Educational tips for pet lovers

The cocker gets a lethal injection if money is everything.  

I remember very well this cosy and pretty pet shop hidden in the basement of a condo near Mount Faber very well as it had diamonds and gold rings and other jewellry for sale.  

It was 1980 and a pet shop inside a condominium was uncommon.  Singaporeans were just crazy about small breeds of dogs, particularly Pomeranians, Pekinese, Bichon Frise, Poodles and Chihuahuas. Many would buy a pair and breed them.  The demand was greater than supply and each puppy could be sold for over eight hundred dollars or more.   I would get called in the middle of the night to perform Caesarians as some of these breeds could not give birth naturally. 

There was one small breeder or pet shop owner I remembered well. He paged for emergency Caesarian and I was on call for this Veterinary Surgery. I did not permit him to be inside the small surgery room. After Caesarian, I gave him the sole Bichon puppy.  He later made allegations to another veterinarian that I had kept the rest of the puppies. There is the sole pup syndrome mentioned in veterinary reproduction but obviously he would not know. I now understand that the sole pup might not be profitable for him after he paid the $200 veterinary fees. 

Twenty-two years later, there are 140 pet shops in Singapore according to two of my sources who had extensive business with the pet shops. Apparently one out of five new pet shops will close down, owing to high competition.  What happened to the pet shop near Mount Faber I wondered?  Has he become a famous jeweller with celebrity actresses endorsing his blue diamond pendants?

I asked Groomer Ken. Ken said the pet shop owner was building new kennels on a new piece of land next to his pet farm. In the midst of recession and massive retrenchment? I went with Groomer Ken to visit him. His new farm was at least ten thousand times bigger than his basement pet shop. He had the most diverse number of breeds of dogs. It was a pleasure to visit his landscaped farm with cascading waterfalls. Nobody would have known that he started small, very small. 

He surprised me too when he asked me to operate on his three-month Cocker Spaniel puppy just imported from Australia as we had no meeting for over twenty years.  Normally the gland of the third eyelid (nictitans gland) is located behind the third eyelid in the inner corner of the eye and cannot be seen. This gland is attached to the fascial covering of the eye and eye socket by a fibrous band of tissue. Structural weakness of this attachment leads to the prolapse of the gland. The result is "cherry eye," so called because the prolapsed gland is exposed on the surface of the eye and becomes red, inflamed and swollen.  Some breeds of dogs are predisposed to have prolapse of the nictitans gland. These include cocker spaniels, bulldogs, beagles, bloodhounds, Lhasa apsos, and Shih tzus. Typically, affected dogs are between six months to two years of age when this
occurs.    

"How much will you sell this puppy as it is?" I asked him as I thought this may be a good business opportunity for Groomer Ken. Buy low, sell high. 
 
"Five hundred dollars," he said in a serious voice as he answered the various calls on his mobile telephone. He was a very busy man planning strategically his business as I could see his infrastructure being built to be the best in his line of business.  

I asked Groomer Ken to buy it and after the surgery, sell it for one thousand dollars as it was worth that amount. A very good looking Cocker Spaniel. The surgery and anaesthesia would cost $200 and in theory he could make $300.

"It is not so easy to sell the puppy for $1,000," Groomer Ken discouraged me. "You need the pet shop to sell it for that amount."  Groomer Ken did not have a pet shop.

Each eye of a dog actually has 2 tear glands (also called lacrimal glands), unlike people (who have one). The orbital lacrimal gland produces 60% of the tears for the eye, and the third eyelid (nictitans) gland produces 40% of the tears. In 1980, vets would recommend removal of the nictitans glands. This may result in keratoconjunctivitis sicca, or "dry eye." in later years. Nictitans swelling and ocular discharge is common for 5 to 7 days after surgery. Despite surgery, dry eye may develop later in life if damage occurs to all of the lacrimal glands. This damage is usually associated with an immune system dysfunction and its occurrence cannot be predicted.  

Now, the recommendation in the U.S is to tuck the gland back inside the third eyelid and suture it.   

Tacking surgery performed by an experienced veterinary ophthalmologist has a failure rate of less than 5 %. Failure means that the gland will re prolapse and need a second surgery in about 5 cases out of 100.

The specialist will charge at least a thousand dollars for the surgery and the pet shop owner might as well euthanase it.  It is all matter of dollars and cents for the dog dealer as I learnt from that Caesarian night twenty years ago as a new graduate. Young vets are usually employees and are not aware of the the need to sustain profitability in the cut throat business and high rentals of the pet shops.

This Cocker Spaniel puppy's life would be ended immediately if I recommend the tacking surgery. Besides, there was no guarantee of success. The nictitans gland was now so large and inflamed. It would not stay inside easily and would be tearing for the next few days. 

Who would buy such a puppy? The puppy becomes less valuable as it grows up unlike some dragon fish or koi fish.  Singaporeans don't buy grown up dogs for a premium.

To remove the gland or to tack it?  A young life is at stake.  This puppy was handsome looking and should be easily sold if free from eye defects. 

What would you do?  It would be better that the puppy live and therefore I decided to remove the gland and quickly hurried Groomer Ken to transport it back to the dealer after two days of hospitalisation.  It was sold for one thousand dollars, the dealer told me later. He would lose money in this case. 

It was not worth his while to retain and get a vet to treat defective or sick puppies as he perceived that veterinary charges, like legal fees were high. However, he did give this puppy a new lease of life and a happy home.

Under anaesthesia, the nictitans gland is grasped by forceps.	Forceps clamp at its base to reduce bleeding. As little of the gland as possible is cut off as it is involved in tear production.
The gland is around 1 cm in diameter and a soft mass of tissue. Curved scissors for eye surgery are best for this surgery.
Day 2 after surgery. Antibiotic eye ointment is applied twice per day for 3 days.	The normal nictitans gland in the 3rd eyelid of the right eye is a small swelling and hidden under the 3rd eyelid. It can be seen only when you press the upper eyeball down.

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