ASIAHOMES TIPS FOR
YOUR PETS TO
LIVE LONGER
Be Kind To Pets.
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The Sheltie puppy looked
dead
"It's
an emergency," Nurse Ann said over the mobile phone
as I was half way to the riding club to check out the
big lump on a horse's backside for a 10 o'clock
appointment. "The Sheltie puppy became unconscious,
her eyes stared into space and her head was jerking up
and down."
It would take at least fifteen minutes to
reach the surgery.
The Sheltie looked dead as the owner carried the limp
body covered with thick saliva at her neck.
It was only two months old and purchased one week ago
from a pet dealer who gave a 24-hour guarantee that the
puppy could be returned if she was certified unhealthy
by the veterinarian. She was normal.
"She ate well this morning," Mrs Wee said. She
was in her green and white striped blouse and slack, her
hair bundled in a pony tail with green netted clip, the
left forehead hair had been held up and back by a gold
butterfly clip while a blue plastic clip hooked up the
right side.
Characteristic of Mandarin-speaking women, her left
hand
had a jade bangle, the type of jade with brown, green
and white bands. On her right hand, she had a small gold
chain. She was around forty years old, had a
double chin to match her round happy face and big eyes.
Certainly she was outstanding as a fish monger,
especially with her bright orange plastic apron hanging
from her neck to protect her clothing from fishy
stains.
First impression counts and she certainly knew how to
cut a neat feminine self at the wet market and would
attract more customers at this upgraded Ang Mo Kio wet
market. Other fish mongers were not outstandingly
attired.
Her stout up figure and clear complexion would be
perfect for the slimming centres' advertisements but
then the Singapore advertisers usually portrayed
glamorous women, the before pregnancy and after birth
celebrities, not fish mongers.
Mrs Wee put the puppy on the examination table and said,
"She was playing with the three-month-old male puppy as
usual. Suddenly her whole body shook and she
foamed at her mouth. I rushed down to you
immediately."
"You did not return the male puppy to the pet
dealer?" I asked. The dealer had a 24-hour return
guarantee if the puppy was certified sick. The
puppy did not have descended testicles although they may
descend later. She would have to take the risk if she
wanted an intact male. That was ten days
ago.
I looked at the limp body of the Sheltie. She extended her neck
skywards trying to
breathe in air. Was this her last breath? Would she just
die on me? Older dogs with continuous and
prolonged
fits do die and this young one was not as robust as a
grown up dog.
I quickly gave her the anti-fit injection and checked
the rectal temperature. Was fever a cause of the fits?
She had excellent appetite and this fit would not be
caused by an infectious and contagious micro-organism
like viruses. The thermometer read 40 degrees Celsius.
This was high but it could be due to the heat generated
by the muscles contracting for more than five minutes
and raising the body temperature.
It could be a sudden onset fever or exposure to an
insecticide. Shelties have idiosyncratic reactions to
some drugs. The owner had been using a tick shampoo
yesterday.
It could not be a low
glucose level in the blood as the puppy had an excellent
appetite. This was shown when she vomited out four
tablespoonfuls of dry dog feed later.
 There were blood tests to be done but it was not the
time to do it. All dog lovers are traumatised by their
dogs having fits and it was important to terminate the
convulsions to prevent further damage to the brain.
The Sheltie felt better after the anti-fit injection and
dextrose saline injections. She rested in the cage. The
rectal temperature was normal at four o'clock in the
afternoon.
 The puppy was
Whining, just like all
restless puppies wanting company and fun. She had
recovered. Nurse Ann let her out to enjoy some afternoon
sunshine on the grass. Just for a few minutes. She
phoned the owner to bring the puppy home at six o'clock
 There
was no warning.
Just ten minutes before the owner arrived, I looked at
the puppy. The Sheltie had a wet neck as she
dripped thick strands of saliva on her neck. and
was lying flat on her cage. Her eyeballs rolled
upwards and she looked daze. She trembled, arched her neck
sideways and upwards.
This was going to be the end of a young life, I
thought. A short
and sweet life. It was better than suffering a long
life. The brain was abnormal again and the
electrical impulses in the neurons had fired excessively
or in a disordered manner, leading to fits.
I inserted the thermometer into her rectum to
check whether she was feverish. High fever heats
up the brain and leads to febrile fits in
toddlers and this would happen in young puppies
too.
 She had a high rectal
temperature of 40 degrees C on the first consultation.
This high temperature could be due to the violent muscle
tremors resulting in a rise in body heat. During
the second episode of fits, the temperature was
normal at 39 degrees
C.
I injected anti-fit injection medicine into her
thigh muscle and a
tranquiliser under the skin of her neck. I gave her an
antibiotic injection to prevent any bacterial
infections now that she was weak. She needed to rest
overnight in the cage.
Mrs Wee was shocked but understood the situation
and went back.
|
The Sheltie woke up at midnight and made the Whining noises again, looking for human companionship. She
was not interested in food or water. She missed her
owner.
Nurse Ann dared not let
her out of the cage anymore. It would be better to let
the Sheltie rest. In the morning, she was as normal as
any puppy and went home.
 Most fits in dogs do not have a
known cause and are called idiopathic fits.
The most likely cause of the fits would be traumatic
injury to the brain. The bigger male puppy could have
hit her brain during play or she could have fallen down
and knocked her head. Mrs Wee did not know what caused
the seizures as she had been up at 4 o'clock to prepare
the fishes for the wet market at Ang Mo Kio.
Whining
noises of a puppy could be construed a noise
nuisance but every time I hear a puppy whine, I remember
the fish monger's Sheltie and to me, a whiny puppy at my
surgery means that it is healthy and good health is what
money can't buy.
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