Asiahomes Internet educational stories for pet lovers, sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet  


The vet says that the Lhasa Apso will be dying soon

"I want my money back!" Mrs Chan frowned as she and her 18-year-old son sat down facing Mr Formicelli, the pet dealer who had sold her son a Lhasa Apso puppy a week ago. "The vet said the puppy was going to die soon. It had heart murmurs and an enlarged heart."

The son, broad-shouldered and much taller than his mother had chosen the puppy and asked mum to pay. Mum actually had offers of free Jack Russell puppies earlier but had declined them. Now, her son had bought a dud.     

Mrs Chan contained her anger. Her son had bought a defective puppy for $800 and a professional opinion had pronounced imminent death. The son supported her mother, "The puppy puked violently and yellow vomitus come out when the second veterinarian felt its throat near its Adam's apple." 

Heart murmurs, enlarged heart and vomiting. The dealer had sold defective goods and if he returns the money, that would be fair. He might be sued if he refused to do so. 

I happened to be in Mr Formicelli's kennels which looked more like a resort with orchids, plants, lush vegetation, trees and koi fishes and had stayed longer as I waited for February thunderstorm to stop. It was a big, neat and clean place by the sea, where all dog lovers would love to see the various breeds of dogs for the whole day. 

The puppy had been at home for over 7 days. It was sent to the groomer to be groomed. It had coughed frequently. The first veterinarian checked it, gave an injection and gave four bottles of liquid medicine, white, pink, green and yellow. No instant recovery and the father referred them to a another practice which now had pronounced a death sentence as the puppy was seriously ill.  

The Lhasa Apso walked about nonchalantly on the floor, curious at every hanging thing. Big round eyes in a thick coat of brown and white. A strong sturdy puppy of good weight, the type of puppy which would be the pick of the litter. It was not coughing now.  Death was furthest from its mind.

Mr Formicelli's face darkened. He was shocked to hear that as he prided himself in importing the best puppies from Australia and he was the top dog in this dog-eat-dog pet business in Singapore. Vets, like dentists were not his favourite people.

"Which vets did you go to? How did the second vet diagnose enlarged heart with a stethoscope?" Mr Formicelli asked.

"The puppy had a chest X-ray," Mrs Chan said. The dealer apologised that he was not technically sound in veterinary radiography. This was probably the first time he had heard of enlarged puppy hearts.

He held the puppy up with both hands and put it near to his left ear to listen for heart murmurs for a few seconds.  I doubted he could hear murmurs in this way. "Sometimes, the puppy's heart beat much faster as he is coughing and have some breathing problems. When he breathes and his heart is auscultated, the vet may discover to heart murmurs." he explained patiently like a professor. Sounds logical.  "If this puppy dies soon, I will return you the money. No, if he dies within a month, I will give you a replacement puppy free!" he said confidently.   

Puppies seldom have enlarged hearts as they are usually a result of a prolonged heart or lung disease in old dogs. 

Mrs Chan told him the names of the two veterinarians and repeated that the puppy had a chest X-ray which showed that its heart was enlarged. The dealer who had over 30 years of experience with dogs and cat had not heard her mentioning about the X-ray. 

The dealer lifted up his phone and dialed a number. "Connect me to Linda please, it is urgent," he said. Somebody replied and took a message. 

He continued, "The principal of the veterinary practice where the second vet examined your puppy is a very good practice...  although it is more expensive in its fees. You can see that the vet does not return calls even though I said it was urgent. Now, this second vet tends to be starry-minded......"

I had to interrupt as he had earlier introduced me as a veterinarian and now, in my opinion, was belittling the second veterinarian for being airy fairy. "You are running down the veterinarian's competence and if Mrs Chan tells him, that will be no good for you!"

Mr Formicelli could not care less. This was not doing himself any good. Mrs Chan, a banker, would know that he had a grudge or was keen not to compensate. "The vet said that the puppy's heart was slightly enlarged?" I asked the son. He nodded his head. 

"If the heart was slightly enlarged, it would not be serious as a very much enlarged heart. Since Mr Formicelli had promised you to replace a new puppy if it dies, you may wish to wait another two weeks. It will recover from the kennel cough viral infection in its upper respiratory tract in the next two weeks. Get a veterinarian to check on the heart murmurs by then." 

Mr Formicelli dailed the practice again. "Did you inform Linda?" he asked the receptionist. "You did?" he queried. "And now she had gone out without returning my call?" 

The dealer proved to Mrs Chan, "You can see that the vet was not interested in the health of your puppy."  Mrs Chan did not comment.

This was an awkward situation for me. If I defended the veterinary profession, I was not partial as I would be deemed to have a conflict of interest, being a dog veterinarian. Yet, I could not permit Mr Formicelli to go on as he was a good man and like all pet dealers, would have dislike of certain vets.     
 
The Lhasa Apso now coughed a bit. Nothing was coughed up. Would it go home to the boy who loved him or would Mrs Chan decide on getting rid of him? 

"Your son must be in the university," I asked. "When he has a girl frirend, will he have time for his dog?" 

Mrs Chan was happy to talk about her favourite boy. He was the apple of her eye. 

"He will have no time for mummy too," Mr Formicelli laughed as he talked about his work, his problems with the government's large increase in fees in the importing of puppies, twenty times as much as ten years ago.  

 "Give him the medication of either vet," I advised. "Let him rest inside a draught-free area rather than the balcony and this complete rest will enable him to recover from the viral infection."  

Mr Formicelli advised, "Put him in an open wire cage and give him a slap (to discipline him) if he demands constant attention by crying loudly, like all puppies do" I used to have a Doberman and Dalmatian in my HDB flat and they were so noisy that I had to be evicted. But your Lhasa Apso will not make so much noise."  

I did not know if he was serious about the slapping and I doubt the new owner will do such a thing. He continued, "Give him the cough medicine from the first vet and the antibiotics from the second vet."  

Actually, the first vet's medicine had taken effect to eliminate the bacterial infection of the puppy's throat and this would take at least twenty four hours.  

By the time, the second vet treated the puppy, it was not so sickly and therefore he was deemed a good vet who had diagnosed heart murmurs whereas the first vet did not do so.  It is hard to explain to laymen about the need for medicine to take its effect as the laymen expects instant cures. 

It took nearly an hour before the rain stopped. Mrs Chan was happy with the puppy guarantee. The son had handpicked this particular Lhasa Apso with its big round eyes and a haughty high nose and this was his very first love. If he was given a replacement now, he would not feel the same.


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