Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

I did mention once somewhere else in this forum, that to be a better vet, you need have the experience of being in the shoes of the pet owner.

I can totally understand how both of you feel. My dog was sick too, and all of a sudden, I felt like I'm not the vet anymore. I went like "my dog is sick! I need to take her to the vet! ... oopss.. wait... I'm the vet." In cases like this, you basically need a colleague to confirm what your worst fears are.

Dr Han, to be able to perform surgery on your own pets is a brave feat. I don't think I'll be able to do that.

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 472

Dr Nat wrote: to be able to perform surgery on your own pets is a brave feat. I don't think I'll be able to do that.
Yup, I agree with that. The most memorable one for me is Dr VJ from Healing Room performed a gastropaxy on his GSD which sufferred from GDV. GDV is a very critical condition in which many dogs died on the surgery table and some even 48 hours later due to reperfussion inury and cardiovascular failure. Extremely difficult and dangerous condition to treat. And Dr VJ was able to hold back his emotion and successfully save his Thor. I really respect him a lot. Able to perform a surgery knowing that the dog can die before, during and after the surgery and did a great job.

Dr Dunker · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 466 Location: Puchong,Selangor

Heh heh, Dr Vj did the surgery on the eve of his wedding day...or was it his weding day. I use to tell vets that if u cant do surgery on ur own pets then what right do one have doing it on others. The truth is i had to ask Varanus to do a spay for my own dog...talk about being a chicken. Another thing to learn i guess. It is easy to say things but when face withe the exact same situation one cant help being nothing more then a human.

So bravo for dr han. Doing surgery on own cat is not easy as far as emotions goes.

Dr Chong · Joined: 12 Dec 2005 Posts: 666 Location: KL

Dr Dunker wrote: Doing surgery on own cat is not easy as far as emotions goes.

Bravo Dr Han! I think I won't be the one who spay my little doggie... :wink: :oops:

Dr HanMRCVS · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 566 Location: Johor Bahru

It is most interesting to note of reperfusion injury. I do belief that once an animal has 'crossed' the line, theres really no turning back.

Ive come across a few animals which came almost moribund due to acute dehydration, and as much as we pump in fliuds and drugs, theres really nothing to do, once reperfusion injury sets in. Theres a human drug used to prevent this (very expensive), anyone knows whats the name here?

I really dont think its such a big fuss when vets treat their own pets tho. Perhaps its quite surreal when you're literally 'exploring' your pets. But it does make you cherish them better, esp if you're able to help them with your ownself.

Dr Dunker · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 466 Location: Puchong,Selangor

Hi there,

There is a multitude of vets in this forum. there got to b more stories . I mean Dr chong works at a company which handles lifestocks (ie iguanas), Dr han have his own practice, Dr nat works at a animal shelter and dr DYtan is into research (to name just a few). what are your lives like? its boring if one person keeps talking about himself (me). Bad for forum.

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

Well... mine is pretty much routine already.

I get to meet a lot of people who finally cannot tahan cos their cats keep on multiplying. I meet a lot of people who have never step foot in a vet clinic before. I get to know that they think even stepping into one clinic would cost them a bomb. I try my best to tell them otherwise. I meet a lot of ignorant people. Just the other day, a pet owner ask me why does their dog sleep upside down? Hmm..

I've met pet owners who bring their cats on a leash, and tell their cats to "sit" on the examination table. I've met a few burly guys, who brought in one small kitty for neutering (an office cat) - with a home made cage. I've met people who just cant help but save pets from the streets, even if they already have 60 cats. I've met people who want to breed their new persian cat, though they don't know anything at all about cats.

I'm sure you've all probably met the same type of persons before. :)

Ok, when I come accross anything else thats interesting, I'll post it up here.

Dr Kwok · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 131 Location: Selangor

i am so happy so many ppl responded on this topic...

well there was this owner that ask all kinds of question :

o = owner, m = me

m : your cat has some old wound which already
healed at the paw

o : how did that happen ?

m : your cat is always in a cage rite ? ( which she
mentioned before) maybe she hurt herself
when she put her paw against the cage.

o : but how can that happen ?

m : you know, sometimes the metal of the cage
has some sharp edges...

o : but how can the paw like that one ?

m : you know when wound heal....

this is neverending story episode 4

Dr Chong · Joined: 12 Dec 2005 Posts: 666 Location: KL

Dunno what to say ler... (too much to tell)... :wink:

My work is rather routine now: open shop, feed animal, check animal, then lay down plan, relax a bit, a bit of sales (products/livestocks), sometimes customer complaints, some reports, paper works, then treatment, close shop...

As a resident vet, the most important aspect of my job is, before any of the animal gets sick, the prevention and control part of the veterinary medicine. Thus, the good index in knowing whether I am doing a good job or not is actually to see how free am I everyday. Hehe... and I can say, I'm quite free here... :lol: (Dr Nat knows that best... :lol:)

No mortalities, means no postmortem, no paperworks, no reports...
No sick animals, means no treatments, no labs, no rushing out to healing rooms, no reports...

Conducting thousand times of routine check, and establishing many schedules and protocols for staff... what food to give la, how much to giv la, when for which dog to take bath, vaccination, deworm, heartgard, disinfect, etc, etc...

So what makes me hang on working in this company? It's actually the exotic pet medicine part. Gotta learn a lot of exotic pet medicine, esp. when new "variety" of pet coming into the company, or when something happens, like an outbreak among my guinea pigs. Other reasons? Like freedom, I enjoy the freedom of carrying out what I want, in expense of the company (don't tell my boss, k?)... :wink: like I just got back my lab result from UVH that my albino Burmese python is actually infested by Ophionyssus sp. mites while still waiting for the histopath results for other cases. More reasons? Emm... may be the attitude of the company personnel towards their business, they are more rational and ethical than I thought. Example? Like, because of the "why not giv them a chance" policy, we just fixed 2 patellar luxation dogs (yes, 2 of them)... (oh no!! I've been telling too many company secrets liao... :shock:)

keep secret, k? :wink:

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 472

Ophionyssus? Snake mite infestation. Mechanical carrier for Aeromonas hydrophilia. So I assume the poor boid should be dead. Septicaemia, Mouthrot? Careful, outbreak...

Dr Chong · Joined: 12 Dec 2005 Posts: 666 Location: KL

varanus wrote: Ophionyssus? Snake mite infestation. Mechanical carrier for Aeromonas hydrophilia. So I assume the poor boid should be dead. Septicaemia, Mouthrot? Careful, outbreak...

Haha... don't worry, that snake is responding well to the mite treatment and show no signs of septicaemia "so far" (or "yet")...

Will monitor him closely...

BTW, is a 7+kg snake, alone... :D

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 472

me bad, you mentioned about histopath result, so I automatically assumed it's the boid's PM report.

I had a very bad experience before. Mite, then severe infection. Mouth rot, abscess and then septicaemia. Sad case. Pity the owner.

Dr Chong · Joined: 12 Dec 2005 Posts: 666 Location: KL

It's okay...

You do remind me something...

The albino Burmese python, had a buddy, another normal Burmese python, which was suddenly dead, after a TV shoting. Nothing was found, only mild indication of mouth rot/stomatitis (not sure, that time my another colleague handled this case)...

God knows it actually died of septicaemia from Aeromonas... :roll:

Dr Dunker · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 466 Location: Puchong,Selangor

Huh ?? Snake died after seeing sombody get shot in TV??

Dr Chong · Joined: 12 Dec 2005 Posts: 666 Location: KL

Sorry to get you confused :oops:

I meant shooting (filming)... :wink: