2310. BKTP - story. Three children, a Westie and a Golden Retriever

Sep 25, 2015
First time that Singapore primary and secondary schools have been closed today as the haze became hazardous. The 24-hour PSI levels soared to 223-275  yesterday at 10 pm. Beyond 300, it is considered hazardous.V A Pollution Standards Index (PSI) eading over 350 is hazardous while 151-250 is said to be unhealthy.

Visibility was reduced by the forest fires from Sumatra, Indoensai. Buildings looked grey and the air is smog-like. Even the sun appeared reddish orange, being obscured by thick grey haze. No more the deep blue skies. People wear masks. An acrid smell in the air. Eyes become reddened and painful. 



So, the parents in their early 40s, came to me with the 3 children of primary school age, 7, 9 and 10 years old to the clinic to see he vet. The two dogs, 15-year-old trim Westie and a 3-year-old Golden Retriever that had had skin diseases. 


"Why is elder brother playing games in his handphone?" the younger 8-year-old brother interrupted our discussion on the 15-year-old Westie's skin problems. The elder brother was contently glued at the smartphone screen. The sister with her backpack was youngest at 7 years of age.

So I stopped the examination and let the father sort out the sibling rivalry. He permitted all children only one hour of surfing. The mother was outside the clinic and so she was called in to attend to the kids.

Children are a handful when more than 2. The younger brother jumped on the animal weighing scales in my consultation room. Up and down with a loud sound. The father stopped him.

The elder brother came in and washed his hands thrice in 10 minutes. "Has he got OCD for cleanliness?" I asked the father. "The other 2 children had not washed their hands once."

"No, no," the father said. "He has been taught to wash his hands after touching the dog!"

The elder brother was now interested in the Golden Retriever put on the consult table after weighing. His tail tip was bleeding and as he wagged his tail against the room's white gypsum wall, thousands of red spots dotted the lower wall. "He is a happy dog," I said. "He wags his tail letting it bang against the wall. That's how he got so many skin infections in the tail!"

"The flies attack his tail," the wife remarked. The whole tail needed clipping bald and washed. He also had pressure sores on his hip, shoulder and elbow areas. He bit his backside till there were hot spots of wet hairs sunken.

I expressed his anal sac. Out shot a bit of yellow pus,  like a bullet.
The elder brother felt something whizzed past his face as he was behind the dog as I expressed the anal sac. Since the owner said he does it every 3 days, I expected no fluid. But there was some oil, in small amounts, esp. from the right anal sac.

"You have to put the dog on the table to express the sac thoroughly," I said. "Not on the floor."

Skin diseases in both dogs. Last month, the dogs had ticks and that was prevented by changing to a salmon diet. "This diet must be good," the father said. "No more itchiness. A friend had done an allergy test saying that the Golden Retriever was allergic to beef. Using the salmon diet resolved the itchiness."

But now the dog is itchy again esp. at the tail area.