have extensive knowledge of tigers, as their opportunities to work with them are mostly limited to zoos. However, Wang Ling had been in school and hadn’t had the chance to interact with such animals. Therefore, she could only feel the bones of the tiger cub according to the acupoints on a cat, while observing its reactions to stimulation of these points.

As soon as Wang Ling stopped, Kong Bi immediately looked at her and asked, “How is it?”

Compared to the group of experts, Kong Bi actually had higher hopes for Wang Ling. This was because Western medicine typically treats the symptom rather than the root cause. Even if they waited until the tiger cub was a few months old to perform surgery, the suffering it would endure would be no less. Therefore, Kong Bi hoped Wang Ling could find a solution.

After all, Wang Ling was directly recruited through the game. Among the resumes provided by the system at the time, Kong Bi had immediately taken a liking to her. This wasn’t because of her current education or medical skills. In terms of academic qualifications or rescue experience, she was clearly no match for the group of experts.

However, she came from a family with a profound heritage. Her ancestors had once served as royal veterinarians, specifically responsible for the health of rare and exotic animals presented as tribute. This knowledge had been passed down through generations, and even now, her family was still in the veterinary profession. Wang Ling was the most outstanding among her siblings, not only possessing the highest talent but also having become a disciple of another ‘divine doctor’ in the animal world. So, even if she didn’t know the solution herself, perhaps the ancient books treasured by her family might contain records of similar cases.

Wang Ling pondered for a moment before cautiously saying, “The tongue coating is thick and greasy, and the tongue body has a purplish hue, indicating spleen and stomach deficiency with excessive dampness. This has led to dampness stagnation and blood stasis in the hind limbs, causing poor circulation. I just tried pressing some acupoints on its body, and there’s a noticeable feeling of stagnation and blockage.”

“I saw a similar case in an ancient book at home. A combination of internal medication and acupuncture should be able to alleviate this condition.”

Acupuncture! This is the most common method used by traditional Chinese veterinary medicine for paralyzed pets nowadays. Benefiting from today’s technological advancements, most needles used for pets are now electroacupuncture needles, greatly reducing the requirements for the traditional Chinese veterinary practitioner’s manual skills. The electric current stimulates the body through the acupoints, offering a not-insignificant success rate for pets with acquired paralysis.

However, congenital paralysis is undoubtedly more difficult to treat than acquired paralysis. Therefore, Wang Ling wasn’t certain if it would be effective. After all, while she had seen records from her ancestors in the book, medical skills aren’t something that can be improved simply by reading. Every animal’s condition is different, and naturally, problems can’t be solved just by following the book.

Moreover, even if the correct acupoints are found for acupuncture, success isn’t guaranteed. Generally speaking, if a paralyzed pet shows no movement after more than three acupuncture sessions, it essentially means it’s destined never to stand again.

Wang Ling had dealt with paralyzed cats and dogs in her own clinic, and not every one of them was so lucky.

Kong Bi’s eyes lit up, and her confidence immediately surged. “Does the ancient book have detailed case studies? Let’s study them!”

Although she didn’t understand medicine, Kong Bi could see that after drinking the spiritual spring water, the little tiger cub’s hind legs hadn’t been completely still. This at least indicated that part of its nervous system was still intact, meaning there was a chance it could be cured.

Quan Xiangsong also chimed in from the side, “I also know a few traditional Chinese veterinary doctors. You can discuss it with them later.”

Although the test results hadn’t come out yet, based on Quan Xiangsong’s experience, he judged that they were likely powerless in this situation. Now, hearing that Wang Ling actually had a potential solution, even if it was just a glimmer of hope, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

In any case, as a well-known ‘social butterfly’ in the circle, there wasn’t a skilled traditional Chinese veterinary doctor he didn’t know. Even if there wasn’t… just the ‘feat’ of healing a South China tiger would be enough to attract many traditional Chinese veterinary doctors who had heard of her.

Faced with the hopeful gazes of everyone, Wang Ling was taken aback for a moment before saying, “Then… then I’ll call my grandpa. All the family’s rare books are kept by my grandpa. There might be other relevant cases, you never know.”

Wang Ling’s family had quite a collection of rare books, and she hadn’t read them all. After all, completely deciphering a medicinal formula and technique undoubtedly took a lot of energy. Therefore, Wang Ling specialized in bird diseases, while her knowledge of other areas was only superficial. Perhaps her skill level could compare to some junior doctors, but it was definitely no match for professionals.

Therefore, Wang Ling didn’t dare to act presumptuously. After all, every South China tiger was incredibly precious, and she was also afraid of delaying treatment due to her own limitations.

While Wang Ling was contacting external help, the CT and MRI scans finally came out. The group quickly reached a conclusion: the little tiger cub’s hind limb arteries were somewhat blocked, its spinal cord was compressed, and the development of its hind limbs was far behind that of its forelimbs. Fortunately, however, there was no tumor.

Generally speaking, aside from paralysis caused by external force, many animals suddenly become paralyzed not only because they are timid and easily frightened, but more often because something has grown inside their body and is pressing on their nerves. This situation can be easy to deal with if the growth is in an accessible location and can be surgically removed. But the difficulty lies in the damage caused to the animal by the operation and the location of the growth.

Furthermore, even if it’s removed, there’s no guarantee it won’t grow back, and it could even be a more troublesome condition than a benign tumor, such as cancer.

Therefore, ruling out the possibility of a spinal tumor was undoubtedly good news for everyone, but at the same time, it became even more perplexing. After all, acquired problems are always easier to treat than those brought from the womb.

The tiger cub, who is currently well-fed and well-clothed, has no feeling about his situation. Perhaps when he grows up, he will wonder why he is different from his and Miaomiao, but now he is only worried about his sister bothering him again and snatching his food.

After a thorough examination confirmed that the little tiger cub had no other issues besides hind limb paralysis, Kong Bi took it back. Its diet would definitely need to change, incorporating things like calcium tablets containing trace elements. Later on, it might also need to take medicine. Hopefully, the little tiger cub, who didn’t seem picky about food, would accept whatever came its way.

Kong Bi stroked its little head. “From now on, we’ll call you Kangkang. You must grow up healthy and safe^[1]The name “康康” (Kāngkāng) carries the primary meaning of health and well-being..”

“Wah!” Hearing Kong Bi’s voice, Kangkang immediately responded enthusiastically. During the examination, to prevent it from moving around, everyone had used the common method of attracting attention with food, filling its little belly until it was round. Now, it was already looking forward to being taken away again.

After all, that meant eating all by itself!

Having grown up to this size, this was the first time Kangkang had eaten alone. Without his sister nearby, watching intently and eager to pounce, he had never had the leisure to savor the deliciousness of the food in his mouth, only thinking about swallowing it quickly so it wouldn’t be snatched away.

Seeing Kangkang return safely, Miaomiao immediately went to greet him, letting out a gentle low growl and nudging Kangkang with her wet nose.

“Wah!”

Kangkang instinctively licked Miaomiao, who had come close to him. Unlike the little demon tiger, who didn’t quite like this kind of intimacy, Kangkang was undoubtedly a ‘licking tiger’. His favorite thing to do when he had nothing else to do was to lick, lick, lick.

Miaomiao looked at him lovingly, her nose twitching slightly.

On Kangkang’s body, Miaomiao smelled a very complex mix of scents. This indicated that Kong Bi had take him to see many people after leaving, and those people had even been in close contact with him, otherwise these scents wouldn’t have lingered on his fur.

Miaomiao instinctively felt a slight aversion to this. The unfamiliar scents made her feel insecure. However, within these scents, Miaomiao also detected the aroma of herbs.

Herbs were not unfamiliar to Miaomiao. Although tigers are carnivores, they occasionally eat grass, and if injured, they sometimes actively seek out medicinal herbs to ingest. This is an instinct etched into their genes. Of course, they can’t distinguish whether all grasses are edible. Miaomiao had experienced diarrhea as a cub from accidentally eating strange grass.

But in any case, Miaomiao understood that the scent of these particular herbs was associated with healing.

This made Miaomiao relax. So, Mom had taken the cub to get treatment!

She flicked her tail lightly, her tiger eyes gradually becoming moist.

“Roar! —”

Miaomiao excitedly nudged her head, directly knocking Kong Bi to the ground, and her large tongue began to lick Kong Bi’s face.

“Wah! —”

Kangkang cried out in alarm. What was happening? How did he suddenly end up on the ground?

Kong Bi hadn’t expected Miaomiao’s sudden ‘attack’. Fortunately, she had often played with Miaomiao since her arrival, greatly improving her reflexes. When Miaomiao came over, she quickly lifted Kangkang out of the way, preventing it from being suffocated by his mother.

Kong Bi reached out, trying to push Miaomiao away. “Alright, alright, what are you doing? Get down! You haven’t brushed your teeth!”

“Roar!”

Miaomiao didn’t care about that at all. The thick tail behind her wagged back and forth happily, even licking the hand Kong Bi reached out.

Eh eh eh?

The little demon tiger opened its tiger eyes wide, watching everything curiously.

What is Mom doing?

I want to play too!

The little demon tiger immediately pounced over.

Kong Bi had just managed to push Miaomiao up when she suddenly felt a darkness descend before her eyes, her entire face buried in soft fur.

She had been attacked by a face-hugging cat-worm!

“Roar!”

Miaomiao lowered her head and gently held the little demon tiger’s head in her mouth, lifting it up in a somewhat precarious-looking manner.

“Awoo! Awoo!”

The little demon tiger didn’t settle down because of Miaomiao’s actions, letting out dissatisfied howls. Miaomiao lowered her head and put the little one down, who, completely unaware that mother tigers shouldn’t be provoked, continued to whine discontentedly.

Why can you play and I can’t!

Miaomiao flicked her tail. Seeing Kong Bi sit up, her broad tiger paw immediately pinned down the little demon tiger. Her large head then burrowed into Kong Bi’s arms, not forgetting to give a lick along the way, true to her nature.

Kong Bi looked at the little demon tiger’s current posture and couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. The little guy limbs were splayed out, its whole body forming the Chinese character for ‘wood’ (木). Its back was pressed down by Miaomiao’s hind legs, like a pinned turtle, its limbs paddling frantically as it tried to stand up.

“Awoo—!”

The patterns on the little demon tiger’s forehead twisted fiercely, like a contracting star on the verge of explosion, showing not the slightest hint of knowing when to yield—as the wise should.