Grandpa Finds Kittens in His Barn – Then the Vet Looks Up at the Hayloft and Turns Pale

Nobody moved. "Walt," the vet breathed. "Stand up. Slowly. Keep yourself between her and Lily." Walt rose one inch at a time, his knees cracking like twigs. He reached back without looking and found Lily's small hand. Up on the bale, the bobcat flattened her ears and let out a long, low hiss that Walt felt in his chest more than heard.

"She's not going to jump," the vet whispered. "Not if we don't give her a reason. We just walk backward. Nice and easy." But the bobcat didn't crouch to spring. She shifted her weight, and as she did, her left front leg slid off the edge of the bale and she caught herself clumsily, as if it wouldn't hold her.

Something on that leg caught the light from the doors. Something thin and bright. Dr. Okafor stopped walking. "Oh no," he said under his breath. "Walt. Look at her leg."