1027Singapore Maltese sarcoptic mange, ear itchiness,  pet health and welfare educational for animal lovers, excerpts from The Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet.  This Maltese had four years of itchy ears. The Maltese with itchy ears. "You are the fourth vet to treat this dog," said Mr Tan solemnly. "After she had finished her medication, her body and ears become itchy."  The Maltese was not taking drugs for the past three weeks and had the same complaint. The insides of the two ear flap were definitely red, rough like a crocodile skin and had numerous small bleeding spots caused by intense scratching with the long toe nails.  "What was the medication given?" I asked. Mr Tan did not know. His 12-year old son did not know.  This was a very gentle Maltese as it permitted Groomer Ken to clip her coat.  I could see a large patch of hair loss and reddish skin in the neck region. The eye area were roughened too. The elbows were red and hairless.   The anal glands were impacted with dark brown oil but would not be a cause of this itchy ears. Five skin scrapings revealed no mites but this did not mean there were no mites. This Maltese was given a mange injection and observed for the next 30 days.  She was four years old and had suffered since she was a pup.   It was not easy to obtain the history from his previous vets.  Skin problems which recur will cost the owner more money to resolve this problem.  It will be best to work closely with the veterinarian to resolve the problem.  "Since you had seen three veterinarians, your dog's problems had not resolved.    You would have to spend more money on follow up and might not get a satisfactory cure. Would you want to put your dog to sleep?"  His ten-year-old son was very sad on hearing about euthanasia.   Mr Tan took out his mobile phone to seek the consent of the mother to put his pet to sleep.   Mrs Tan said said no.  That was a reprieve.  The long toe nails indicated that the Maltese was not very active walking.  They were clipped short.  The main inflamed area was the inside of the ear flap of both ears.   The dog had scratched them furiously till there were numerous blood haemorrhagic spots.  Could this be sarcoptic mange which had recurred and had favoured the dog's ears?  Or excessive ear canal hairs?  The ear hairs in the canal  were plucked by Groomer Ken.  Skin scrapings under the microscope revealed no mites but that would not rule out the infestation.  An anti-mite injection was given and the dog was given multi-vitamins and asked to be reviewed in 30 days' time. I will always remember the happiness in the boy's face when his mother said no.  I hope the Owner will not hop to another veterinarian or give up following up.

1028Singapore Fox Terrier body and ear itchiness,  pet health and welfare educational for animal lovers, excerpts from The Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet.  The itchy Fox Terrier confounds the vet. "My Fox Terrier scratches himself every day," said Mrs Jenkins.  "He is itchy somewhere.  No specific area, but he seems to be scratching his ears more often." Clean ears. Not a bit of the brown ear wax. No hair loss.  No smelly ears. The body coat looks normal. No hair loss. No ticks seen. The dog behaved normally at the veterinary office table.  He was just all ready to get out and run.  "Maybe, you should clip off the coat," I said as there may be some foreign bodies or microscopic ectoparasites hidden under the lower coat.  The coat was short but thick but once clipped totally, any lesion or inflammation would be easily spotted.   "Would he catch a cold when he is shaved bald?" asked Mrs Jenkins.  Singapore is not a tropical country.  No chance of catching a cold. Groomer Ken was asked to clip the Fox Terrier.  "No need to clip this dog," he said.  "He may be allergic to some ingredients in his food. Just get a bottle of my booster super vitamins."   It was unusual of him not to clip this Fox Terrier as requested by the customer.   Would his super pills be so effective? I put the Fox Terrier on the table to have another look.  Ken had taken off his blue collar.  Under the blue collar, there was a ring of reddish skin of reddish skin with no hair at all.  The redness was due to the inflammation and an inflamed skin could be itchy.   This must be the cause of his scratching all the time as the collar strangulates his neck and cause pain. The collar was now too tight for this growing up Fox Terrier. The dog couldn't talk and had tried to scratch off the collar.  In this case, the removal of the collar would resolve the problem with one veterinary visit.  Groomer Ken's booster super vitamin pills would definitely be "effective".

1029Singapore cat head hair loss, pet health and welfare educational for animal lovers, excerpts from The Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet.  The cat with a balding head. "My cat has hair dropping off her head. What should I do?" asked Mr Hamzah. Veterinarians are supposed to diagnose on telephone complaints. A cat going bald on her head, like some men over forty years old? I asked Mr Hamzah to bring in the cat for examination as there are so many causes of hair loss in the cat.     .  The pink nose and a bright demeanour showed that this was a healthy female cat. She had patches of baldness on her head.  No skin inflammation. No fleas. No ear mites. What could be the cause? The only clue was a black neck collar which was worn out with fibres coming off the edges.   Only the top part of the collar was damaged, as if the cat had been trying to claw it off. In the process, she could have scratched the top of her head, causing hair loss in irregular patches. "Why would the cat want to take off the neck collar?" I asked the Owner.   "Is the cat not free to roam in the apartment?"       "No, she is tied up," said Mr Hamzah.  "She will just go to any family member and stick her claw into their legs." "What an aggressive cat!" I said. The cat was very timid and looked frightened on the examination table.  Mr Hamzah said:  "My cat will be very quiet when she is outside the door of the apartment. She is frightened of going out."  "An introverted cat?" I said.  "Can she take medication?" "No," said Mr Hamzah.  "She would run off once she sees me putting deworming medication in her food.  My friend has a cat with a similar behaviour but it becomes docile after it grows older." This was a behavioural problem. Declawing was out of question as it would be cruel.   But would tying up the cat for long periods of time preferred to declawing?   Which would be more cruel?  Mr Hamzah took the first option.

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