Post-mortem results on Cutie

Cutie was one of the Selayang pups who passed away a few days ago of supposedly "mysterious" causes.  There were hardly any symptoms and she just went down within hours. 

The post-mortem revealed evidence of abnormalities in the heart muscles and this strongly suggests distemper. 

Distemper is indeed a scary disease.  There can be absolutely no symptoms and the dog goes down suddenly.  The chances of survival from distemper is much better in older dogs.  And to make things worse, the test kit for distemper is not reliable.  It can give a false negative.

Seeing how quite a number of these 23 pups that we rescued from the pound were and still are down with all kinds of diseases, I wonder if the local councils could please not capture little puppies.  Once they are put in the pound, diseases abound, and even though they are rescued and adopted, some of them die within a short time. 

Dave just informed me that Tiger, the white pup he adopted on the day we did the Selayang rescue, passed away of internal bleeding. 

Updates on Forrest

The vet informed me today that they have detected a "protein leakage" in Forrest.  The cause is not known as yet, but the vet is already giving egg white as a protein supplement in Forrest's diet.

Meanwhile, Forrest is just as noisy and attention-seeking.

 

Supporting Meiji's ongoing spay-neuter

Besides dogs, Meiji also rescues cats and sends them to Klinik Kembiri for spaying-neutering.  

Today, we reimbursed her for the spaying-neutering of 2 female cats and 5 male cats.  

If you are a big-time rescuer, do apply for the subsidised rates at Klinik Kembiri.  It would save you a whole lot of money. 

Meiji will endeavour to look for homes for these cats.  Recently, she successfully rehomed three spayed-neutered cats. 

Meiji's rescued dogs

This afternoon, Meiji brought two rescued dogs for treatment at our panel vet, all the way from Raub. 

These are WongWong and FaiFai.  Both appear to have skin problems. 

This is WongWong.  She is female, and was picked up from the roadside.

This is FaiFai.  We are quite sure FaiFai is one of our Klang rescued dogs because of evidence of being spayed (the shaven patch at the side of the body).  She must have escaped from LLLP.  She also has a skin problem.  Thank goodness Meiji spotted her.

The vet took skin scrapes on both of them to examine under the microscope.  It certainly looked like mange to all of us.  But the vet could not find any evidence of mange at all in the samples, so she cannot prescribe medication for it.  Also, Meiji had bathed them both with Tacktick, and this could have removed all the evidence. 

A close-up of WongWong's condition.

FaiFai, fast asleep while waiting for the results of the tests.

The vet also checked for fungus using the UV-light, but again, there was none.

Finally, it was decided that Meiji should continue with the Tacktick wash as that is the "approved" treatment for mange.  FaiFai was prescibed an antibiotic as her wounds seemed more serious and infected. 

WongWong also has TVT, but is at an early stage.  The vet prefers to wait for at least two weeks for the skin condition to improve before adminstering the chemo jab for TVT because chemo medication can severely lower the immune system and cause the skin condition to become drastically worse.  So, FaiFai will come back in 2 weeks to see if she is ready for the chemo treatment.  It only takes 4 jabs to successfully heal the TVT.  TVT is one of the most treatable cancers in dogs. 

I waited with Meiji all afternoon, and the diagnosis itself took quite some time. 

Today's treatment was sponsored by us. 

We also donated another cage to Meiji for her dogs.  She is looking after more than 100 dogs on her farm now. 

Bye, WongWong and FaiFai....see you both in 2 weeks' time.

Get well soon!

The dog with Pyometra survives!

I refer to this posting: http://www.myanimalcare.org/2010/03/four-dogs-spayedneutered-today.html

One of the OKR factory dogs brought to us for spaying was found to have a uterus infection (pyometra).

Photo taken two days ago.

Yesterday, the dog recovered completely.  The blood tests revealed that the kidneys were normal, and she (the dog) even pulled the drips out when she woke up!

These local breeds are very, very tough. 

Ah Kuen has already taken the dog back. 

We're glad she came out of it alive, kicking and not in the least scathed!

The importance of completing the course of Antibiotics

We all know from our science lessons in school that we should complete our course of antibiotics.  But some of us, after getting well, might choose to stop the course, not knowing how dangerous that could be.  

Well, here's what the vet told me, in plain English (minus all the scientific jargon) of what happens if we do not finish our course of antibiotics (and this refers to our pets, but I'm sure it applies to us humans as well).

The vet was referring to the need for Xiao Li and Bandit to undergo the entire course of antibiotics (Dovy) even though they recovered after one day.

If we do not let our pets complete the whole course of the antibiotics, they will develop resistance to it, and the next time they get sick, the antibiotics will not work anymore, and this is what causes some pets to die (because their bodies do not respond to antibiotics anymore).  So, it is VERY important that your pet finishes the antibiotics.

There you have it - in very plain English.

So, if your pet is sick and is on a course of antibiotics, please make sure you feed him/her the entire course even though he/she is well.  There are limited antibiotics on the market for pets, and if your pet has already developed resistance towards one, there may not be a suitable one to treat him/her the next time, and it could result in death.  

The wonders of Doxy and a good vet!

As you know, Xiao Li and Bandit came down with "something" after their deworming, and had stopped eating for 3 days.  It got me really worried. 

But the vet suspected it was a blood parasite which was probably festering in their bodies, and it took a lowering of their immune system (due to deworming OR the trip to the vet's, OR the car ride, OR the presence of the PBJ gang, etc.) for it to surface.  Kittens and cats are VERY sensitive to any change in their environment, and it causes them great stress. 

Xiao Li had a fever, but Bandit was ok.  However, both had lost their appetites completely and that was very worrying.

But the vet said if it is a blood parasite, which he strongly suspected, Doxy would take care of it in 2-3 days.

Well, it took less than that.  With just one dose, the two were up and about yesterday morning. 

Here they are this morning, creating havoc in the room.

The mastermind behind all the games...

Teddybear joins in the fun.

Bandit

Xiao Li

She looks a trifle bit thin, but the vet says that's how active kittens should be.  He assured me she's "just perfect".  But she has lost 0.1kg since getting sick.  She is eating well now.  I had to take the can of AD away from her this morning! 

Teddybear

He has gained considerable weight, and his coat is improving, which indicates he is getting more healthy.  Give him another month or so, I'm sure he'll shine like Bandit.  He was really in bad shape when we got him back two weeks ago.    

All three are up for adoption.  If you are interested, please contact me by sms at 012-6935870.