Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Young poodle keeps shaking his head every day

"There is only one treatment," I said. "It is surgery to open up the vertical ear canal. Your poodle would feel better in the first 2 weeks after treatment and the problem of head shaking would come back."

"My poodle also had pimples all over the body," the lady in her 40s said.

"Most likely, the poodle had been rolling her body against the wall resulting in damaged skin and infections."

"You are correct. She has to rub her body against the floor tiles. How to cure this problem."

"The cause is due to hairy ears. Your groomer has to remove the hairs every 2-3 monthly. But you don't have time as you need to take care of your sick sister," I said. "So the head shaking comes back as the horizontal ear canals are infected and the lower ear is reddish and itchy." The poodle used her right hind paw to start scratching her neck again.

Most dog owners will just send the poodle to the groomer. But there was no real cure. Lateral ear canal resection surgery is the cure. "How is it done and will my dog be deformed?" the owner asked.

Pictures are best. Fortunately I had some pictures at www.toapayohvets.com, goto "Dogs" --- "Ear Problems" to clarify what the surgery would be. One picture is worth a thousand words.

"I have to ask the family members first," the lady said. Later she phoned and gave her consent to the surgery. "As the ears are infected, it will best to wait around 7 days before I do the surgery," I said. The owner understood.

116. The sucessful businessman and his 4 rabbits

Not all businessmen can be successful in global business. It is inspiring to meet one as they don't have much time for people who don't have any purpose in meeting them.

As my friend Khin Khin wanted some pricing info on shipping of diesel from Malaysia to Myanmar, I e-mailed him. He replied within 24 hours to say he would be back in Singapore on Jun 28, 2010 and we could talk further.

He has been in the shipping business for over 15 years and built ships. So, he was the right person to contact. On Jun 29, he messaged me apologising for the short notice, to meet at Amara Hotel to watch the soccer game between Paraguay and Japan yesterday evening and so I had to finish my dinner to go.

He introduced me to his friends as the vet who sterilised his four rabbits. "Before sterilisation, one male used to mount the female. The other female was jealous and bit the female. After sterilisation, all four became friendly and co-exist!"

It was good to know his rabbits were OK. How does one become a successful businessman globally?

1. High energy
2. Not needing many hours of sleep.
3. Able to be awake past midnight and get up to work the next morning.
4. Takes 2 hours to answer 400 - 500 e-mails.
5. Able to drink whiskey with clients. Also smoke.
6. Has a tremendous network of contacts.
7. Be a road warrior.

He loved chess and was playing a few games with his friends. One friend I would remember was a chess teacher who told me that he would be getting toe pain of gout the next day. But drinking a lot of water would alleviate the pain in his toes. He ate peanuts and fried chicken wings. He did not believe in taking anti-gout medication and so he just had to endure the toe pain the next day. I don't know whether he would get uric acid stones in his kidneys later but he was not worried.

As for me, I felt sleepy towards midnight. The businessman excused me and I left.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

114. Sunday's highlighted case. Lifestyle of dog

Jun 30, 2010
Dog: X, Male, 2.5 years old


"My dog didn't get fully cured," the couple in their early 30s said. "He had a neck bite wound some 3 weeks ago. He was treated by Dr Teo. Now the disease has spread to his left fore leg, his right fore dew claw and pad, his chin is red, there are pimples on either side of his penis. His penile sheath is swollen."


"These problems are due to the active the life-style of the male dog," I said. "It is like people. Those who drink alcohol a lot will get drunk, unlike others."

I drew illustrations to record the skin problems for ease of reference later.

1. Red inflamed chin. The dog was destroying the leather shoes of the brother
2. LF above carpus. 2 black spots due to medication and licking.
3. RF dew claw and nearby pad. Bleeding and red. Dog had bitten it. Microscopic exam showed ringworm.
4. Groin pimples and swollen penile sheath. The dog must have "humped" in the absence of the owners. There was another dog (female spayed) that might be injured.



After advising on treatment, I discovered that the young husband loved fishing. Their blog is ourfishingjourney.blogspot.com. There is a forum called fishingkaki.com.

"You need money to start a business," the young husband said and the wife noddded in agreement.

"Does it mean that if I start a travel agency business, I must own coaches, airplanes and hotels before I can start?" I asked.

"No need," the couple agreed.

"Nowadays, you have the internet. You can set up a niche deep sea fishing website and provide a service people want," I said. "Does it cost a lot of money to host this website? Will S$20/month do?"

The couple agreed that it would not need a lot of money to start a business out of a hobby.


What type of services?
1. Specialise in deep sea fishing over the next few months of years
2. Be a Singapore expert on local fishing.
3. Be able to arrange a deep sea fishing tour package.

"Anybody can search for what they want on www.fishingkaki.com," the wife said.
"What if I want to go for deep sea fishing tour package and want to know the cost. Can I find it on www.fishingkaki.com?" I asked.
"Yes," the wife said.
"No," the husband said. "You can find the boatman but not the whole package."

Thursday, June 24, 2010

112. Health screening to prevent diseases in your dog or cat

Emergency lab work includes measuring packed cell volume (PCV), total protein (Tp), blood glucose concentration, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum potassium and sodium concentrations, total and differentiated white cell count (WCC), haemoglobin level.

WCC increase may indicate sepsis or inflammation. Low blood glucose may indicate sepsis, hypoadrenocorticism or hepatic disease. Electrolyte disorders may mean hypoadrenocorticism


Complete cell count, serum chemistry, urinalysis

HAEMATOLOGY
Detects infection (increased or decreased neutrophils), toxaemia or lymphoma (increased lymphocyte count). Eosinophilia may be due to eosinophilic gastritis or enteritis, parasitism, mastocytosis or hypoadrenocorticism.

SERUM CHEMISTRY ANALYSIS
Provides info about protein-losing enterpathies, azotaemia, liver disease, hypoadrenocorticism, diabetes mellius, hydration status and electrolyte concentrations. Serum amylase and lipase are not specific of canine or feline pancreatitis.

URINALYSIS
Provides info about kidney and liver diseases, ketoacidosis, glucosuria and hydration. Urine specific gravity and pH. Sediment examination for urinary crystals.

112. A young businessman is not patient nor respectful

"Find another agent," Khin Khin was told by the young couple who were her partners and had a prospective buyer for S$3 million of diesel oil. "We don't like this Agent X. Don't you have another one?" Agent X is a commodity agent with a vast network. It is not as if such agents are a dime a dozen unlike property agents.

So, I deduce that the young couple do not know much about the commodity trading business. The performance is closing the deal, not in having a prospective buyer or seller.

I had met Agent X some months ago and knew what he really had the knowledge and the network. He had a big scar on his left hand. "What happened to your left hand?" I asked. "Oh, the surgeon took a vein for my heart. I had quadruple by-pass."

I phoned him to find out what happened and to learn something about the oil industry as Khin Khin asked me whether there is a Malaysian quoted diesel price and that she must pay $99.90 per month to get the price.

INFORMATION

Agent X said that the couple wanted the previous price quoted but this was not possible as they had not locked in with money. The previous price was $580/metric tonne and just today, it was $660 FOB/metric tonne. So, the couple was not happy. This showed that they had did not know how business was done.

Prices are quoted in Singapore at www.bunker.com. Look for MDC (marine diesel oil) for prices.

So there is no separate Malaysian quotation. Prices had gone up as the buyer had not confirmed. At 5,000 metric tonnes, it would be around S$3.5 million and the couple had to get the LC done first. The couple wanted the price to be $500 -$600 which was not possible as at Jun 14, 2010. Agent X had quoted $583 earlier but prices had shot up. I had read in the Straits Times something about diesel prices going sky high and the impact on Singapore's economy a few days ago.

Lock In, the money must be there in the form of the LC.
To confirm, a Letter of Credit (LC) must be opened and made payable to the Seller (Petronas). This means that the Buyer had to put the money into Khin Khin's company. Once the price is agreed, the money will be paid, FOB. If the LC is in the Buyer's bank, then no commission would be likely to be paid to Khin Khin. So, it was important that Khin Khin controlled the money matters.

Commission for Agent X is paid by Khin Khin's company, based on trust. This sounds dicey to me.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Skepticism & criticism starting something

Giving Back- Connecting your business and community - Bert Berkley, Peter Economy
Matthew Flannery, cofounder of kiva.org

A business with social mission - giving people access to credit, access to financial systems, the ability to pursue their dreams -- connecting people.

When you don't have reputation or money, it is hard selling people your idea. Lots of skepticism and criticism.

Belief in yourself. Take more risks earlier, more aggressive earlier. Have a vision of a product and a service and an idea of what happens 2 to 3 years in the future. Dedicate to achieve. Build brick by brick, for years and years.

Time and web-hosting bill. Small hidden costs and cost of time.

Volunteers - if they know they make a difference, don't need to motivate them with wards, compensation.

Sustainable business. A business that make a positive impact on the world, not just making money and then giving back.

number of users, number of dollars, delinquency rate and repayment rate.

success - the financial health of the organisation, the burn rate, income, financcial sustainability and qualitative things like morale and happiness of workers

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Cherry eye British Bulldog, Male, 4 months

"The seller said to wait till the other eye develops a cherry eye before seeking vet treatment," the gentleman owner told me. "The cherry eye gets bigger over last 2 days." The conjunctiva of upper and lower eyelids was much swollen as well.
This was a referral case from a breeder in Pasir Ris.


ANAESTHESIA
Short nosed breed - need to be careful.
Isoflurane gas by mask worked very well.

SURGERY
1. Under general anaesthesia, wash all pus off the left eye.
2. I injected 0.1 ml gentamycin and pred into swollen subconjunctiva
3. Clamped the everted gland.
4. Incise above clamp.
5. Release clamp.
6. Profuse bleeding for a few seconds. Bleeding will stop.
7. A vet ligates a central blood vessel below clamp so that there will be no bleeding after excision of the gland. I have not tried it. In any case, the bleeding soon stops.
8. Eye drops, antibiotic and painkiller injection. Goes home.

ALTERNATIVE SURGERY
Some vets claim that tacking back the swollen nictitans gland will prevent dry eye later in life as the gland is not excised. However, there is a high failure rate and the owner will not be happy to pay for recurrence. As you can see from the picture, it is good in theory to save the cherry eye but in reality, this alternative surgery is not so simple and effective. As for dogs getting dry eyes in old age when the cherry eye is removed, this is said to be a possibility. How many dog owners are patient enough to come back again for reviews and to pay again and again for a cherry eye treatment? Not many.