3197. Little Japanese umbrella - Parasola plicatilis mushrooms

Recently found growing in abundance in my front garden packed with pet shop rabbit litter.

3196. Z-plasty for large skin tumour in old dogs

A large skin tumour around 3 cm across. A margin of 1 cm is cut off in case there is cancer cells spread into the margins. The owner did not want histopathology.
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The wound becomes larger and needs stitching using Z-plasty. This was done some  30 days ago. Skin has closed well as shown.

Video is somewhere.

Tumour excised. A Z-plasty closes the circular skin wound.

3195. An 8-year-old Miniature Pinscher stepped into the roadside drain grate and fractured his leg

The dog was out for a walk and his right hind leg stepped into the road side grate. The maid pulled the leg out. The dog could not put down the right hind leg anymore, holding it at right angles above the floor. See video.

Palpation indicated intense pain in tarsal and metatarsal area with big swelling in the metatarsal area. The toe was painful too at D3.

"X-rays are needed to check for fractures," I advised and the owner consented to the X-ray.
Fracture of the tarsal-metatarsal area. Bandage and keep dog in a crate for 4-6 weeks with minimal exercise.   


The leg is splinted. Swelling in toes the next day. The splint is removed and the dog is confined to small space to let healing take place. Painkillers given. As at 5 days later, the dog is not in pain.

3194. An 8-month-old dwarf hamster has 2 ear warts and 2 skin tumours

The young lady owner consulted Vet 1 5 days ago, as her hamster had a small skin wound behind the right ear. Vet 1 applied anti-mite Revolution on the skin and prescribed solutions of anti-fungal, antibiotic and a cream. The skin wound grew redder and bigger and bled daily despite her treatment.

She surfed the internet and consulted Toa Payoh Vets for a solution.
"The 5-mm skin wound looked very much like a granulation lump," I said. The large ear wart behind the right ear and ear wax inside the ear canal would be irritating to he hamster. So she rubbed the skin behind the right ear. This has become hairless."



I examined the hamster's head are in more detail. Two ears had ear warts. The left ear has wart of 3 mm in the front area. The right ear had wart of 5 mm in the back of the ear.

"The cream you applied might have caused more scratching with the right hind paw," I said. 

Treatment was to excise the lump and stitch up the wound (see video). The two ear warts were also electro-excised and the skin stitched. Ears were irrigated to flush out the solid yellow wax. The hamster should feel better after this operation.

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Images

8 days post operation, stitches removed. No more itchiness.

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3193. *TIPS FOR VETS: Picking up a Corgi for dental work and eyelid stye removal

Friday Nov 17, 2017

The patient lives in Toa Payoh Lorong 3 which is a short 5-minute drive from Toa Payoh Vets. The vet can wait for the owner to be free or provide a free transport service to pick up the dog at 10 am today. I did the latter. "Business cannot wait for the service provider, the service provider waits for business."

I went to the surgery and forgot the appointment at 10 am to pick up the Corgi, as promised yesterday when the dog came in for vaccination. After all, there are the inpatients and other matters to distract the vet.

I had this reminder in a note taped to the front door so that I cannot miss reading it. The dog is now in the surgery after my assistant helped me to get him from the apartment in Lorong 3. A fine sunny morning.    

3192. A 5-month-old Syrian hamster bit off her stitches on Day 2

Nov 16, 2017

Korean lady bought this Syrian hamster. Very gentle at home, but made a lot of hissing sounds when i handled him.

Big right inguinal swelling. It was an inguinal hernia which grew larger every day. See previous video.

On Nov 16, 2017, the owner phoned about stitch breakdown. I asked him to bring in quickly as guts may fall out if the hamster continued bitting off the inside muscle stitches.

Only the skin stitches were bitten off. A foul smelly pus inside. The muscle stitches were OK. I drained the pus, used 6% hydrogen peroxide and give oral antibiotics. Warded the patient.

3191. A 21-month-old dwarf hamster has a large neck lump - email query about surgery

29/10/2017, 18:55 - Messages to this chat and calls are now secured with end-to-end encryption. Tap for more info.

29/10/2017, 18:55 - Hamster query la: Hi there

29/10/2017, 18:56 - Hamster query la: There seems to be a growth near my hamster’s neck. She’s been struggling to drink water recently. Do you have an available appt on Tuesday 9.30am?

29/10/2017, 18:57 - Hamster query la: IMG-20171029-WA0005.jpg (file attached)

29/10/2017, 18:58 - Hamster query la: Can I check how much do you charge for consultation, lumpsectomy or euthanasia? Pebbles (my hamster) quality of life has dipped significantly and it’s v difficult to watch. So I want to know if there’s such an option

29/10/2017, 18:58 - Hamster query la: Thank your

29/10/2017, 18:58 - Hamster query la: *you!

29/10/2017, 20:31 - Sing Kong Yuen: Thank you for msg. Consult $40. Lumpectomy around $200 as tumour is large.  Euthanasia $60

30/10/2017, 03:09 - Hamster query la: Ok. Can I make an appointment on Tuesday 930am? Typically what is the success rate of lumpectomy surgeries? My hamster is about 1y9months now

30/10/2017, 05:57 - Sing Kong Yuen: Appt 9.30am  Tuesday ok

Success rate generally 100% in lumpectomy of tumours that are under the skin and not inside muscles or involve bones or joints and are less than 1 cm across. Hamster must be active and eating if he is over 2 years old.

30/10/2017, 06:07 - Hamster query la: Ok. Great, see you on tues. pebbles is moving fine (less than before tho) and still eating and drinking (we need to feed manually as she struggles to get to her water bottle). if we proceed with the surgery, will we be able to do it on the same day?

30/10/2017, 06:43 - Hamster query la: Sorry for asking so many questions, rlly appreciate your help and patience!

30/10/2017, 07:33 - Sing Kong Yuen: yes. on the same day

30/10/2017, 13:02 - Hamster query la: Sorry can I change the appointment to wed 0930 instead?

30/10/2017, 14:11 - Hamster query la: I was going to ask my Sister to bring pebbles over tomorrow but I’m going to fly home tomorrow instead. I’ve been in Australia for a holiday

30/10/2017, 18:51 - Sing Kong Yuen: ok

31/10/2017, 19:10 - Hamster query la: Hi we can cancel the appointment tomorrow. My hamster has passed on

31/10/2017, 19:13 - Sing Kong Yuen: ok