2362. Follow up: A 4-month-old pug has a screw in the stomach

Nov 22, 2015

Before I left for the Balkans Adventure Tour on Nov 5, 2015, the owner had agreed to wait for his 4-month-old female pug to pass out the screw and a large piece seen in the X-rays done on Nov 5.  Dr Daniel had offered him an option to wait for the pug to pass out the 2 radio-dense foreign bodies and had prescribed Science Diet W/D.

"Did your pug pass out the screw?" I asked today.
"She passed out the squarish piece of glass which was about the size seen, cloth pieces, stones and large seeds. But I did not see the screw in her stools."

"Is she still active and has she diarrhoea?"

"She is active and has been passing good solid stools since I feed her on W/D," he said. "But yesterday, she passed loose stools in 7 places. I had fed her cooked pork liver.  So I will switch back to the W/D!" 

HISTORY
Oct 10 2015. Dr daniel
Diarrhoea. No vomiting. Dr daniel
Foreidn bodies, poisoning. Adverse food reaction. Stoamach flu owing t boarding
Advised x rays. Declined


Oct 19 2015. Dr Sing
Mucus in stools passed 5x
Gas in intestines
No abd pain
Had diarrhoea on Oct 9. Medication Oct 12 to 16.

Nov 5 2015. Dr Daniel
Recurrent diarrhoea
Voniting. 3rd time
 -XRay.  1 screw. 1 seed-like object
Canine WD.






Nov 22 2015
Follow up. Not sure whether screw passed as dog had been boarded. Stools are large when fed WD. Screw might have been embedded, the owner said. Also worry about screw rusty
W board again and return next wk t x ray again

Nov 30, 2015
Owner had to travel overseas again 4 days later. Will board the dog. Came for X-rays. If the rusty screw is still in the gut, will operate today.
X-rays. No screw.  He was happy but said that he had to spend so much money.

He had not wanted X-ray in the first instance and only did so on the 3rd episode when I insisted.
Dr Daniel had advised wait and see. A few days later, the pug did pass out a piece of glass and a large seed and other pieces of clothing but he had not seen any screw.

He boarded the pug in a place where she has fun playing with other dogs and has a daily outing. The boarding kennel WhatsApp a video daily of the fun the pug had going out and so retained his loyalty. He felt that the kennel would not separate the stools in which the screw might be embedded and so did not ask the operator.

"So how do you prevent your pug from swallowing everything?" I asked.
"I put her on a leash and pull her away when she wanted to eat anything inside the grass during exercise outdoors!"

The pug had a great appetite as you can see from the fully distended stomach in the X-rays on the 25th day after discovery of the screw.

2361. Corneal ulcer in a terrapin. Vertical ear canal ablation in a Husky

2360. Name card for vet.

Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon                                                                                                             logo

Toa Payoh Vets
Blk 1002, Toa Payoh Lor 8, 01-1477, Singapore 319074
Toa Payoh Vets @ Queen's Road
Blk 3, Queen's Road, 02-155, Singapore 260003
Royal Asia Veterinary Surgery
296A Than Thu Mar Road,South Okkalapa Township, Yangon, Myanmar

Tel +65 9668 6468, +65 6254 3326
99pups@gmail.com
toapayohvets.com,  royalasiaveterinarysurgery.com

Be Kind To Pets

bekindtopets.com

2359. Travel stories: Five flights movie v real life

On November 15, 2015, Luftansa cabin crew had commenced working and so my packaged tour group of the Balkans Adventure Tour boarded the A380. We had enjoyed our SIA flight from Singapore to Istanbul on November 5 instead of Luftansa as the cabin crew had started a strike then. I was glad there was no delay even though we might fly back by SIA.

There were no interesting movies and after watching the James Bond's Skyfall, I chose the movie 5 flights adapted from a book "Heroic Measures" by a French author. It was about a couple's personal and real estate problems when they wanted to sell their 5th floor apartment which had no lift.

The title "5 flights" reminded me of my problems of climbing up 5 flights of steps at the Mostar's Hotel Peregino during my Balkans Adventure Tour. I had a weak right knee and had to carry 4-kg computer and camera bag up 5 stories to my room to check in. Then to walk down to go for dinner at a restaurant 10-minute walk away. After dinner, I had to climb up 5-stories and walk down the next morning. The other 19 travelers except one had no knee problems and so had no worries, sprinting up the steps.

The hotel had two strong men to carry the heavy luggages upstairs since there was no elevator. I considered my weak knee as a sign of wear and tear and so took my time. There was no knee pain and I was very careful. Still, this was a surprise from the packaged tour company to offer us a hotel with no lifts.

My fellow travelers complained of the need to have two keys. One key to open the main door and the other key to open the bedroom door. This was so rare nowadays as my fellow Singaporeans are used to electronic card access. The other 7 hotels had card access. Aggravating their unhappiness was the lack of hot water for bathing, the lack of air conditioning as some European hotels do not provide air conditioning in winter. The floor to ceiling windows had to be opened to let in the cool air. But one traveler on the 4th floor complained that the window unit compresser hummed so loudly that he could not sleep when he had opened the windows. He inferred that it was my air conditioner preventing him from having a good sleep since I was on the 5th floor.

I had no problem with the air conditioner working. However, I had cold water in the bathroom though others did have hot water. The 5 flights of stairs  and my camera and computer bag could damage my right knee more but there was no sharp knee pain. I limped to the outside restaurant for dinner as the Hotel did not provide in-house dinner.

The soup and fried chicken were served. However, the guide had said that drinking water would need to be paid unless served. Since this restaurant did not give us a bottle of drinking water for 6 people, none of us ordered a bottle or asked our tour leader who had paid for our drinking water the night before at a meal.

"It is not that we can't afford it," one seasoned lady traveler in my table of 6 said. "We don't want to be burdened with the local konner coins in our purse since the restaurant does not accept Euros."

After the chicken, we waited for the dessert which is customarily served in other hotels. None came and our guide did not inform us. After a long wait, we stood up to go. "Since you all did not order drinking water, " I commented. "This is why the restaurant did not serve you the dessert!" There was joyous laughter as none of the 19 in the group had dessert. Some had bottles of drinking water on their tables although they did not pay eventually.

Hotel Peregino was a most memorable occasion, but my fellow travelers would say otherwise as they would like to forget about the most unusual experiences encountered. This included climbing up the 5 flights of steps and a real telephone operator waking us up early. I picked up the phone hesitantly and there was a real person.

I doubt the travel agency would book Singaporeans into this hotel but it was such experiences that make travelling so much memorable.




  

   

2358. Down and out in Singapore

Nov 16, 2015

When I checked in with a group of travelers to the Queen Astoria Design Hotel in Belgrade, an old lady came into the posh lobby to beg for money. Today, I was having coffee at the busy Toa Payoh's Ya Kun coffeeshop, two older ladies went around the table to beg for money.


My insurance friend whom I had treated her old dog wanted to give me her 2016 insurance notebook and I invited her for coffee.  She gave the second lady who was emaciated and in her late 70s some money. The old lady continued begging at the other table.   "Maybe she is hungry and wanted to eat something," May said to me.


Suddenly, a younger man to May's left asked the old lady whether she wanted to eat some food from Ya Kun. The old lady petted her back side and said: "Give me the money."
"I don't have the money," the young man shouted. "I can buy you the food!"


"She wanted cash in the first instance," I related an incident I encountered last time. "Some weeks ago, I offered to buy Ya Kun coffee and toast for the cardboard collection lady outside. She just said, 'Give me the money!'" I gave her the money.

Singapore is said to be a developed country. Yet it has senior citizens needing cash for survival based on today's incidents.

Check list of items for photograher in the Balkans Tour in Winter & some images of street photography

Check list for an amateur photographer visiting the Balkans in Winter



Nov 15, 2015
Just came back from the Balkans Adventure Tour


I record a list of things to carry, as an amateur photographer and videographer


 

Notebook computer, battery charger, Multi USB Port Hub
Wirelss mouse, battery, USB receiver
Hard disk (2TB) x2, wires   
Notebook bag with wheels

Camera (I use Canon EOS 70D) x2 (one is backup if possible)
Lens x2   (18-135mm, 55-250mm)
Battery x3, SanDisk No. 10 x3
Battery charger x2
Camera bag

Mobile phone, power bank



Camera with video capabilities
Lens x2   (18-135mm, 55-250mm)
Battery x3, SanDisk No. 10 x3
Battery charger x2
Camera bag

Mobile phone, power bank



Camera with video capabilities (Canon EOS 70D) x2 (one is backup)
Lens x2   (18-135mm, 55-250mm)
Battery x3, SanDisk No. 10 x3
Battery charger x2
Camera bag

Mobile phone, power bank

Grand Hotel Park impressed with a large dining hall and the painting on the wall.

A home cat (with collar) presented himself. I waited for him to look in the same direction as the statue. Fortunately he did.


SOME GOOD IMAGES AT POSTOJNSKA CAVES

At the souvenir shop, the young lady was browsing and the bright sunlight shone on her.
Suddenly, the young lady tourist, dressed in bright colours, looked in the photographer's direction as the camera clicked.

Mr Raynard Tan of EU Travels. Needs to photoshop the others below the image

Good sunlight and good-looking travellers make great pictures

A Japanese or Korean tour leader carries multiple head sets for the tour group

Looks like a gigantic ice cream

Another great image

Bright sunlight from the windows of this restaurant serving great pork belly meat and chicken.


Notes:
1. Malfunctioning power points in some hotels, no cups
2. Download images and videos daily to hard disks
3. DSLR cameras and batteries do break down, hence carry a spare
4. Phone and camera batteries drain fast during winter exposure

2356. Travel Stories - Split, Croatia

Nov 11, 2015
Hotel Kolovare, Zadar

A renovated hotel. Looks modern. Room facing pool. Going to National Park walk. 12 deg C


Yesterday, at Split. Old town has a palace. Local guide Franz is very hardworking. A history graduate who told me that jobs are hard to find in Split. So he becomes a freelance tour guide and will finish the season on Nov 22, 2015. Tourist season had extended with more tourists coming.

A relatively undeveloped tourism region for the Asians. Highways are good, with no potholes. Historical old towns are what tourists want to see, rather than modern shopping malls like Singapore.
Sunset layered in blues and pink seen yesterday on the way to Zadar. Night starts at around 6 pm.

One retired accountant said that the CA (Chartered Accountant) is the top mark of the profession as the person has international tax and accounting exposure, unlike the CPA.


Few tourists from China or even Singapore but we met one group at this hotel dinner. Group from Super Travel.