12. Eye problems cannot wait 8 days.

Don't wait 8 days to consult your vet as eye problems in puppies can be emergencies. Waiting may result in blindness. The puppy could have rubbed itself blind by puncturing its eye ball. Why should the pet shop operator pay the vet's bill when the owner took 8 days after purchase to complain?
http://www.toapayohvets.com

11. The hamster's navel needs cleaning. Consult your vet.

Consult your vet early before the navel sore becomes larger and bacteria invades the rest of the body.
http://www.toapayohvets.com

10. The hamster with an itchy navel

Navel is itchy but the hamster can't tell the owner. So, it licks off the dirt from the navel. Still can't get rid of the dirt. Keeps licking. Soon, it licks other parts of the body as the bacteria spreads. Best to consult your vet if you can't help the poor hamster. Otherwise, the hamster gets stressed and badly infected.
http://www.toapayohvets.com

9. Milk coming out from the puppy's nose

Milk whitened the lips as it oozed out from the nostrils in both puppies during suckling. I recalled vividly the "Drink Milk Campaign" using celebrities in the U.S.A where milk consumption over the years had declined. Beautiful pictures of celebrites with milk circling their lips. The two puppies were having such white lips as they suckle the dam and would be natural for such a campaign.

"The 2 puppies are having flu," the young lady owner put them on the examination table when the puppies were 13 days old. Milk still comes out from their nostrils. One is forever suckling, not knowing when to stop."

This was the second time she came for consultation. 3 Shih Tzu puppies had been delivered by Caesarean. On day 6, she had consulted me as the dam was not eating. She had complained of milk leaking out from the nostrils of 2 puppies. I examined for a crack in the midline of the roof of the mouth (hard palate) but there was none. Normally, puppies die if they have cleft in the hard palate as milk would have been breathed into the lungs resulting in bacterial infections.

Yet, the puppies were thriving. One was growing very fast as it refused to stop suckling. The other was growing well too. The 3rd puppy had died while the owner stomach-tubed it to supplement the milk as advised by the lst veterinarian who performed the Caesarean. In that consultation, the dam was diagnosed as having the beginning of milk fever, a condition where her blood calcium levels have had dropped below normal. She was asked to improve the feeding and to give the calcium tablets prescribed by the first veterinarian and had no further complaints.

Now, it is day 13. The puppies had not opened their eyes. Big pups. Growing well. "Please check whether the puppies have flu," the owner said during this second visit.

A strange case. There must be a cleft in the roof of the mouth. The puppies were vigorous and objected strongly to having their mouth pried open with a pair of artery forceps. I spot-lighted the bright surgical lights onto the roof of the mouth to show to the lady owner the anatomy of the palates. The roof consists of the hard palate (a ridge rough surface) and a soft palate (soft tissue) behind the hard palate.

What's the purpose of the soft palate? Well, it closes the opening of the airways when the puppy swallows milk or food. People do have hard and soft palates as well on the roof of their mouths.

In this case, the spotlights shone on a depression of 2 mm in the midline of the soft palate in both puppies.

The depression is the hole in which the milk flowed through and get sneezed out of the nostrils or "leaked" out. No wonder the puppies had white muzzles of milk.

The puppies survived because the soft palate had closed the airways preventing the milk from flowing into the lungs. This is very interesting to the veterinarian but is of no comfort to the anxious lady owner.

"Will the puppies die?" she asked me. "Unlikely," I said as I can't guarantee that the cleft in the soft palate will not increase in length as the puppies grow.

Let the puppies suckle with the head upwards, rather than sideways or upside down," I advised.

"No milk oozes out of the nostrils when the puppies suckle in that position," the young lady rubbed her eyes as if trying to keep awake. She had to care for the puppies overnight as she did not want them to die. She had one out of three died earlier.

At least there was a diagnosis. But was there a cure? "No," I said. "It is not possible to stitch up the hole in the soft palate at this stage." Surgery would not be possible as the soft palate was position deep inside a small mouth.

Readers: If you click to view a bigger picture,you will see that the 6-day-old puppy nearer to you had a white upper lip. Now, that is the snow-white milk dripped down from the nostrils
http://www.toapayohvets.com

8. Who is the real owner of this Maltese?

DRAFT COPY. FOLLOW UP NEEDED.

"The policeman took away my Maltese," Ms Cook wiped the tears off her eyes as she sat down and put her elbows on the consultation table. "The humane shelter was handed the Maltese and I am forbidden to see him. The person who reported that I stole her Maltese will be meeting the humane shelter people today at 3 p.m"

Ms Cook was given the Maltese by her boy friend around 6 weeks ago. Her neigbhour accused her of stealing the Maltese 2 weeks ago. So, she had consulted 2 vets, including myself, wanting to know how old the Maltese was. The first vet had certified that he was 3 years old. I examined it and estimated he was 2 to 3 years old, male with undescended testicles and had a microchip number.

Ms Cook told me that the complainant had said her Maltese was "one year old, male".
"Was it neutered?" I asked Ms Cook during the first consultation. She was not sure. Well, this Maltese did not have scrotum (the bag holding the testicles). That was why I described him as having "undescended testicles". So, he was not an intact male. Neither was he neutered.

Now, Ms Cook came to ask how she could prove that the Maltese did not belong to her neighbour. She had consulted her lawyer who said that the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) would be able to identify the owner of the Maltese since he was micro-chipped.

"Not in this case," I said. "Unless the Maltese had been given a dog's licence." Since both parties had not applied for a dog licence, the AVA would be unaware of his existence.

I continued, "In fact, the AVA officer would fine the owner $500 for not getting the dog licensed after it is 3 months old."

Ms Cook said, "The Maltese was found in Pasir Panjang (West of Singapore), far away from Ang Mo Kio (Central Singapore) where it was lost. My friend is willing to testify to that."

"The dog could have been found by somebody and then abandoned or lost at Pasir Panjang." I replied. "In any case, your friend could not be considered a reliable witness since he would have sided with you."

So, what should she do now? Would her Maltese get infected with diseases since he was impounded in the humane shelter where there are many dogs, healthy and sick? What should she do to get her dog out?

"Your Maltese would be released in the next 2 days," I predicted. "The humane shelter veterinarian would age the Maltese. The important issue is whether he is 1 year old or 3 years old. There is a lot of difference and the decision should be quite clear."

Would the humane shelter officer be as wise as King Solomon? In a dispute as to who is the mother of a baby, King Solomon ordered that the baby be killed. The real mother did not want the baby killed, wanting to let the other party have the baby.

This Maltese definitely did not look like one year old. Yet, my heart goes to the owner of the lost Maltese.

"Did the Maltese run back to the complainant when called?" I asked Ms Cook.

"He runs to anybody," Ms Cook said. "He just want to be friends with everybody."

That path could not be taken. The humane shelter officer would have to decide based on the age given by 3 veterinary surgeons. If the humane shelter veterinarian who is a neutral party said that the Maltese was 3 years old, Ms Cook would have her dog back and an angry neighbour.

My heart still goes to the complainant although I had not been contacted by her. I had never met her or maybe I had vaccinated her Maltese. I checked the Internet for "Singapore Maltese." Surprisingly, there was reported a lost Maltese in Ang Mo Kio in April 2005 in a website which provides free postings for lost dogs globally.


FOR READERS who are not familiar with Malteses, below is a picture of how a Maltese looks like at 3 months old.



Many Maltese look alive. How to prove to the policeman that the lost Maltese is yours? The policeman can't do it. He asks the humane shelter to handle the case.
http://www.toapayohvets.com


IS THE MICROCHIP A RED HERRING


Further to my posting on:
Thursday, May 12, 2005

"The policeman took away my Maltese," Ms Cook wiped the tears off her eyes as she sat down and put her elbows on the consultation table. "The humane shelter was handed the Maltese and I am forbidden to see him. The person who reported that I stole her Maltese will be meeting the humane shelter people today at 3 p.m"


7 days have passed. The Maltese ownership was not resolved. Apparently, the humane shelter had 2 of its vets to ascertain that the Maltese was 3 years old. They were independent veterinarians. The first owner said her Maltese was 1.5 years old. I had said it was 2-3 years old on behalf of the second owner who had been given the Maltese. The second owner had another vet certified that it was 3 years old.

I guessed the case was handed back to the police as I received a phone call from the police station.

"Since the independent vets said the Maltese was 3 years old, there is a lot of difference between 3 years old and 1.5 years old," I said.

The policeman did not say anything but I read his thoughts, "I don't believe you."

"Do you have children?" I asked the policeman. "Can you tell the difference between a 1.5-year-old toddler and a 3-year-old child?"

"I do not have children," the policeman said.

"You are fortunate," I said. "It has become too expensive and stressful to bring up children in Singapore with so many needing expensive tuition."

The policeman repeated twice, "I am very unfortunate."

"Well," I did not know what to say. "Dogs mature much faster. One dog-year is equivalent to 7 human-years. Therefore a 3-year-old Maltese is grown up and definitely is so much different from a 1.5-year- old. A similar aged child is also easy to tell apart."

The policeman was cautious. "We have to be sure."

"This Maltese has a micro-chip identified by you," the policeman said. The micro-chip was only useful if the first owner had micro-chipped the Maltese but it was not done. It was presumed that the second owner had micro-chipped the Maltese and that it was done by me.

I said, "The other private vet whom the second owner consulted had also certified stated the same microchip number in his letter." The spotlight was on me as I had scanned the dog and stated its microchip number.

Apparently, the police did not have this information.

"In any case, the micro-chip is a red herring. It has NO useful data on who owns the dog since the registry has no information."

I did not say the "red herring" because the policeman would not understand and I doubt most Singaporeans are familiar with this idiom. In any case, Singaporeans are not familiar with the herring which is a valuable food fish for Europeans.

Every investigative body involved focused on the micro-chip number and who had micro-chipped the dog or had ownership records. Anybody can microchip a dog. There is no legal requirements that only authorised people can microchip a dog in Singapore in 2005.

The veterinary regulatory authority had no record of the ownership of this number. I don't have the record of this too when I was phoned. Neither the other veterinarian or the humane shelter veterinarians. So, was this Maltese fated to be detained indefinitely at the humane shelter?

The first owner had not micro-chipped the Maltese, otherwise, this case was an open and shut case of ownership dispute for the police who would not have to refer to the humane shelter.

The second owner was very stressed. She went to the humane shelter and kept following up the case almost daily. She asked me for advices but there was nothing I could help as the Maltese was detained too long in the humane shelter. She was willing to pay for another veterinarian to certify the age of the Maltese. She has a lawyer who does not know much about lost puppy litigation.

What can be done now? It was distressful for the first and second owner. I hope the matter can be resolved amicably. One party would have heart breaks. If only the first owner had micro-chipped the Maltese. The cost is $30.00 - $50.00 at the veterinary practices, but not many Singaporeans are interested.



DRAFT. FOLLOW UP. CASE STILL NOT CLOSED.

IS THE MICROCHIP A RED HERRING


Further to my posting on:
Thursday, May 12, 2005

"The policeman took away my Maltese," Ms Cook wiped the tears off her eyes as she sat down and put her elbows on the consultation table. "The humane shelter was handed the Maltese and I am forbidden to see him. The person who reported that I stole her Maltese will be meeting the humane shelter people today at 3 p.m"


7 days have passed. The Maltese ownership was not resolved. Apparently, the humane shelter had 2 of its vets to ascertain that the Maltese was 3 years old. They were independent veterinarians. The first owner said her Maltese was 1.5 years old. I had said it was 2-3 years old on behalf of the second owner who had been given the Maltese. The second owner had another vet certified that it was 3 years old.

I guessed the case was handed back to the police as I received a phone call from the police station.

"Since the independent vets said the Maltese was 3 years old, there is a lot of difference between 3 years old and 1.5 years old," I said.

The policeman did not say anything but I read his thoughts, "I don't believe you."

"Do you have children?" I asked the policeman. "Can you tell the difference between a 1.5-year-old toddler and a 3-year-old child?"

"I do not have children," the policeman said.

"You are fortunate," I said. "It has become too expensive and stressful to bring up children in Singapore with so many needing expensive tuition."

The policeman repeated twice, "I am very unfortunate."

"Well," I did not know what to say. "Dogs mature much faster. One dog-year is equivalent to 7 human-years. Therefore a 3-year-old Maltese is grown up and definitely is so much different from a 1.5-year- old. A similar aged child is also easy to tell apart."

The policeman was cautious. "We have to be sure."

"This Maltese has a micro-chip identified by you," the policeman said. The micro-chip was only useful if the first owner had micro-chipped the Maltese but it was not done. It was presumed that the second owner had micro-chipped the Maltese and that it was done by me.

I said, "The other private vet whom the second owner consulted had also certified stated the same microchip number in his letter." The spotlight was on me as I had scanned the dog and stated its microchip number.

Apparently, the police did not have this information.

"In any case, the micro-chip is a red herring. It has NO useful data on who owns the dog since the registry has no information."

I did not say the "red herring" because the policeman would not understand and I doubt most Singaporeans are familiar with this idiom. In any case, Singaporeans are not familiar with the herring which is a valuable food fish for Europeans.

Every investigative body involved focused on the micro-chip number and who had micro-chipped the dog or had ownership records. Anybody can microchip a dog. There is no legal requirements that only authorised people can microchip a dog in Singapore in 2005.

The veterinary regulatory authority had no record of the ownership of this number. I don't have the record of this too when I was phoned. Neither the other veterinarian or the humane shelter veterinarians. So, was this Maltese fated to be detained indefinitely at the humane shelter?

The first owner had not micro-chipped the Maltese, otherwise, this case was an open and shut case of ownership dispute for the police who would not have to refer to the humane shelter.

The second owner was very stressed. She went to the humane shelter and kept following up the case almost daily. She asked me for advices but there was nothing I could help as the Maltese was detained too long in the humane shelter. She was willing to pay for another veterinarian to certify the age of the Maltese. She has a lawyer who does not know much about lost puppy litigation.

What can be done now? It was distressful for the first and second owner. I hope the matter can be resolved amicably. One party would have heart breaks. If only the first owner had micro-chipped the Maltese. The cost is $30.00 - $50.00 at the veterinary practices, but not many Singaporeans are interested.

7. Golden Retrievers never needed Caesarean delivery?

The breeder was not present when the Golden Retriever had difficulty giving birth. Golden Retrievers seldom have problems in giving birth and this case surprised the experienced breeder. Golden Retrievers need to be observed at all times too, just in case she has dystocia (difficulty in giving birth) and needs an emergency Caesarean delivery.  

Ask any breeder. Do Golden Retrievers need Caesarean delivery? The breeder thinks you need to have your brain scanned for being a nut case. Golden Retrievers give birth to puppies naturally.

However, this case is an exception to the rule. In life, we must expect the unexpected.

6. The brand conscious American Shorthair would rather starve to death

SURVIVAL SECRETS FOR VETS - The American Shorthair cat would rather starve to death.


"Your female American Shorthair has not been eating for the past 5 days," I phoned the cat breeder the second time. "She has normal temperature. I had got the canned food from your company people at branch headquarters but she would not eat it." She had not been eating for around 10 days since the start of her illness.

"Please spay her as advised by the other vet," the breeder said. "The other vet had recommended spaying as she had a severe bacterial infection of the womb. Copious sticky yellow pus flowed from her vagina. Non-stop."

The diagnosis was open pyometra. The other vet treated the cat and asked the breeder to give her a vaginal douche to flush the pus and infectons from inside her vagina. The breeder had told me, "I bought the human version. It is of better quality for my cat."

"It may not be appropriate for the cat," I replied. "Human drugs may be too toxic for her. Like all cats, she will lick off all foreign chemicals and the higher dose in human drugs may kill her or make her sick."

Well, she had not been eating for the past 3 days before I saw her. A light brown iodine from the douche stained her back area Her vaginal discharge had lessened considerably in amount after the first vet had treated her. The colour changed to dark red. Within 2 days, there was no more discharge.

However, the cat just would not eat. Thin. She survived dehydration as I was given her fluid therapy.

On the 3rd day, she would rub her body against the cage bars as a normal cat would. I smeared her paws with butter and cat food. The next day, she would be clean. So she was healthy enough to keep herself clean. She would meow once a while. She became tired easily. She got stronger after the fluid injection.

What to do with her? She was like the teenager suffering from anorexic nervosa? Simply refused to eat so as to get a slim figure.

There was something missing in the management of this case. What was it?

It might be the wrong brand of canned food. This cat was brought up with a Japanese brand of canned food, I recalled after talking to the pet shop girl who reared her. The pet shop girl was working in another branch and was not the person giving me the canned food. She had told me about the brand much earlier and I had not checked what my veterinary assistant had been offering this cat.

"What brand did you feed?" I asked my veterinary assistant. "Whiskas," she said. This well known brand was not Japanese. So, the missing ingredient in the management of this case was the brand.

I phoned the pet shop girl to return the cat to her. She was not elated with the burden of having this heavy responsibility, "You are a veterinarian. You return a cat that is not eating. If she dies, I am accountable for her death."

In the pet shop industry, every death is a black mark on the performance of the pet shop girl. She would get scolding from her boss. I had not thought of her point of view as I thought that the cat would eat when she was back to familiar surroundings and food.

Maybe she would not get her performance or annual bonus. Every employee needs more income in a very expensive first world country. She was thinking that I was passing a terminally ill cat to her.

So, what should I do? I really did not know. Should I phoned the boss and persist?

Well, I had not thought of getting the Japanese brand of canned food from her but that would be the solution.

In any case, every additional day at the veterinary surgeon cost the breeder. So, it was not to his advantage. As for spaying the cat, it was not what he really wanted. Spaying means more income to the veterinary practice.

But that was any breeder wanted, I am sure. If I were a breeder, I don't want my American Shorthair who had produced two lovely kittens to be spayed just because she had a severe womb infection due to mating with a new cat. It was a curable disease.

I tested the breeder earlier when I phoned him, "Do you really want her spayed?"

"Doc, I have not recovered the cost of this imported cat," he explained. Now, the cat was back to normal. An affectionate meow occasionally. But she would die in the next few days if she did not eat.

And the solution was obvious. The Japanese brand "Elite" was the answer, I thought.

The pet shop girl phoned me and said she was instructed to take back the cat. I waited the whole day for the transport man to come. Nobody arrived.

By 4 p.m, I had to travel to a few places to vaccinate puppies and kittens. From Chua Chu Kang's Farm Mart, Jurong Point Shopping Mall, Upper Serangoon Road and to the East Point Shopping Mall. Transversing from West Singapore to East Singapore. A lot of travelling time.

Well, it was better to send back the cat myself. The cat went with me in a carrier cage. My assistant took her up to the pet shops I visited.

"Are you coming?" the pet shop girl phoned me at 7.15 p.m. "I will be closing shop soon." She worked long hours six days a week. Few Singaporeans would want to work that hard. She was good worker. A rare gem and I find it hard to believe she was a bartender previously pouring whisky and brandy to hardened men in the downtown financial district.

I was actually 2 minutes' drive away. It was dusk now. Amber street lights glowed in this quiet suburban middle-class residential enclave. At the pet shop, I asked for the Elite canned food.

"The cat is terribly thin," the pet shop girl frowned. "She needed her own brand of canned food. Your colleague gave me the wrong brand."

Her assistant opened the Elite can and poured the gelationous pinkish stuff into a stainless steelbowl while the pet shop girl was busy attending to customers. This branch had brisk business even at closing time on a Wednesday evening.

Would my theory be correct? The cat sniffed the Elite cat food. It looked like there were slices of onion and all good smells. She ate. More than she ever ate for the past 5 days at my surgery. Then she stopped. The assistant pushed her head towards the canned food. She ate and rested. She repeated this four times.



The American Shorthair would rather starve to death if she was not offered the Elite brand of canned food. 

I felt so much happier. The pet shop girl had thought I was sending her a sick cat to die in her hands. I phoned the breeder. "The Whiskas was the incorrect brand. And so was Science Diet Cat food that your staff at a different branch gave to me for the cat earlier.

He said, "She must be hungry."

"It was the Elite brand," I responded. "She had hunger for the Elite brand. She would rather starve to death if she was not given Elite."

I continued, "The good news is that she was not spayed. It will take time for her to recover her health. Then she should be able to be a mother again."

This might be good news for the breeder as that was what he wanted. A sick cat recovered, recuperating at home intact. Not a healthy spayed female cat. I mean, a spayed cat is of no value to a breeder and would have less attention than an intact female. So, it was also in the interest of this young American Shorthair that she could regain her health. Her infection might be due to mating with a new cat.

The next few days, this American Shorthair was happily eating and putting on weight. She would rather starve to death than eat any other brand of cat food, dry or canned.

5. Digital delivery may not be what the breeder want

Survival Secrets for Vets.

Know what the breeder wants. This breeder complained of a veterinarian who insisted on digital delivery in an earlier case. He lost a few pups and had never forgiven the veterinarian.

When the breeder comes to the veterinarian, he would have tried everything including digital delivery, if he is an experienced breeder.

A Caesarean delivery gives the pups the best chance to live.Don't delay by using digital delivery to save the breeder Caesarean delivery fees.

If pups are dead via digital delivery, you get the blame. The unhappy breeder loses a lot of money because of your decision.