STORY 1
The pet transport man came to get the address to pick up
two kittens from The Sails condo at Marina Bay. "Today
is F1 day. The road to this condo will be closed," I
said. Dr Vanessa will phone the owner to inform her.
The owner who had connections with my old school known
to produce "nerds" according to her, had e-mailed to me
for a house-call which was done by Dr Vanessa. She
brought back a kitten full of ringworm on the skin. As I
was around when the owner came, I had a word with her on
ringworm. Sometimes it is fun to help the owner know
more about their pet's treatment, reinforcing Dr
Vanessa's advices and this communication from two vets
instead of one makes the owner's visit much more
interesting. Most times, I don't introduce myself and am
mistaken for the receptionist or vet assistant. This
owner had a lot of tattoos which surprised me as she was
a young fair lady. She had ringworm lesions on her
throat, her thighs and her belly and showed the anatomy
to Dr Vanessa and I. Well, this is a modern world and I
lifting the blouse to show ringworm lesions in the belly
is not immodest.
She showed me a tube of cream to apply to her various
ringworm lesions. "I feel so itchy," she said or that
was what I heard. Well, she had so many infected skin
spots shaped like a ring and ringworm is a very itchy
disease. I am surprised that her finger nails have not
been infected.
"Normally, the doctor will prescribe a tube of cream.
You should ask your doctor to prescribe oral medication
if it is widespread," I advised and told her that
ringworm is common in Singapore's dogs and cats when she
asked. "We are treating your kitten with medication and
ringworm washes, but no cream as kittens lick away the
cream and poison themselves in the long run."
"Long ago, I had ringworm in my hair when I was an
undergraduate in Glasgow University. It was very itchy
and took several weeks to be cured. I had to take
tablets and de-contaminate my clothing as well. You need
to de-contaminate your apartment, brushes and sleeping
areas!"
"Can I have some of the tablets you prescribe for the
kitten?" she asked.
"No, no," I said. "We are licensed to treat animals, not
people. You can speak nicely to your general
practitioner and ask for the oral tablets. I am sure he
will give them to you." I don't know whether I had heard
clearly whether she said she had ringworm in her back.
It would be difficult to apply cream there herself.
Fortunately, her hair was clear of ringworm.
"I have engaged a pest controller for my apartment," she
said.
"They are a waste of money," I said. "You need to
personally clean up the apartment daily while the
controller comes once. You need to vacuum the corners,
wash the brushes and clothing and bed sheets and other.
You need to get your other two kittens clipped bald as
well as ringworm is contagious. Put your kittens in a
carrier and bring them down to the Surgery quickly."
Dr Vanessa said: "I am getting Martin to transport the
two kittens to be clipped." But the day chosen was F1
Sunday and so Martin came for nothing. Martin is our pet
taxi man.
This reinforcement of Dr Vanessa's advices about
ringworm is good for the lady as ringworm is a zoonosis.
It may help to retain clientele and that is how a vet
practice sustains its profitability. It is not about the
individual veterinary ego although most owners prefer
the vet that treats their dogs and in this department,
Dr Vanessa is dealing with most of them and is the hot
favourite.
STORY 2
From the receptionist's counter, I learnt much more
about the owner's needs than as a vet. There was one
interesting owner, a business man who kept asking me for
the bill as he came to get his daughter's dog home from
an overnight stay for treatment.
However, Dr Vanessa was in her consultation room
discussing another dog treatment with some owners. This
took more than 15 minutes and he was getting restless.
So I talked to him as I did my work.
"How did you locate Dr Vanessa?" I asked.
"The counter girl at her old practice told me," he said.
"I thought the practice would never reveal as this means
a loss of customers." Nowadays, don't expect your staff
to be loyal to the employer anymore. It is now more like
biting the hand that feeds you as times have changed. It
is up to the employer to create loyalty amongst the
staff but that is not easy as the younger generation
goes to another place for a few dollars more.
"Well," he said. "Dr Vanessa must have been nice to the
counter girls."
I agreed with him and asked what occupation he was in as
a part of conversation.
"I am retired," he said. "What were you doing before you
retired?" I asked. He was a food and beverage man.
"Did you read about the case of the supplier bribing the
Chinese restaurant chefs with millions of dollars?" I
asked.
"It is still a common practice," he said. "Only that
this supplier was caught by the anti-corruption agents.
Unlike big hotels that have a purchasing department,
Chinese restaurant chefs are in charge of purchasing.
So, they ask for money. Otherwise they will reject the
seafood as not fresh. If they are bribed, they don't
bother with the freshness or the correct weight of the
food received. The supplier just increase the price or
decrease the weight of the seafood to pay for the
bribes!"
It is hard to eradicate corruption even in Singapore
with the anti-corruption agency. We talked more about
his excellent achievements of his two daughters and
property investments during our era of the 1980s when
bank loan qualifications were not so stringently
controlled by the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore),
the bureaucrats, the academics and the politicians.
I got a first-hand view of how he did his overseas
development business which books will never be able to
explain. He was around my generation. Then he asked what
I did before becoming a receptionist since I was at the
reception counter. "Well," I said. "You can say that I
am the original vet as I started this practice."
Finally Dr Vanessa was free for him. "You have kept our
friend waiting for a long time," I said to Dr Vanessa.
"No, no problem at all," he said and gave Dr Vanessa the
name of his business that is very good for her. A
Victoria Secrets type of business. Women's business are
the best in this world of business, besides property
development.
TOA
PAYOH VETS
