"Dr Teo works at Toa Payoh Vets on Saturdays only," I said.
"Another vet at Toa Payoh Vets will be OK," she replied.
"What's the name of Vet 1 whom you first consulted?"
"I do not wish to disclose her name."
"Did she have X-rays and blood test results for your dog?" I asked as she was telling me the findings without the documentary evidence.
"Yes," she said.
"You can ask Vet 1 to fax or email to me at Toa Payoh Vets," I said.
"I don't think it is possible," she replied.
"Why not? Are the documents illegal?" I asked. "Vets do pass clinical records to each other when the owner seeks a 2nd opinion. I have done it before and other vets have done it. You just have to phone them and ask for the medical records."
She phoned later to say that Vet 1 would want her to go to the practice to take over the records and so would be late for the appointment. This was OK with me. Around 3 pm she came and saw Dr Daniel first. He had recorded "4 days of changed behaviour, increased breathing, decreased appetite and cannot walk. No vomiting, diarrhoea and no change in diet. Cheese treat for one week and polyuria and polydipsia.
Blood test from Vet 1. No abnormalities in the liver and kidneys or total white cell count. But RBC 3.37 (5.5 - 5.8), HGB 8.4 (12-18) and HCT 23.9 (37-55) were very low. I told the owner that the gums were purplish and the tongue was pale. This was not good.
The mid-abdominal lump was solid, painless and half the size of an orange. What is it?
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Overall, Vet 1 was spot on in her diagnosis but the owner was not satisfied.
"Is it because you went when the practice was going to close?" I asked.
"Yes," she said.
Sometimes it is difficult to satisfy the owner on the first consultation in a medical condition with no cure except surgery.
Yet this dog was 14 years old, very thin and I would say emaciated. Surgery would kill him. So I don't even want to propose surgery as this dog will never survive the long time needed to remove this large abdominal lump. In any case, the young couple was never in favour of it as they must have done their internet research and know the high risks involved..
But what is this large abdominal lump and what should the couple do?
"Euthanase the dog," one young lady et suggested when I spoke to her after X-raying two views of the dog's chest and abdomen at her practice. "This dog is suffering and the owner should not prolong her suffering."
"The owner does not want euthanasia," I replied.
"Why? Is it for religious reasons?"
"It is for personal reasons," I know of owners who rather not put the old companion to sleep by lethal injection at the onset of signs and symptoms of difficulty in breathing. In this case, there might be medication to alleviate such a condition.
"There was one government vet before your time," I said to this young lady vet who had worked for over a year in another practice. "He is now retired. He recommended euthanasia so many times that he has a reputation to be avoided. This is because the owners would forecast that he would advise euthanasia in many sick cases.
"His intention was to save money for the owners but he gained the reputation of being an "euthanasia" vet to be avoided at all costs by pet lovers with sick pets.
"In this case, the couple is against euthanasia. They want to know what is the nature of the abdominal tumour." Dr Daniel had proposed ultrasound scanning. From my reading of the couple, they want an acceptable solution such that the dog would live the last few days of his life without pain."
What more can be done other than ultrasound?
Dr Daniel elaborated on the causes of the swollen abdomen - bleeding, chyle, fluid from heart failure since the liver and kidneys were OK based on blood test from Vet 1, peritonitis. He also advised surgery to remove the abdominal mass as the only option. He advised abdomino-centesis to draw out the fluid to send to the lab for examination but sedation would be required and this would be risky as it may kill the dog. So the couple did not accept his suggestion and wanted to take the dog home.
I let Dr Daniel handle the case to the conclusion but I did give my take on this medical condition.
What should be done for this dog if surgery was not an option? "There is no need for sedation," I said to the couple. "We need to draw out the abdominal fluid so that your dog can breathe easier at least for the next 2 days and start eating." Each vet has his or her own opinion and my opinion was that abdomino-centesis could be done without much pain on this ill dog and so without any risk of death.
The only risk is in putting the needle into the abdominal mass. This was what I was concerned and so was the thinking behind the young lady vet who looked at the X-ray with me earlier after X-ray. "The needle might puncture this big lump," she said..
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This blood collection in a bottle was shown to the couple as they wanted to know the cause of anaemia and the nature of the abdominal tumour. No exploratory surgery but just to know what the abdominal mass is.