5653. BE KIND TO PETS VET STORIES IN A KINDLE. A window of opportunity for a vet

BE KIND TO PETS VET STORIES IN A KINDLE. A window of opportunity for a vet

 

A window of opportunity
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow)
25 Feb 2024 write up

 

I met a divorcee at a dinner party on the 15th day of Chinese New Year. A communicative grey-haired woman around 80 years old who loved to cook. She spoke about her retired pastor friend who had 2 Corgis and various dogs over the years. Her son showed me a photo of kissing one in her presence in her house. "If you kiss her dogs, you are her good friend!" I had asked to see the pastor and the son obliged.  

 

One night, she had to help her friend by driving her sick dog to a vet in Toa Payoh. She couldn’t remember the vet who asked if she could assist in the anaesthesia of the dog. It was operated and a large tumor was found inside. She could not remember the vet. "It could be me," I said. "Possibly, I thought so," she replied. "Anyway, the dog was euthanased as the tumour in the stomach was inoperable."

"The clinic in Toa Payoh had a block number different from the usual HDB block numbering," she said. HDB (Housing Board) flats are public housing and their block numbers were 3 digits during her time, while the industrial blocks show 4 digits.

 

“Was it in an industrial park?” I asked. “Yes, yes! “ she replied but forgot about the date or year as it was so long ago. I couldn't recall this episode too.

I practise in an industrial park, Block 1002 Toa Payoh Lor 8 for some decades. "I thought you might be this vet," she was unsure. "In any case, the dog was euthanased as the stomach tumour was inoperable."

I must be her vet as there was only one vet clinic in Toa Payoh at that time. I used to take late night emergency calls and do operations with the help of the client if my assistant was unavailable in the 1980s. 

 

I performed many emergency Caesarean sections in the dog for breeders in the Pasir Ris dog farms as I was their vet - vaccinating the puppies at $10 per pup and doing Caesarean sections at any time at $300 a case at any time of the day or night, weekend or public holidays. 

 

Their usual vet had been suspended for selling vaccines to bring back to the farm. This was not permitted and only two vets did this. He was the one caught by the authorities. 

Suddenly, the dog breeders had to pay market rates for Caesarean sections amounting to $1,000 - $3,000 per operation.

My young lady assistant who was a bright-eyed robust fair lady in her 30s and well known in the dog breeding world, introduced me to one top breeder who needed an emergency Caesarean section.

This was how I got my window of opportunity. 

 

The cheap C-sections honed my surgical and anesthetic skills operating past midnight with the breeder who would rush in to take over the neonate after I extracted it and broke its amniotic sac. He would open the operating room door and take over the newborn who could be crying or silent. He would then unclamp the forceps and tie the umbilical cord with thread. He would swing the pup if it was distressed or suck the mucus from the nose. After the operation, I would check the puppies. 

 

The silence of the black night in an isolated industrial park vet clinic was broken by the loud cries of the healthy pups was an experience of the beginning of living for the creatures.      

Nowadays there are vet emergency clinics and no vets will want to get sued for operating without the full backup of staff and equipment. 

 

In real life, the window of opportunity will open briefly and it is up to you to be aware of the moment which may never repeat itself.

NOTE: COMMUNICATIVE - willing, eager, or able to talk or impart information.

"Albert was a very communicative chap"

 

UPDATE:  https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2024/02/5653-communicative-person.html

CAESAREAN SECTION CASES:
http://www.sinpets.com/stories/2007Caesareans_ToaPayohVets.htm