The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

It happened one day that Doctor was sitting in his kitchen talking with the cat's- meat man, who had come to see him with a stomachache.
"Why don't you give up being people's doctor, and be an animals doctor?" asked the cat's- meat man.
The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window looking out at the rain and singing a sailor song to herself. She stopped singing and started to listen.

"You see, Doctor," the cat's- meat man went on,"you know all about animals-much more than what these here vets do. That book you wrote about cats-why, it's wonderful! I can't read or write myself, or maybe I'd write some books. But my wife, Theodosa, she's a scholar, she is. And she read your book to me. Well,it's wonderful-that's all can be said-wonderful. You might have been a cat yourself. You know the way they think. And listen:you can make a lot of money dotoring animals. Do you know that? You see, I'd send all the old woman who had sick cats or dogs to you. And if they didn't get sick fast enough, I could put something in the meat I sell them to make them sick , see?"
"Oh no," said the doctor quickly. "You mustn't do that. That wouldn't be right."
"Oh, I didn't mean real sick,"answered the cat's- meat man. "Just a little something to make them droopylike