Friday, January 7, 2011

291. Jan 5 & 6 2010. Interesting cases

Case 1. Collapse, panting and high fever on Sunday Jan 2, 2010 like a dog having heat stroke.

Yesterday, Thursday, Jan 6, 2010, I phoned the owner of the 10-year-old Bull Terrier yesterday to enquire how was his fever. The dog was sent home yesterday after 4 days of intensive IV treatment and drugs. The owner took out his phone and played the video clip of his dog crying continuously for several minutes. "This is a cry of pain," I said. "Most dogs done whine like that unless they are in great pain." The owner said: "My dog was not active for the past 10 days, but I did not think he was sick."

Now, after 4 days of treatment, the dog could stand and walk a few seconds. His tongue colour was normal pink. I asked the owner to bring him home to nurse as I doubted that the dog would survive the next 7 days due to his poor blood test results. The dog's blood test showed septicaemia (high WBC to 39, low platelets to 6, increase in urea and creatinine and SGPT). 10 days before coming here, the dog had been boarded at a friend's laundry place.

The owner was to feed him AD diet and other food personally and gave him the drips SC and check his fever. "Spend time with him," I advised as there was not much time left, in my opinion. "Some owners do nurse the dog back to health when the dog is at home rather than being hospitalised," I said.

"He's the same but no fever," the man said when I phoned. "I force feed him the 4 cans of AD diet and eggs." That was good news as I expected the dog to be worse and to have fever returning.

As to the cause of the undulating fever, it could be bacterial or tick fever. There was no tick found on the dog and the owner did not know whether it had ticks in the friend's place. All he knew was that the dog went in healthy and came back sickly. In the 4 days at Toa Payoh Vets, his fever returned the next day and receded when given tolfedine anti-fever. I treated him with different antibiotics for bacterial infections and tick fever before sending the dog home as a dog with no fever.

Will wait and see. Blood test showed that he had a bad bacterial infection and toxic blood due to extremely low platelet. Without intensive IV drips, he would be dead within 24 hours. It was a miracle he was alive at all.

Case 2. A Cocker Spaniel came in with 3 days of purging. "We saw blood in her stools," the couple in their late 30s had boarded the dog at Pasir Ris boarding kennels. The dog had its yearly vaccination. "Why diarrhoea?" the owner asked. "The kennel operator had told me and had asked me if I wanted to send the dog to a vet."

"It is hard to know the cause," I said as the owner declined blood tests to save cost. "There are many reasons. The vaccination protects against the serious viral and bacterial infections." The dog was eating. I hospitalised it and treated it with IV drips, antibiotics and anti-diarrhoea IV. Should be OK after 2 days as the intestines get to recover without food intake irritating their surfaces.

Case 3. A thin 1-year-old female Shih Tzu kept vomiting for the past 10 days. Yesterday, the owner agreed to blood tests and X-rays. X-ray showed small white globular object inside the stomach. Another opaque one in the bladder. Could this be the cause? This is an extremely high risk anaesthetic case as the dog was very thin. So I did not dare to operate as the death was almost guaranteed. Yet, the dog continued vomiting daily. She vomited blood. I thought it was pyometra as there were vulval discharge. Was it kidney disorder? Will wait for the blood test as the owner agreed finally to the blood test.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

290. Jan 4, 2011 interesting cases

Tues Jan 4, 2011

INTERESTING CASES
Case 1. The 15-year-old Beagle with mouth pain. I was worried that she might not make it under anaesthesia. The dog was hospitalised overnight. Had IV drip and antibiotics IV. At 9.30 am, I had her under surgery.

No sedative. Just straight isoflurane gas mask and intubated as this was the safest method. But quite troublesome as the dog puts up a strong struggle to be given gas without sedation injection.

Gums were very pink. Painful mouth due to long ulcers at the gum/teeth line. Only 2 teeth extracted. The 15-year-old has better teeth than most 10-year-old dogs. The gentleman owner came at 10.30 am while I was operating the 2nd dog with testicular tumour. He brought a pillow. I told him not to visit the dog. The dog was OK. Shivering and drowsy due to anaesthetic effect and her old age (not recovering as fast as young ones). Dog went home to a happy couple.

Case 2. The dog with testicular tumour was hospitalised yesterday and given IV drip and antibiotics. 12-year-old is a big anaesthetic risk. I was not looking forward to doing this surgery. The big testicular tumour was stuck to the underside of the scrotum. It would not be the simple testicular neutering surgery which would take less than 30 minutes.

Yellow white fluid shot out from the tunica and later from the testicular tumour. The other testicle was shrunkened. So, this was not only a tumour but an infected nasty growth. I needed to cut off the whole scrotal skin as the tumour was sticking to the scrotum (due to infection probably. INTERESTING HISTORY. 4 weeks ago, had high fever and Vet 1 gave antibiotics without examining the testicles - vets seldom inspect testicles actually. 2 weeks ago, visited Vet 1 to consult about testicle size. Couple consulted me yesterday as I had removed bladder stones from this dog in 2007!).

Dog groggy. I gave Antisedan to revive him. Overall, he was alive but I wanted him to be hospitalised as he had a 15-cm incision wound (will post pic later) after cutting off the sticky scrotum and base. If he went home and jumped about, the big hole will be hard to stitch again. The surgery is called SCROTAL ABLATION.

Other medical cases were the usual vaccination and not interesting to readers.

VISIT TO A PET SHOP

"What do you want me to do?" the 9-year-old girl pulled my hand. She was the intelligent one I mentioned in my writing sometime ago and I had asked the mother to send her to a better neighbourhood school. The mother said to me: "I have a client who is a teacher there. She tells me that the principal will need to interview and then there will be a test before admission. But my daughter does not want to go. So the teacher advised that it is better for my daughter to be happy where she is rather than be unhappy in a better school."

What kind of advice is that? I did not comment. Environment plays a big part in nuturing a child's academic performance. Many Singaporean parents go to great lengths, even renting a condo to be near a good school (2-km ruling gives advantage).

So, this girl had lost the opportunity to excell. Anyway, her mother saw her tugging my hand and said: "You can't do this. It is not good manners."

I said to the little girl: "I want to buy an exercise book. Can you buy for me from the bookshop nearby?"

"No bookshop. Must go to the school. Must cross road. So I can't go."

Her older brother of 10 years volunteered to buy for me. She has 4 siblings and she is No. 2 in age. Her friend Christobel was with her. So we went to the school.

The guard permitted me to enter.

1. Book shop closed. "What time does it close?" I asked. The children dashed inside the dentist's room. Why? There was a clock there. I went in the room after them. A dental nurse was shocked. It was past 4 pm. So the shop was closed.

2. Catching tadpoles. The big brother suddenly said: "Dr Sing, you pay $1.00 to buy a bottle of drink. I can use the bottle to catch the tadpoles (in the school pond). I took out $1.00 coin but the children did not want to buy. I saw a dustbin and got out a discarded water bottle for him. "Very dirty," the children refused to touch it as it was from the dustbin. "Just go to the bathroom to wash it," I said to the brother. He did it and used the cap to catch 2 tadpoles.

The little girl also wanted to catch tadpoles now.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors

Many of my posts have spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. I have not much time. It is either produce perfect English or creating content. Sometimes I revise and see "catch catcher" in one article. It should be "cat catcher". I will edit when free. For now, it is better I create imperfect writing in many numbers rather than one. I have around 3 hours of free time to write and this may seem a lot of time, but it is not.

288. Jan 3, 2011 interesting cases

Jan 3, 2011

My car's dashboard showed "check coolant level" again after repair last month. The mechanic had replaced the pump and had said the radiator was OK. It was a poor diagnosis as now the problem re-surfaced. I had to send the car down again. It was a radiator leak.

On the way, I visited my mentor, a senior vet to wish him a Happy New Year. "Where's XXX?" he asked about the 4th year vet student who was supposed to do internship. "He's got to re-sit his exam and has to study." I said. I asked about his son who had started an ice-cream production using artificial sweetener. He was already producing the ice-cream. The nurse brought in two cones in the vet's office where a fish tank of ordinary small golden fishes were kept (to give life to the office, the father said). "How's the ice-cream?" the son asked me later. "Too sweet," I said. "That's strange. The others said it was not sweet." I said: "Not as sweet as The Magnum ice-cream but I prefer less sweet so as not to over-work my pancreas and get diabetes at my age." He asked: "Take a tub back to the vet office." I declined as I did not have a big fridge there. I advised him to accept investors and not worry about "dilution of the brand." I said: "Cash flow is important. If investors provide the cash flow, you can invest in better equipment and retail stores." At the moment, he is selling it online.

INTERESTING CASES
Case 1. The 12-year-old Silkie with two firm and enlarge testicles.
"You removed his kidney stones 5 years ago," the young couple said. "It cost us $600." I looked at the 2007 records and yes I did the surgery for $300. "Any difficulty in peeing?" I asked. "No more. Sometimes we see blood in the urine."

4 weeks ago, Vet 1 had treated the dog for fever. 2 weeks ago, Vet 1 gave some medication for the testicular problem but the size of the two testicles did not reduce. They were 3x the normal size. "Did Ve1 1 propose surgery?" I asked. The couple went to Vet 1 as it was nearer to their place but had wanted me to operate in 2007 as I was cheaper. "I think so," the young man said. I scheduled the dog for surgery the next day. "No other way to cure" I said. "Likely to be testicular tumours or cancer. You need to pay for histopathology lab to check out."

"What if I don't want the lab test?" the young man asked. "It is a personal decision," I said. "What advantages in having a lab test?" he asked. "If the growth is not cancerous, the dog will live to its normal life." I said. "If cancerous, medication may be needed."

"There are only 3 types of testicular cancer in the dog," the young man said.
"No, there are more but 3 main types," I said. "Only a histopathology will tell. In your dog, he is very old. You may not see him alive again if his heart fails during anaesthesia," I warned the couple. "I will try to shorten the surgery. I still need to cut off the whole black scrotum instead of just taking out the testicles. It will take some time to stitch."
The young man asked: "Why?"
I said: "Just in case there is cancer and the scrotum, if not removed, still harbours the cancerous cells."
I hope all will be well during the anaesthesia.
Blood and urine tests are done. "It costs $600 like last time," the young man said. "You are fortunate that your dog costs you so little over the last 12 years as he needed only a bladder stone surgery," I replied. "For some owners, they spend thousands of dollars for treatment of their sick dog. The $600 include histopathology, blood and urine tests which should be done." I did not include consultation fees for this couple. It was a joy to see the dog again. I do recognise him now as he has that golden hair in his head.

I was thinking sadly of the 12-year old Schnauzer Cross admitted yesterday Sunday due to fits and recumbency. He died at 4 a.m today. His owner had spent some money trying to prolong his life and would be getting TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) from Vet 1 today, Monday. He had chronic kidney failure and was gasping and recumbent and had fits and was hospitalised. He vomited food and died around 4 am. "How do you know it was 4 am?" the owner asked when he came at 11 am to make cremation arrangements. "My staff was on duty," I said.

Case 2. As regards a dog in recumbency (unable to sit or stand up), an older man and a gentleman friend brought in his Mini-Bull Terrier with pus in the eyes and flat out. His dog was OK and was boarded at a friend's place. Such old dogs are seldom vaccinated. "Very high fever" I said. "Was he boarded in a dog kennel?" I asked. "No," he said. "A laundry." I took the blood test, gave the dog IV drip, anti-fever and anti-antibiotics. The fever went down and the dog sat up and looked around at around 6 p.m. I was glad he was OK for the time being. As to the cause of his very high fever, it is hard to tell.

Case 3. The 15-year-old Beagle with a painful mouth.
A couple in their late 50s asked: "Is it possible just to give antibiotics every time the dog has painful mouth instead of anaesthesia and extraction? We don't want the dog to die on the operating table!"

"Antibiotics will not work over time," I replied. "They will not be effective. The bacteria will spread all over the dog's body. As he gets much older, his immune system will not cope. He will die of toxaemia and bacterial infections." Sounds dramatic? The husband showed me his iPhone picture of the dog's teeth. They were clear pictures and showed tartar and red ulcers at the gum level. He lifted the dog's side and showed me the real gum and teeth.

"You are aware of the high risk of anaesthesia in dogs over 8 years of age," I advised. "This dog is 16 years old." I checked the heart. He did not have serious heart murmurs. "There is one swelling below his right eye and a smaller one in his left," the husband pointed the lumps to me. "Yes," I said. "They will be the starting of the carnaissal tooth abscess. The bacteria from the root of the teeth had punctured the facial bone and abscess will pop out below the face some time later. It is also called an oro-nasal fistula." I took out the Hills' Anatomy book and showed the picture of the carnaissal tooth abscess.

Anaesthesia and dental work would be done tomorrow. It would be very high risk and the owners had expected a good outcome.

Case 4. Pyometra? A very thin Shih Tzu female around 1 year old had been vomiting for the past 6 days. "What's the cause?" the owner asked. There were no diarrhoea or abdominal pain or swelling or fever. The owner did not want blood test. This was difficult. The only finding was that the vulval area was inflamed and wet. "When was the dog on heat?" I asked. "Some 4 weeks ago." he said. So, the probable diagnosis was open pyometra. I put the dog on IV drip and antibiotics and kept her for 2 days. Owners don't like longer hospitalisation.

Case 5. Luxated lens. The father did hit the dog on the head 2 weeks ago. The dog had been rubbing his left eyelid area and it was red. "Is it glaucoma?" the owner asked me yesterday and pointed to a black spot in the upper eyelid. I examined the dog properly under general anaesthesia (domitor and isoflurane). There was a slight increase in intro-ocular pressure in the left eye. The main problem was that the lens had luxated into the anterior chamber, causing pain and eye rubbing. Surgery was advised. Much depends on the owner.

Case 6. 12-year-old dog with teeth extracted.
The young man and his father brought the old dog for dental extraction (periodontitis Grade 4 - the worst of the disease) and was boarded yesterday. They bargained hard. "$400 is the lowest rate for everything including hospitalisation, IV drips and antibiotics, anaesthesia and surgery," I said. The dog survived the anaesthesia. The 10 rotten teeth were kept but my man did not show him at first. He phoned me as I was off work. "I pay $400 just for some dental work and one day stay," he said over the phone in an "taken for the ride" tone of voice. This is the type of calculating client I dislike a lot. This is not the way to conduct business.

I said: "The fees have been agreed. I cap it at $400 for you so that you know the costs. It should be much more. I charge $20/tooth extracted." I asked my assistant to get the teeth out to show him. It is best to attach all evidence next time. Later he text messaged me to apologise. I text back "Thanks." All vets get all types of personalities a day and some of them can be abusive to staff.

As you can see, there is a variety of conditions encountered today, even in one species, the canine. No cats or hamsters came today.

Monday, January 3, 2011

287. Jan 2, 2011 (Sunday) cases

Bright sunshine day. Sunday. Most vet clinics are closed but Toa Payoh Vets has traditionally been open on Sundays. As Dr Vanessa is on leave till Jan 10, 2011, I work the whole day. If not, I will work from 9 am to 11 am on Sundays and weekdays.

INTERESTING CASES
CASE 1. GUINEA PIG NEUTER
A young man wanted his 2-day-purchased male 6-month-old guinea pig to be neutered. "The female is still with Pet Lovers' Centre," he said. "I don't want her to get pregnant. So I keep her there first." It is best not to neuter so soon after purchase.

"Is the guinea pig adjusted to your new home? Is he passing stools?"
"Yes," the man said. "Lots of stools. Too much. He is running around happily. In fact, I purchased the anti-stress powder as advised by Pet Lovers' Centre."

Since the guinea pig was OK, I agreed to neuter him. There is no point rushing to neuter newly purchased guinea pigs or pets as demanded by owners as they may be incubating diseases. After the surgery, the disease shows the symptoms and the vet gets the blame.

ANAESTHETIC RISK
This guinea pig weighed only 500g. What anaesthetic to use? The following was done successfully.

PER KG Bodyweight, Domitor 0.2 ml and Ketamine 0.1 ml in one syringe, totalling 0.3 ml.
I prepared the above and shook the syringe a few times. In this 500g guinea pig, I injected 0.15 ml SC. The guinea pig squealed during injection. 5 minutes later, surgical anaesthesia was excellent for the next 5 - 10 minutes. Neuter using 1 ligature (twice knotted) on the close tunica was done.

ANTIDOTE. Many guinea pigs will wake up slowly by themselves. As the guinea pig was young, I decided to wake him up after surgery. He was breathing but not standing. I gave Antisedan 0.1 ml (with saline) SC. Within 2 minutes, he was awake and squealed when carried to the crate.

When the owner came, the guinea pig was standing. Pain-killers, antibiotic and Fibreplex were given. This was the ideal treatment regime for this guinea pig.

CASE 2. 8-YEAR-OLD SCHNAUZER HAD FITS AND VOMITING. The young couple had been giving, at home, the Hartman and saline drips SC from Vet 1 who had diagnosed chronic kidney failure. Since Vet 1 was closed today (Sunday), I was consulted as the dog had 3 episodes of fits and was gasping for breath. Vomiting had occurred.

"Vet 1 would be giving TCM tomorrow," the couple said to me. I had to be frank with them that their dog will not live long once fits are seen as the toxic blood from the kidney failure causes uraemic fits. "It may be kinder to let the stop more suffering as some dogs die violently vomiting blood." It was bad news. In any case, I advised that the dog be given IV drips (glucose of 50 ml, dextrose saline, antibiotics, anti-fits, anti-diuretics and painkillers).

"Vet 1 had not given antibiotics but this is a matter of judgment," I said to the owners. "Each vet has his own way of treatment and I don't want to cause blame on Vet 1 nor do I want other vets to cause blame to me."
The dog was hospitalised and we would wait 24 hours. Economics play a great part. The couple did not want blood tests and so the present treatment would suffice. There is no kidney dialysis and transplant for dogs in Singapore and if there were, the costs would be too much for the ordinary folks. This was a very sad case.

CASE 3. The black cat bit the lady's nose.
A handsome couple. I noted the bespectacled fair lady had a 2-cm scratch on the left side of her pale white nose and kept quiet. She had came with her husband to visit the hissing black cat hospitalised and given treatment by my associate Dr Jason Teo yesterday (Saturday).

"How's the cat today?" the slim lady in her 30s asked me. "No more high fever," I replied. "She can go home to her safe environment as she looks stressed here."
There is no pure cat clinic in Singapore and some cats may not be happy to be hospitalised with dogs. I put sick cats in a different location away from dogs but still there are dogs around.

"What's the cause of the fever?" the young lady lawyer said that the cat was brought outdoors on a leash the day before. The cat was reluctant to go out and rushed to hide inside a shrub. She had been frightened sometime ago when a dog came towards her. She was perfectly happy in the apartment but the owners wanted to give her some outdoor exercise. "Is she suffering from a viral infection?" the young lady asked. The cat had her vaccinations.

"Some bacterial infection from the soil," I speculated. "Then you put more chemicals on her body by using body wipes and she tried to lick the perfumed smell away. Together, with the stress of outdoors, she developed fever as her immune system must be down."

As my associate did not take a blood sample, I did not confirm the bacterial infection but the sudden onset of high fever and outdoor exposure to soil would point to a bacterial infection rather than a viral infection.

"Did the cat scratch your nose?" I asked the lady.
"She bit me on the nose when I said hello to her," the lady laughed. "Just a gentle bite and she did not dig her teeth into my nose."
"Fortunately you are married," I presumed. "If not, your marriage prospects are poor!"
It would not be true as the lady had that innate inner beauty expressed through her communication, facial gestures, physical attributes and voice. It is hard to describe this inner beauty presented in some handsome young ladies. Charisma? You just feel the good and gentle vibrations.

The cat went home. Later the gentleman phoned: "The cat is not eating." I said: "Wait another 24 hours. She may be recovering from her stress."

CASES 4 & 5. BACK SPINAL AREA ITCHY IN 2 CATS. Two cats, with back spinal area itchy. One grey cat had grown a different golden brown patch of hair but was still itchy. I could not find any fleas as I thought it could be flea-bite allergy. The owner could have given treatment. I checked the anal glands. Dried, black grey particles of oil. This could be a cause. It is hard to say. I gave an anti-itch injection. As for the second cat, its back area was matted. It was fat and had dirty years. It was constipated despite being fed "hair ball diet" from Royal Canin. I got the groomer to clean her up, clip her coat and hospitalise her one or two days to treat the constipation and observe her.

CASE 6. PERIODONTAL DISEASE STAGE 4. The father and son tried to delay dental treatment but now the old 8-year-old Silkie had pus in the mouth and lost weight. "My cat must be in Stage 5," the son said when I showed them the pictures of Stage 4. "No more stage 5," I said. "The worst stage is Stage 4." I hospitalise the dog for IV drip and antibiotics treatment before doing dental work the next day (Monday).

CASE 7. TRAUMATIC INJURY IN LEFT EYE. "Can it be glaucoma? Do you do eye glaucoma test?" the lady presented me an old mixed terrier with a white cataract eye. The dog had been scratching the left eye as I noted that the eyelid areas were reddish.

"Did this acute conjunctivitis happen after the injury?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "In this case, it is best to check for traumatic injuries in the upper eyelid." The lady said: "There is a black spot inside the upper eyelid." Indeed there was if you evert the upper eyelid fully. I took some pictures. "This could be a foreign body stuck inside, making the dog crazy and painful in the eye. Therefore he rubs his eye trying to get rid of it."
I will be examining the dog under anaesthesia on the next day and cut off the black spot. Sometimes, the cause is not obvious and we think of glaucoma which may still be present.

I finished work at 6 pm and went to watch "Gullivers' Travels" at Ang Mo Kio Hub with my family. It was probably more interesting to a child.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

multi-media stories compared to photo stories

Almost all my articles at www.toapayohvets.com and in this blog have been photo stories as it takes a lot of time to produce photos and to write.

Multimedia stories - more demanding. I will need character-driven narratives, strong personalities whose issue can connect to readers and globally via the world wide web. Audio needed. Scenes with impact and evoke feelings. There is a need for collaborators from animators and multimedia graduates and money. So, it may not be financially possible as such projects are very expensive and time-consuming. Producing one project may take months.

Producing a simple educational video may be possible as one done on dental scaling in dogs. See www.toapayohvets.com.

Any volunteers interested, please contact me at judy@toapayohvets.com

285. Factors for success --- Chinese saying: tian shi, di li, ren he

Chinese saying: "tian shi, di li, ren he". This means the factors for success are time, place and people.

You still got to be energetic and hardworking even if you have the 3 factors.