No
guarantee surgery
"I will never send my dogs to these two veterinary surgeries,"
Mr Formichelli said suddenly in the midst of my tour of his new kennels
on a fine weekday morning with sea breezes and bright blue sky. I was
getting out of the ivory tower of long hours at my surgery, to see
what's happening with the outside dog world and whether there were any
new government regulations and diseases affecting puppies. I had no
dealing with Mr Formichelli.
"The vets there tell the owners of the dogs with parvoviral
infection never to buy dogs from me!" I was shocked at his
outburst as he explained that 30 parvoviral infections in 300 puppies
cannot be considered bad. Puppies were imported from Australia and
sourced locally. Inevitably, there would be viral infections and
sometimes a large number of puppy deaths.
"The vets do not want the owners to suffer from sadness and loss of
money." I explained. "I think they are usually new graduates
who are idealistic."
"More unrealistic, you mean? Don't the vets like more
business?" Groomer Ken asked. He was a marketing man although he
was not a degree holder. He considers bad mouthing of pet dealers by
vets as a wrong strategy as they should co operate with each other,
being synergistic rather than antagonistic.
"The more parvoviral infected puppies, the more money to be made?
These vets must be the ones not designated by the pet dealer to
vaccinate his puppies."
I remembered "There was a vet who recommended euthanasia for all
chronic or poor chances of recovery from diseases, thinking of saving
the owners money from protracted treatments." In the end, some
owners say that it would be best not to consult him as it meant putting
the dog down.
Groomer Ken remember another vet. "He is very experienced and has
lots of cases. His consultation will mean scolding if the owner has
delayed in seeking treatment and the pet has hepatitis. Owners pay him
to get scolded!"
I better not comment further as the pet dealer was so angry. There was
so much to appreciate in the clear blue sky and salty smell of the sea
breezes. Mr Formichelli's puppy cages were well positioned for the
breezes to sweep away any smell or viral build up as they were not fully
enclosed in air conditioned rooms like his competitors. Air
conditioned air accumulates viruses.
Suddenly too, the busy pet dealer pointed to a Cocker Spaniel puppy with
a cherry eye and asked me to treat
it. The "cherry eye" is a gland of the third eyelid which is
present at the corner of the eye. Normally, it is not visible.
Some breeds like the cocker spaniels, bulldogs, beagles,
bloodhounds, Lhasa apsos, and Shih Tzus, usually less than one year old,
are affected.
occurs. Once the gland prolapses from the eyelid, it is exposed on the surface of
the eye and becomes red, inflamed and swollen.
Mr Formichelli knew that topical steroids and antibiotics would not solve the
problem.
The nictitans gland produces around 40% of the eye tears. To remove or surgically
reposition the nictitans gland? Removal may result in dry eye (keratoconjuncitivitis
sicca).
In 5- 20% of the cases, the gland can prolapse after repositioning and
requires a second surgery which may be harder as there will be scar
tissues or removal. This means more costs to the pet dealer or
owner.
Despite surgery, dry eye may develop later in life if damage occurs to all of the
main tear glands (lacrimal glands) which produce around 60% of the
tears. This damage is usually associated with an immune system dysfunction and its occurrence cannot
be predicted.
When a patient has dry eye, or a lack of the watery layer of the tears, the oil and
mucus layer production is increased. The dog shows a thick, sticky greenish discharge. When the cornea is deprived of oxygen and food through the tear film, it
deteriorates and there will be brown pigmentation, scar tissue growth, blood vessel growth and even ulcer development.
The dog will not see clearly.
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