The Younger Generation
Cares For Hamsters More Than The Baby Boomer Generation
Dr Sing
Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
Date:
06 July, 2011
On
Jun 8, 2011, I attended the SAP Summit 2011 - The Future State.
The 9.10 am topic for the panelists was "The Secrets of Making A
Best-Run Government Run Better; The Changing Mandate; The
Shocking Disasters; The Future State
The Panelists were: Dr Anthony M Cresswell, Deputy Director, Center
for Technology in Government, University at Albany, NY, USA; Zaqy
Mohamad, Member of Parliament, Choa Chu Kang GRC, Singapore and Adaire
Fox-Martin, SVP, Industry Business Solutions, SAP Asia Pacific Japan.
Mr Zaqy spoke about the better use of social media by politicians to
engage the segment of the public. Apparently this had not been done
effectively in the recent General Elections in Singapore if I heard Mr
Zaqy Mohamad correctly.
The other panelist, Dr Anthony Cresswell talked about President
Obama's Open Government's initiatives in the US and the difficulty of
evaluating the key performance indicators of the services provided. It
was an eye-opener for me when he said that over 80% of government
computerisation projects fail.
What is the relevance of social media to veterinary surgeons in
practice? There is a segment of the pet owners who are younger and
would only be engaged through the use of social media. They will
search for topics of relevance to their pet's illness and want to know
which vet has the ability and experience to treat their beloved pets.
Their own vet may not provide such a service.
Social media using webpages or blog requires the content to be created
daily. There is now the twitter novel (short novels of 140 words are
popular with netizens of China). Whatever the form, the contents must
be updated daily or weekly to get a stream of "fans". Writing is very
hard work for those who prefer not to touch a pen as there need to be
research to produce a useful article. There are so many distractions
and better things to do than to create good content after a hard day's
work at the Surgery!
To illustrate the amount of work involved to produce a useful article,
I will let readers know how I produced the article, "What Makes A
Horse Racing Club Profitable?" This article was written in 1989 and
the scanned pages are at
Horses, starting with the first page at:
http://www.asiahomes.com/dev/Stc1.JPG
CASE 1. The hamster with a
very large ear wart
On a recent encounter, 2 days ago on Jun 9, 2011, I met an aunty and
her niece who brought a hamster with a large dangling ear wart to Toa
Payoh Vets. This wart was initially very small but her vet said she
would not operate due to the high anaesthetic risks. As the wart grew
bigger over the last 4-5 months, her vet referred her to another vet
whose location was quite far to her residence. So this aunty googled
for "hamster, warts" and an asiahomes webpage, probably similar
http://www.asiahomes.com/singaporetpvet/ popped out.
I was at the Surgery at that time and so I got the
above-mentioned feedback from her. This episode demonstrated the
culture and lifestyle of the younger generation. The aunty was around
30-40 years old. The niece was a teenager. I paid special attention to
this case as I collaborated with Dr Vanessa to ensure that the outcome
of anaesthesia was what the aunty hoped for. Signing an informed
anaesthesia consent form is one thing. I don't usually request it but
Dr Vanessa does.
What was important was that the hamster come out of the surgery room
alive and biting (this hamster bites, the aunty had said). Obviously,
I would bite if anybody messes around with my wart. The hamster was
anaesthesized under isoflurane gas.
A good
anaesthetic assistant is
invaluable. However, he or
she needs to be trained as
vet schools don't teach much
about hamster anaesthesias.
I kept a close eye on my assistant Mr Min telling him not to be
distracted by looking for sutures etc while anaesthesizing the
hamster. At one time, his eyes and one hand were on a drawer to take
out a packet of suture for Dr Vanessa Lin.
I told him off not to do it. "Hamsters die because there is no 100%
focus on anaesthesia by one person or the vet." It is important
that new vet
assistants and new vets need to be mentored closely in hamster
anaesthesia and surgery as
such cases are high risk
anaesthetic cases.
There is no other
way to prevent anaesthetic deaths in hamsters when the vet does
hamster anaesthesia. Deaths on the operating
table damages the reputation of Toa Payoh Vets and I am very strict on
anaesthetic training and procedures to ensure that no healthy pets
should die on the operating table at all times.
Dr Vanessa Lin excised the wart and sutured the wound. I proposed no
suturing as the wound in the ear was so small and that bleeding would
stop with pressure. As each vet has his or her own ideas, I will not
interfere whenever an associate vet operates in most cases but I do
monitor the handwork - the post-operation complications and the
complaints. This is my duty of care for Toa Payoh Vets clientele.
She decided to stitch up the wound. I recommended potassium
permanganate to stop the bleeding. Each vet has his or her approach to
a surgical case and there are several satisfactory outcomes on any
approach. Bleeding still came back as I had predicted in this
case. This bleeding was not life-threatening.
The hamster was now free of "shouldering" a burden. Actually, the wart
of 1.5 cm x 1.2 cm x 0.5 cm looked so much like one of those big
dangling ear rings worn by some ladies. The hamster scratched his left
ear where the wound was. The aunty was concerned. So I proposed a
paper e-collar. "The hamster hates it very much," I said to the aunty
as she put the e-collar on. The hamster used all his two hands to pull
out the hamster. Vigorously and angrily I think. So, no more e-collar.
"Just use the clean tissue to wipe off the blood," I advised the
aunty. "And take the medication." The niece did not say a word but I
presumed she was the real owner of this beloved hamster and was happy.
P.S. What are the Secrets of Making A Best-Run Government Run
Better? There were no clear list of secrets enumerated as far as I
know. The political party who knows how to engage the Generation Y
effectively will be the one to win their votes and get the increased
mandate to govern if the Generation Y is the vote swinger. The
Government is now said to be a business. So, the Government who
provides "public value" to the citizens will be a better-run
government.
CASE 2. The hamster with a
small ear wart
CASE 3. The hamster with
two large chest tumours
Anaesthesia in this Syrian
Hamster in Jun 2011
The Syrian
Hamster was very thin. I
could feel the spines. So I
told the owner that I would
give oral antibiotics and
electrolytes for 24 hours at
3 times before anaesthesia
and surgery. This hamster
had stopped eating as was
evident in no stool
production.
I told the owner orally that
the anaesthetic risks were
very high as the hamster was
not in good health. She
understood the risks. This
communication should be
recorded in the case sheet
and informed consent form
should be signed in theory.
There are at least two
methods of anaesthesia in
this case. Isoflurane gas
alone is the first method.
However I find that this
surgery can be better
performed if the hamster is
sedated by Zoletil so that
less gas anaesthetic is
required and I do not need
to place him into the gas
container every few seconds.
It would be a very painful
surgery as the lumps were
massive and there were two
of them.
I used the 2nd method of
Zoletil sedation and topping
up with isoflurane
anaesthesia gas. I
took out a new bottle of
Zoletil 100. A 5-ml diluent
is advised to make up
Zoletil 100. However, I
added 10 ml diluent so this
would be Zoletil 50. I
injected two drops IM. This
dosage would not be
sufficient from my
experience but this hamster
was not healthy and that was
why I reduced the dose. It
is very hard to know exactly
the dosage that would not
kill the hamster. A
healthy plump adult Syrian
hamster should have no
problem with
4 drops of Zoletil 50 IM but
this hamster was skinny as a
rake.
OBSERVATION AND CLOSE
MONITORING
"Count up to 10 and take the
hamster out of the
container," I said to my
assistant whenever he put
the hamster inside the
plastic container of 5%
isoflurane gas. He was not
used to such instructions as
he had little experience of
hamster anaesthesia. My job
is to train him up to assist
all Toa Payoh Vets in
hamster anaesthesia and
receiving excellent outcome.
Only with excellent clinical
outcome and not anaesthetic
deaths do the vet get
referrals.
Mr Min felt it stupid to
count as he graduated as a
vet from Myanmar where I
presume hamsters were not
part of the veterinary
studies. Even talking to
dogs while giving injections
is alien to his culture.
Finally he counted:
"1-2-3-4...10". He
took the hamster out and I
continued with the excision
of over 3 cm long. The
hamster gave a squeaky sound
and I put him back to
isoflurane gas container to
get anaesthesized. On and
off. Finally, the surgery
was completed and the
hamster woke up. He was OK
and went home 48 hours later
with no complaints.
CASE 4. Was it a bruised
area or a chest tumour?
The vet is ultimately
responsible for the deaths
on the operating table.
Extremely close monitoring
of the stages of anaesthesia
is very important in hamster
anaesthesia as the eyelid
and pedal reflexes are
impossible to do unlike in
the dog and cat. A bit more
gas. A distraction of a few
seconds. Cold
air-conditioning air.
Dampness and wetness. The
hamster just dies on the
operating table. It is
indeed a very stressful
anaesthesia and surgery when
large massive tumours are
presented.
Morally and ethically, it is
best for the vet who does
not want to handle hamster
tumours, to reject the case
outright rather than to
prescribe the owner
some medication and advise
"wait-and-see"
when they present hamsters with tumours (hard, firm
lump). Just ask the hamster owner to seek another vet
rather than give false hopes of recovery from oral
medication. I can understand that vets may not wish to
refer to competitors who may not be competent and if
the hamster dies at the competitor's place, there will
be blame on the referral.
HAMSTER
PATIENT.
Many caring hamster owners
are from the younger
generation of Singaporeans and are
well educated. They are also quite
sophisticated in knowing
that oral medication for
tumour cases are a waste of
their money. Not only that,
this act delays the owner
from seeking early
veterinary surgery for the
removal of the tumour, some
of which may be fast-growing
malignant tumours.
TOA
PAYOH VETS
