24. Biting the hand that feeds you.

"Do you want to put him to sleep?" I asked the gentleman. "Giving a biting dog to other people may not be good-hearted."

But the owner did not want him to be put to sleep despite the fact that his right hand fingers had been bitten at least twice.

"Biting the hand that feeds him," I said. "He may be a risk to other people."



"Maybe, the Jack Russell is angry because I bought the poodle puppy," the man said.

No excuses now. His wife wanted him to get rid of the young male Jack Russell.

See is believing - Corgi has "parvovirus"

This report is written for Kitty and Bernice, 4th year, Murdoch University. Best wishes for your future career as a veterinarian.


Friday January 12, 2007


"No stools," Kitty withdrew the dry white cotton swab from the anus. This slim 4th year Murdoch University undergraduate was seeing veterinary practice for one week.

The Corgi had smelly diarrhoea 2 days after purchase from the pet shop.

"Put the cotton swab deeper into the rectum," I said. She cautiously inserted the cotton swab a bit further into the rectum. The cotton swab was a bit yellowish brown. I wanted her to practise, as that was the purpose of her seeing practice. Could she be afraid that the rectum be perforated by the cotton swab? I put the swab 2 cm into the rectum. The dark yellowish greenish brown swab was taken to be used for the parvoviral faecal test.



The teenaged owner was worried about the Corgi's health and the veterinary costs of treatment. He had phoned me as to whether he should seek treatment for his puppy with diarrhoea? I said I could not decide for him. If the puppy dies, the vet gets the blame. A complaint might be lodged with the veterinary authority and unnecessary explanations would be needed. It is best not to say anything to callers who want phone diagnosis.

Kitty had also taken a stool sample for microscopic examination. "Do you need a few drops of water to loosen the stools?" she said. I told her that I would do the microscopic examination and she would do the parvoviral test with my veterinary assistant Mark, in order not to increase waiting time.

After the test was done, Mark came to the consultation room "Parvovirus positive. 2 purplish red lines."

"Wait for me to check," I was given the Corgi the fluid therapy to prevent dehydration. However, the boy had heard him and must be fully stressed.

The parvovirus is a deadly disease and would kill the puppy. However, this puppy was imported from Australia and had 2 vaccinations. He was older, at 3 months and better protected than 2 months old.

The foul smelly stools are not always a sign of parvoviral infection although many veterinary assistants make instant diagnosis based on the smell. My nose detected that the smell in the consultation room air was not like the typical bloody and decomposing smell of parvovirus. Microscopic examination of the stools did not reveal any blood or worms.

Parvoviral infection was unlikely at this time. But the parvoviral test must be done to aid in the diagnosis of the cause of fever and acute gastroenteritis.

After treatment, I read the test kit slide. Only one deep purple line. There was not even a faint second line in the slide.

"But there were 2 lines," Mark said. I hope Kitty learnt a lesson no veterinary book or lecturer would be able to teach her. Seeing is believing. Repeat the parvoviral test if necessary.

(In the evening, Anna said that the Corgi passed solid stools. The owner had phoned several times. In all cases, no veterinary staff should talk to the owner about the condition of the dog. Singapore is becoming a litigious society. Avoid any misunderstanding by only letting the owner speak to the veterinarian.

22. Cyanosis at the first cut during Caesarean - Chihuahua. Plan B.

This article is written for a boy who will be embarking on a long journey to be a vet.

Intubation --- inserting an endotracheal tube into the chihuahua is the recommended as safest way of delivering anaesthestic gas and oxygen. There is a control of the amount of gas and oxygen compared to a gas mask. During heart failure emergency, oxygen can be delivered quickly through the endotracheal tube.

This is the theory. The 3-year-old Chihuahua came in for an elective Caesarean as she stopped labour contractions despite oxytocin injection being given. It had been 6 hours since 3 pups were born.

The dog was intubated with a 6.0 endotracheal tube. Gas anaethestic at 2% was the normal recommended dosage for "dogs". The tube fitted tightly in the windpipe. The dog was in general anaesthesia.

I felt for the puppies. There were located near the umbilicus. I incised the skin incision. Blood oozed out in dark blue almost black. I looked at her tongue. It was purplish blue. She was breathing.

Veterinary assistant Anna was not saying anything although she was monitoring the anesthesia. She should be warning me, but she had not the experience after graduation. All new veterinary graduates will be in the same shoes.

After all, the dog was breathing and this was the start of the Caesarean.

The surgeon must be aware of the overall condition. Not just focus on surgery. Ideally the surgeon should just do surgery. But in big practices and veterinary schools, this is the practice. Obviously prices of Caesarean would be much higher with more overheads.

In small practices, the veterinarian must be knowledgeable. What to do to prevent death during and after Caesarean.

To gain knowledge, spend time reading and reading. Best is to spend time with a mentor. Most of the time spent seeing practice in general is non productive if you just are not much interested.

In this case, the solution is to disconnect the endotracheal tube from supplying more gas. Quickly. Let the dog breathe in normal air for a minute. Still, the tongue was purplish.

Now, I don't want to dog to wake up. So, there must be a balance of not too much gas or too little. I re-connected the tube to the gas after a minute or two.

The tongue was still purplish. Less deep purple in tone. The gas was reduced to 1 %.

What to do?

Wait. Something is not right. It is hard to tell. This dog had been given oxytocin by the breeder sometime ago. Was it the oxytocin anaesthetic reaction? In many of my normal without-oxytocin Caesareans, no such surprises.

"Maybe the endotracheal tube is too big?" Anna suggested. It was good that she offered suggestions. She is a Filipino veterinary graduate recently graduated.

I was surprised she said that. If the tube was too large in diameter, it would not have got into the trachea (windpipe) and the dog would not now be under general anaesthesia.



I did not think so. As I was a national servicemen, I remember my Plan B. Plan A was not doing smoothly. What is Plan B?