Edgar could spot the first stage of labour of restlessness and contractions. He knew that his Chihuahua would get stressed out if the Caesarian section was delayed for a few days and might die of exhaustion. Now, she was alert and looked apprehensively at me.

Should I operate as requested and not talk too much? Vets get paid on delivery the puppies, not on conversation with cost-conscious breeders.  There would be other vets who had different opinions and would operate immediately.

All professional breeders would not want to spend unnecessary money on veterinary treatments. Edgar was an experienced breeder of over ten years. He would know better than a veterinary surgeon who had no hands-on professional breeding experience.  I had scheduled this time for Edgar and cancelled other appointments. Therefore, I should operate. 

Yet, this 56th day was too early for a Caesarian. I find it distressing to deliver weak premature puppies.  Edgar found it distressing for the mother to suffer from prolonged weak labour contractions.  The 2-year-old bitch had delivered by Caesarian previously.

We had an early lunch together with Edgar's breeder friend at the quiet canteen behind the surgery. After lunch, the bitch had passed some water onto the newspaper.

"Was it the discharge from the water bag?" Edgar asked.

"No," his friend replied. "It is urine."

The breeders left. The Chihuahua gave birth naturally to a small puppy at 2.30 p.m. I felt good that the bitch could give birth without surgery and expected that she would give birth over the next two days.  "This could be a midnight Caesarian," I said. "I hope it would not be a 3 a.m surgery as I would become a zombie the whole of the next day."

According to the books, the subsequent puppy should be born half hourly. If two hours had passed with no puppy, consult the veterinary surgeon.

"It is 5.30 p.m now," Edgar said on the mobile phone. "No puppies had been born and the bitch strained a lot." At least this would not be a 3.00 a.m Caesarian as I would be in the deepest sleep and the bitch would have probably collapsed from exhaustion.

The bitch was anaesthesized. Scar tissues from the first Caesarian section adhered the uterine body to the muscles. I had to separate the scars to incise the uterine body where the puppy was jammed.
I expected a simple surgery.

The second puppy's right fore leg was blocking its exit and I had to flex it first. As I pulled out the slippery amniotic sac with a swab, I was shocked. The puppy had passed meconium (baby stools) in large numbers and they were dotting the amniontic fluid.  The waste products might have contaminated been absorbed by the puppy and killed it. Could this happen? The puppy's blood supply through the umbilical cord was from the mother. 

Had I operated this morning, the puppy would not have died. But it was hard to tell since all puppies look dead immersed inside a large fluid filled water bag.

I punctured the water bag and rubbed the puppy on the neck after removing the mucus from its nostrils. The puppy was not a vigorous one. Edgar knew how to revive this one.

The third puppy was a breech position with its backside facing the vagina. It occupied the whole of the left uterine horn. It was big, around ten percentage bigger than the first puppy born by vaginal birth.  

Both puppies cried soon after as they snuggled towards the warmth of the mother and nosed for milk. The mother was fully awake as the oxygen flushed out her anaesthetic gas at the last minute of surgery. She cleaned her puppies which did not really needed cleaning. Edgar's wife had tied the one-inch umbilical cord with thread. Good signs of healthy puppies. Were all puppies premature and how could we tell?

Well, the four paws were bright pink as they were hair-less! The mother was expected to produce milk 2 days later and in the mean-time, Edgar would have to bottle feed them. He might have fostered them to other nursing bitches that do not discriminate against outside puppies as he would have access to such mothers.

It was a cool evening as I cleaned up the operating table. An incessant series of loud whine from Edgar's car. He must have opened his car door using the key instead of the remote control. We could not de-activate the alarm. What should we do?

Edgar phoned his daughter but could not understand what she said. The loud blast of the alarm whining away continuously drowned all conversation.  I knew I could press a red button under the dash board but I could not de-activate the alarm.

"I could drive you home with the bitch and puppies first and get your daughter to come to the surgery," I said to Edgar's wife.  Fortunately, they were living nearby. 

The daughter switched on the engine and pressed the red alarm five times. The alarm was de-activated. Young people are used to the new gadgets, but not for sixty-five-year old Edgar. 

It was a Caesarian I could remember vividly as I strolled over to watch the Teochew opera nearby.  Big long joss sticks were planted on the ground and spewed blue smoke.  This must be some festival in the month of July.  Offerings of food, fruits and gifts to the Hungry Ghosts Festival and items for auction were scattered on a large table at one corner of the tent. There was a huge man-sized model of a Chinese warrior guarding the place.

This opera was for Edgar's generation. There were no young people at the opera and the performers must be disheartened to act for around twenty senior citizens. At least there was some audience in this opera.  The "Speak Mandarin" Campaign over the last twenty years could have wiped out a generation of the Teochew-dialect youngsters as they spoke Mandarin rather than their own dialects. A Teochew opera would be Greek to the new generation of Singaporeans.

P.S
Edgar was good at caring for his premature puppies.  Experience over the past twenty years counted a lot.  Readers interested in buying one when they are 8 weeks old on September 14, 2003, email judy@asiahomes.com
 

Worm infestations & kinked tails.
These two kittens were said to be two months and three months old as the parents were not known.  I would say they were from the same litter.  The bigger one (only the head seen) was much bigger in size than the other.  The bigger kitten ate more of the food of the litter mate and grews bigger.   Both active kittens passed noodle-like worms, the roundworms or Ascarids.  You could see the bloated tummy of one kitten. 

Deworming tablets were given.  It is best to feed the kittens separately if you want them to grow at the same rate and to consult your veterinarian to deworm the cat as they may have roundworms and tapeworms as well as other diseases.  

Kinked tails in Singapore and Malaysian cats surprise many Caucasian expatriates who may think that they have fractured their tail as a kitten. Kinked tails are a common feature of cats in this part of the world.   The kitten above has an excessively kinked tail.


Melanomas.  Greyish nodules on the back of a 15-year-old Silkie Cross which came for its yearly booster vaccination.  What could be the cause of these clusters of skin growths hidden in a thick fine coat?  More nodules appear since the dog was seen last year but they are confined to the spinal or back area.  Could they be caused by friction to the skin as the dog goes under the bed daily?  The dog was now equivalent to human 105 years old and might have developed skin tumours. The grey ones look like melanoma tumours but diagnosis cannot be confirmed unless a biopsy was taken for laboratory histology. 

Ear tip scales. Dry flakes and inflammation on the skin at the tips of the ears in a Chihuahua puppy.  This could be a bacterial, mite or fungal infection and had been seen in a few of the smaller breeds bought from the pet dealers.   Could they be abrasions due to biting by the litter mates or mange mites incubating inside the skin? Consult your veterinarian promptly.

False pregnancy.  
This 3-year-old rabbit was considered obese.  She had false pregnancy since she was a year old. Could the abnormal hormones cause her to be hungry as she had put on much weight?  In a false pregnancy, the breasts enlarged and produced milk although the rabbit was not pregnant.  If you want your pet to live longer, it is best for them not to be overweight as it may not have the freedom to exercise and run around in an apartment or balcony.  Obese pets seldom live to a ripe old age.

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