3151. A 4-year-old Dachshund could not give birth - Caesarean section - 6 pups

A 3rd Caesarean section. Two puppy heads seen through thin stretched right and left uterine horn, about to rupture through. You can see the areas in the video below.
The two areas broke and pups were taken out.
6 live pups. 1/6 was in respiratory distress. 2 days later, when I operated on the 1-year-old Dachshund for emergency Caesarean section on Oct 4, 2017, the breeder reported that this distressed pup had passed away.

Video contains surgical procedures.
Viewer Discretion is advised.
Video shows thinned uterine wall in left and right uterine horns, with a puppy head in each,  about to rupture through. This area was incised and appears jagged in the above-mentioned image. Breeder was advised not to breed anymore as this was the 3rd litter.

UPDATE ON OCT 20, 2017.
3 puppies at 2 days old were killed by the dam. 2 puppies were killed by biting. The other died a day later. This killing of puppies by the dam does happen in dog breeding.

3152. A bright moon during the mid-Autumn Festival Oct 4, 2017

The moon was especially shiny at around 9 pm in Singapore. A halo of rainbow colours surrounded the moon. The weather was cool with the earlier drizzle now gone.

I was seated and sampled the mooncakes. Drank fragrant tea.  My phone buzzed. It was the breeder asking for a Caesarean section

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3151. A hairless 24-month-old dwarf hamster squeaks and scratches his abdomen

No complaints about appetite. Squeaking frequently esp. when bloated abdomen is scratched. Squeaked and squeaked, but pass small stools.  A mass palpable in right abdomen.

X-ray show mass pushing up diaphragm. Liver or splenic tumour likely.


Jun 11, 2017  53 g   TP 50058  M 2 yr old
Myanmar father saw Youtube Toa Payoh Vets hamster cases. Came./
Right ear tumour excised  gas and electroexcision
Right forearm skin armpit wart removed.

Sep 29, 2017  X rays (above).

The reason for squeaking was the pain in the inflamed skin. The owner had applied oil onto the skin from head to toe. The skin becomes fiery red and hence painful. Some parts were flaky. 99% of the skin was hairless.

3150. A 5-year-old red-eared slider sneezed for 3 days and is anorexic. Why?

A well cared for red-eared slider as evident by her shell length of 18 cm and good shell and body condition. See video.  Sneezing for around 3 days. Not eating for more than 3 days. No swollen eyes or runny nose or gasping. As normal as can be.

X rays - no eggs.

Antibiotics 3 days including one injection.
Phoned owner of Sep 27, 2017. Slider does not sneeze and eats 100% of pellets given.



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COMPARING X-RAYS OF
3 CASES INCLUDING PRESENT CASE ABOVE

X-ray 7-year-old red-eared slider showing eggs


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X-ray 2-year-old red-eared slider. Over-eating

3149. Dr Sing Kong Yuen shares tip on how to make the minimal skin incision in spaying a dog

Many owners feel happier if they see a short skin incision in their dog after spay. There is key-hole spay surgery but it is expensive. Knowing the location and where to incise the skin can result in a less than 2-cm skin incision using a scalpel.

Video as follows:

3148. A dwarf hamster has a heavy painful ear tumour

The dwarf hamster passed bluish grey powdery stools for many weeks. Why?
The colour looked similar to the pelleted bedding.
"Your hamster eats the pelleted litter too," I said to an incredulous owner. Why eat bedding when the hamster has lots of food provided. She was a voracious eater. She weighed 60 g on admission but had this watery diarrhoea.

I warded her at the clinic and her bedding was paper towels. Her long lower front teeth had curved inwards up the roof of the mouth. These teeth were clipped short. Oral antibiotics given.

The next day, her stools were light brownish watery diarrhoea. By 3rd day, the stools were dark brown and better formed. Lots of stool pellets seen. Hamster active. See video.

Surgery to remove ear tumour scheduled 2 days later.   



Sep 26, 2017
Surgical excision of the whole of right ear on Sep 26.
The hamster is well and passing stools on Sep 27. Going home.
There is a big swelling behind the surgical site and stitches.
Palpation shows a hard swelling which is filled with seeds. It is not a haematoma.
The hamster collapsed when forceps is used to extract the impacted cheek pouch seeds. So the procedure is stopped. I could smell a rotting smell of vegetables. This is very likely an impacted cheek pouch.

Video pre-op

    

3149. A 4-week-old kitten gets ringworm from the dam.

Sep 25, 2017

Ringworm is contagious. The dam might have had been infected during clipping. The kitten gets infected from direct contact, nursing.

Treatment:
Start to wean kitten now. By 5th week, weaned. Anti-fungal wash and oral medication.

3147. An 11-year-old English Cocker Spaniel has a large tumour near the left jaw (submandibular tumour)

Sep 19, 2017

The dog came in for 2 days of diarrhoea. On physical examination, there was a large left submandibular tumour, bigger than a golf ball. It is lobulated. It was not present when we removed the left lower inside cheek tumour 5 months ago.

BLOOD TEST
Only the urea and creatinine is below normal. Other values for liver and haematology are normal.

Surgery scheduled 1 week later.

3146. INTERN A 4-week-old kitten has generalised ringworm

Sep 19, 2017

A 2-year-old cat had caesarean section 4 weeks ago. She was clipped before surgery.
Today, the owner came as the dam was shivering yesterday and had skin disease. The kitten was also having extensive skin disease.

VIDEO

Ringworm  is a fungal infection of the top layers of the skin and hair. The kinds of fungi that cause ringworm are called dermatophytes The most common dermatophyte in cats and dogs is called Microsporum canis.

Diagnosing Ringworm

1. Ultraviolet light to screen for ringworm. About half of M. canis cases will "glow" when exposed to its ultraviolet light.

2. Hair from the lesions, which is then examined microscopically.

3. Culture test that grows the ringworm fungus.
A sample from the lesion is placed in a special medium designed to grow ringworm. Needs 2 weeks to know the result.

CASE STUDY
4-week-old kitten has classic signs of ringworm, face and body as she suckles from the mum.
Dam's belly had ringworm. Contact.
Dam had shivering yesterday. Likely milk fever. Rectal temperature checked. 38.5 deg C, means no fever.

ADVICES
1. Separate kitten from mum now, to prevent milk fever stiffening of legs and muscle tremors due to insufficient blood calcium in the mum's blood.
2. Wean kitten on wet food and milk.
3. Treat ringworm for both for 24 days oral and wash.
4. Disinfect environment


Infected clippers
No ringworm seen under UVL if shampoo used

3145. Congenital diagraphmatic hernia in a 10-year-old Shih Tzu X

Compare to normal lungs and heart of a 5-month-old Yorkshire Terrier with complicated kennel cough below:

3144. 14-year-old large cross breed barks at 5 am

Sep 18, 2017

"I spent $1,200 veterinary fees in one day," the woman had his lame dog X-rayed by Vet 1 and Vet 2. "At the 2nd clinic, the vet gave some injection and a patch. Peaceful sleep for everyone."
"The dog will stop barking for around 4 days," I said. 
She nodded. "The neighbours complained to the police and the policemen visited me yesterday!"
She asked for a house-call to put the dog to sleep after 6 months of care-giving. Exhausted.
"There is the alternative of giving pain medication before sleeping," I advised. "You need to adjust the dosage to effect."

The owner came for the medication.  

3143. Blood test for health screening of the dogs older than 5 years. Case study of a bad breath 6-year-old Corgi. Fasting glucose level

The most common panel of screening lab tests for general, overall health status includes:

1.  BLOOD TESTS

• complete blood count (CBC), that tells us how many red and white blood cells a patient has.

• differential, part of the CBC, which shows how many of each different type of white blood cell is present.

• chemistry profile (chemistries), which conveys information on the major organs (liver, kidneys, pancreas), blood sugar and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, phosphorous).


2.  URINE TESTS

• urinalysis, which has a chemical part (ph/acidity, concentration, protein, sugar, etc.) and a microscopic part (bacteria/infection, bladder cells, kidney cells, blood cells, crystals that might contribute to stone formation, etc.)


The above collection of tests is sometimes referred to as a “minimum database,” or the smallest collection of tests that will give us a good overview of a patient’s health. This panel might be requested for screening before anesthesia, or a pet ill with non-specific signs.

3.  X-RAYS

Useful to check for urinary stone formation in the kidneys and bladders, lung disease, heart, kidney and liver disease, some abdominal tumours or bone abnormalities.

4.  DENTAL WORK (SEE CASE STUDY BELOW).  

CASE STUDY

Sep 17, 2017

Corgi, F, Not Spayed, 6 years old.

Sep 16, 2017

The owner just wanted a blood test to screen her health.
The dog has bad breath. He did not want dental work.

Blood test

Glucose (Fasting ) 3.3  (3.9-6.0). Surprisingly low. However, the dog is healthy and has no complaint of fits. Will need another blood test 4 weeks later. 

The glucose level has a range of 5.6 - 13.9 for dogs on injections of Vetsulin level. These values are for a stable diabetic dog.

Low values for creatine  62   (89-177).  High Hb 21.2  (12-18), ALT  65 (less than 59). These values will not be significant. Will need another blood test 4 weeks later.


Sep 17, 2017
The owner decided on dental as he had to board the dog with his friend. Bad breath was terrible.

Dom + Ket at 50% IV.  (50% of Dom 0.4 and Ket 0.5) was quite effective. Isolflurane gas standby.

Only one loose tooth  RU Premolar 1 was extracted. Lots of tartar and plaque removed. Dental scaling was done. 

UPDATE IN OCT 17, 2017.
The owner did not return for a 2nd blood test. 



TIPS AND ADVICES

Dogs over 5 years of age are considered old. They need annual check ups to ensure that they are healthy and will live longer lives. 

Physical examination, blood and urine tests, dental inspection of their teeth and X-rays are the common wellness screening in dogs. The owner may have to request these tests as not all vets remind the owners of old dogs during the annual vaccination.   

VIDEO OF AN OLD POODLE NEEDING DENTAL SCALING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqzLnNPquUY