Thursday, March 30, 2017

3063. A 6-year-old Spitz slipped on the floor and became lame on the left hip - subluxation of hip joint





TREATMENT
1. Wait 2 weeks. Painkillers and restriction of movement. If the dog can walk normally, then she will recover. Medial patellar luxation of right hind leg has no effect on lameness.


2. Femoral head excision but it costs more.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

3062. Eye problem in a rabbit - entropion

Mar 27, 201rr7

Saw a few vets but the rabbit's eye still tear.
Lower eyelid inrolled. Hairs from eyelid irritate cornea, causing pain and tear formation.





3061. Two very itchy black pigmented ears in a Shih Tzu








Dog has very painful swollen ear canals.

Monday, March 27, 2017

3060. Post-enucleation eyeball wound breakdown. A problem. Is there a solution?





3059. Animal activism - housing of stray dogs and cats

March 27, 2017

Caring for the stray dogs and cats - disabled, sick and homeless is a life-long calling.
It needs an energetic dedicated leader who can organise a group of volunteers and raise
funds for the upkeep of facilities and increasing number of animals over the years.

HOUSING OF NO-KILL ANIMAL SHELTERS
Dr Sing Kong Yuen
Toa Payoh Vets

INTRODUCTION
Housing stray dogs and cats demand lots of money. Ideally, there should be a row of kennels with concrete walls up to 6 feet high and concrete flooring with drainage. This structure is easy to host down with water to clean and flush away ticks. It requires more money to build.

Two no-kill animal shelters are featured in this article.

1.  NANAS' housing  in 2008

Noah's Ark Natural Animal Shelter (NANAS), Pekan, Johor, Malaysia
is a well established animal shelter started by Raymund Wee, a Singaporean before 2008 when I visited NANAS. NANAS has over 1,000 animals in 2017.

Some pictures of the housing I saw in 2008 visit are shown below:




                                         Fenced kennels for newly arrived batch of stray dogs from Singapore.  



                                         Cattery for stray cats

Stray dog without tail from Singapore settles down
to living in peace in NANAS. His tail was hacked and injured
by some burglars in his fishing pond farm in Yishun, Singapore 



                              NANAS has large hectares of land for the dogs to roam freely
                             and for volunteers and visitors (prospective donors) to visit.
                             Activist Lynda Goh examines an injured stray dog. In 2008,  Dr Daniel
                             Sing (facing camera), a veterinary student at Murdoch University
                             is now a vet at Toa Payoh Vets in 2017.  





                                 
                                     Activist Lynda Goh attends to volunteers and visitors during
                                    their tour of NANAS


2.  HOUSING IN WHITE HEART ANIMAL RESCUE AND SHELTER, Myanmar IN 2017.
is a start-up no-kill animal shelter started by Ms May Thazin. I visited the place, a
warehouse residence rented by her in March 14, 2017.  This is a good start to acquire experiences of animal welfare work.


The wooden kennels are donated. Ideally, the flooring should be at ground level for ease of maintenance. If the flooring is raised, a sick dog hides below and is hard to be cared for and treated. See video.




I was much surprised to see an animal shelter started by a lady resident in Myanmar. In Yangon, it seemed that foreign animal welfare institutions are present but I have yet to see any animal shelter in Yangon. Keep up the good work of giving care to the stray dogs, Ms Thazin.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


3.  LYNDA GOH RESCUES THE YISHUN FISH POND AREA STRAY DOGS IN 2018.

I met Ms Lynda Goh is a long-time volunteer at NANAS in 2008. She wanted a volunteer vet to help to vaccinate and microchip a pack of stray dogs at a fishing pond area in Yishun, North Singapore.
The Singapore Armed Forces wanted the land back and so Lynda got the stray dogs rehomed in NANAS, Johor.

Full of energy as she fielded numerous calls from people wanting her to care for the strays. See some pictures below:


The vet is me, Dr Sing Kong Yuen


A fishing pond with lots of land in Yishun, North Singapore
 was leased out to an operator but now, the military
wanted the land back.  Fortunately, there was Ms Lynda Goh who sacrifices
her free time to.give care to the stray dogs and cats in Singapore. She has
lots of animal rescue stories to make a wonderful movie for animal lovers.

One story was a stray dog in a factory bit a woman. She complained to the
government and the dog was wanted. No rewards.  Usually this meant the end of
life for this dog. She rehomed the dog and so his life was saved.


Lynda organises volunteers to put the Yishun dogs into carriers to be transported to
NANAS in Johor, Malaysia.  Lots of paperwork and efforts. Incredible efforts
 from  a working city girl from Singapore.


   

Volunteers help Lynda to round up the dogs for me to vaccinate
before going to NANAS. Volunteer Esther feeds the dogs
to befriend them. Lynda is on the left. Just full of patience and love.


 Esther's 9-year-old daughter, Emily
She has her adopted dog in the fishing pond. He is called Bobby. 
 helps out.


Bobby is housed in NANAS



.
Bobby at NANAS, Johor, Malaysia with his group
of friends. Emily visits him with her mother occasionally.


Ms Lynda Goh thanks the volunteers. A group photo taken by Dr  Sing Kong Yuen. Ms Lynda
Goh is photogenic.  The old man and his wife (middle front) are the operators of the Yishun
Fish Pond. In Singapore, people go to fish at the fish ponds. The fishes and prawns are put into the pond by the operators and Singaporeans really go there to hook them. This hobby is not for me.


                                      Ms Lynda Goh with her volunteer Esther and her two children.The old man
                                    may be the fish pond operator. A rural life with electricity generator in this
                                    fish pond area, now demolished and is army land.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MS LYNDA GOH, SINGAPORE, Animal Activist

Lynda Goh in 2008 was overwhelmed with animal welfare
work, attending to queries as a volunteer and working lady.
In 2017, she is still active in NANAS. I estimated over 100,000 stray dogs
and cats have been helped by her since 2008.




                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                             MS MAY THAZIN, MYANMAR
                             Animal Activist. Started the White Heart Animal Rescue & Shelter recently to
                             help stray dogs hit by vehicles. She could have been a lady of leisure. I hope she
                             can get a big piece of land and funds to build up a no-kill shelter 10 years later.





------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article on White Heart seen in Mar 14, 2017 by Dr Sing Kong Yuen.


Thursday, March 16, 2017

3048. Myanmar Travels: White Heart Animal Rescue and Shelter, Magwe, Myanmar



VETERINARY FILES FROM MYANMAR
Sponsored by Toa Payoh Vets
Mar 13, 2017

A MEANINGFUL LIFE

It was a bright and sunny morning of Mar 13, 2017. I had my breakfast and was ready to move out of Htein Htein Thar Hotel, Magwe to visit another famous pagoda after visiting 4 of them in Bagan yesterday. My hosts were Drs Thein Tun Aung and Thin Thin Soe, accompanied by their daughter. Mr Soe was my friend and our driver. Dr Aung came and introduced a well dressed slim lady to me and we left the hotel. 

Ms May Thazin, a civil engineer founded the White Heart Animal Rescue and Shelter, Magwe, Myanmar. She was the first local animal activist I have met in Myanmar.

Ms May Thazin had contacted Dr Thein Tun Aung from Royal Asia Veterinary Surgery, Yangon via Facebook.  As Dr Aung was in Magwe, she rode her scooter to the hotel at 8 am to show him her Shelter. Dr Aung asked me to accompany him, sacrificing his breakfast.

The first thing I noted was that there was not one piece of dog faeces on the ground, unlike the other animal shelter I had visited. There were around 20 stray dogs and so there ought to be some dung. Many were limping casualties of traffic accidents (video).

One cross-bred was badly wounded and hid under the dog kennel. He would growl if anyone approached him.  


 





KENNEL FLOOR PLAN
Well wishers had contributed to the construction of the dog kennels. "The kennels should not have raised floors as it will be easier to clean," I could see an injured dog hiding under the kennel for safety. Ms Thazin had asked Dr Aung to examine it. Dr Aung had to bend down and try to pull the leash to get the dog out (video).  
One hid under the wooden kennel as he had a serious large facial wound. Dr Aung bent down to examine him.

 

"Are there private vets in Magwe?" I asked Dr Aung. "No," he said.  
 The government vets in Magwe do treatment but it will be charged. 

This shelter was a house used as a warehouse rented out to Ms Thazin.

EXPOSED WELLS ARE DEATH TRAPS FOR DOGS
A small well of around 6 feet across provided water for the dogs.

This was an excellent idea as underground water is free. Many houses may not have piped water and bottled water is very popular as some residents do not drink the well water which is used for washing and bathing. Some residents of riverside towns bathe and wash their clothes by the river as part of their culture. 

"The well is a death trap," I said to Ms Thazin. "Some dogs may fall in or be pushed in by other dogs and drown. It is better to design a rectangular narrow trough as used for cattle feeding." Such drownings are foreseen and a strong netting covers the top. This will not be practical as the dogs drink from the sides of the well (see video). Unfortunately, in real life, only when a dog drowns in it will there be action to prevent further deaths. 



CANINE DISEASES

Puppies do suffer from viral diseases like distemper, parvoviruses. There was a German Shepherd puppy that had coughing and runny noses, likely to be a victim of distemper. Dr Aung treated him.


Rabies in dogs are present in Myanmar.
The government vets do rabies vaccination of stray dogs and culling. There are stray dogs and cats in the villages. Road traffic has increased considerably as the country modernises and becomes prosperous. So, more stray dogs wandering around the roadside get hit by vehicles and become lame. 
Rabies can kill people. I hope that Ms Thazin had got her rabies vaccination done.



A MEANINGFULL LIFE.  Being educated and internet savvy, I expect Ms May Thazin to do an excellent job for the strays and the disabled dogs and cats by forming a group of helpers and donors to fund the expensive maintenance of animal shelters.


            

Sunday, March 26, 2017

3058. Hip dysplasia in a 7-year-old female spayed Spitz?







Intermittent lameness left hind

Left hip dysplasia or subluxation?
Left lateral patellar luxation?





X-rays not properly positioned.

3057. Images from Myanmar travels




3055. Inspirational images from travel


Mar 25, 2017


"Should I study to be a vet?" the working lady said she ought to be pragmatic as the veterinary field may be overcrowded, just like the many lawyers who are unemployed. Some offer to work for free work in the small legal firms. Too many vets in Singapore 6 years' time.

"There are over 80 vet practices in small animals," I estimated. "So, there is a boom for employee vets! Some proprietors want to relax and manage vets. Many lady vets want to work part-time and not do night calls. Some marry and leave the profession. There are other specialities like pharmaceutical, research and demand  overseas like Myanmar.  So I do not foresee joblessness for new graduates.

If she has the funding, she is already so fortunate. Most people so not have money to study overseas. Yet she is unsure of prospects as she is earning a high salary.

Nobody can decide for her.



More than 60 years old and this Yangon
man has been at the roadside selling petrol and diesel to motor-bike owners mainly. Nowadays, modern and fanciful petrol stations take over many clients. He can fight only on lower pricing.
He has to suck in some petrol from the container into a tube. Gravity then suck some petrol into a jar which he uses to pour some petrol into the bike. Not a healthy way to earn a living sitting from 5 am to 5 pm next to a dusty busy road and sucking petrol. He cycles home at the end of the day.

Compare to this more mature working Singapore lady whose worry is whether she will be jobless after studying veterinary medicine, a profession most young Singapore girls will not hesitate if offered an opportunity.    





Saturday, March 25, 2017

3054. Cases from RAVS, Yangon - Practise evidence-based medicine


Case 1.  Biopsy of nasal tumour is needed for a definitive diagnosis

Case 2.  2 views of radiographs to locate needle inside the puppy's throat 

Gas anaesthesia by cone is safest method to enable needle extraction



Case 3.  Pyometra is very common in Yangon's dogs and cats. RAVS surgical team.



Case 4. Liver hepatitis. Blood test and biopsy.