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