Catseye — Andre Norton

Even the harsh life of the slums of the planet Korwar had not prepared young Troy Horan for the strange goings on at Kyger's exotic petshop. Somehow he could hear the minds of the Terran animals--and their warnings of danger saved his life more than once.

Then the petshop owner was brutally murdered, and Troy found himself in the middle of a frightening and far-reaching intrigue. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, he ran for the wilderness in a perilous quest to save the animals and himself