Misha is fit to sterilise and Benji the Collie too

Well there are good, happy & fun things that happen when you work with dogs and then there are extremely sad times.

Today I visited "Baan Ma kap Maew" veterinary clinic, bringing 5 doggy's along for sterilisation. Misha has now finally recovered from her Heartworm treatment and her long period of 'heat' has finished so today the vets did a final analysis of her blood & Xray of her heart and following a positive conclusion, she was sterilised.

Also on the list today were Chok, Kam, Daeng & Benji. I have not written about Benji here before but he is the Collie that was brought to the shelter entrance by his owner a few weeks ago and officially dumped, being thrust into the hands of the shelter caretaker and then riding away on his bike.

Benji, it turns out has contact dermatitis and has skin rashes all over his back. We have been trying to keep these wounds clean and dry but that is near on impossible with a guy who likes to swim in the pond, so although he is actually black & white, most days he has a touch of brown about him too! They are showing signs of improvement though.( Earlier photos of Benji)

Anyway, when I visited the clinic this evening to collect them, there was a family huddled around a large Golden Retriever on the inspection table in one of the cubicles.

It was quite obvious from the faces that the doggy was not well and I could also see the Dr crying as she attended to him. Everyone was holding him and stroking him, talking to him and I could see his head rising to take in his surroundings. I could see they were saying goodbye and when his breathing calmed and his body ceased to move, the family just looked at their boy and cried, for he had gone.

By this time I was in a position to leave, with all my 5 loaded on the truck. I stopped to express my sadness for their loss to a man who stood in the shadows of the entrance, hiding his tears and trying hard to fight off the emotion of the occasion and the families distress. We talked about Mharx and his long 13 years of life and what a wonderful companion for the family he had been. He then asked me about my dogs and I explained the background. I passed on my card and bid him farewell.

I was halfway back to the shelter when I received a call from the bereaved family to ask if I knew of a suitable place to bury Mharx. After a long discussion and a return trip, I picked him up and took him to the shelter. There is a pleasant spot across the road from the shelter, in a Lamyai (Longan fruit) & Banana orchard and tonight under the cover of darkness, with torch in hand & several litres of water to loosen the parched and solid soil, the caretaker Kh Yom buried Mharx.

TvT - Transmissible Veneral Tumour - Before & After Treatment

In recent weeks I have written quite a bit about the TvT cases we are currently dealing with. We are seeing some good results from the use of Vincristine and the tumours are reduced very quickly.

Here are some of the cases. From left to right, it shows the impact at 1st, 2nd & 3rd etc injection

Daeng


Lai

Nam Pueng

Pauline

Phuky (Still waiting to start her treatment )

TvT is curable with Vincristine

Currently we have 7 cases under our care for Transmissible Venereal Tumour (TvT) and we are achieving very good results.

Today I was able to bring 6 dogs to the vet clinic, "Baan Ma kap Maew", unfortunately the 7th dog, Phuky, is continuing to evade the needle and the family where she stays, are not appearing to take things seriously. More of that later...

Daeng came to the vet today for a final check up on her tumour and Dr Arunrat advised that there was no more treatment necessary. She had received her last jab 2 weeks ago and the tumour has shrunk externally & internally to just a tiny wart type lesion. However, the minor complaint of dirty & slightly infected ears still needs some attention (must remember to buy more cotton buds) and we could consider sterilisation next week.

Buun "not happy being kept in a cage... or happy about anything really" Kao also came along for her final check too. Good news, 'Gap Baan, set laow' the vet said so we will take her back home a.s.a.p as her tumour is now gone and she is fully recovered from sterilisation.

The little village dog Lai received her 4th jab today. No sign of the puss we noticed 2 weeks ago, so the antibiotics seem to have done the trick. Her tumour is looking a lot better but still needs another visit next week to assess if more Chemotherapy is required.

And the dynamic duo of Pauline & Nam Pueng (Honey in Thai) are also recovered from their tumours and can now stop the weekly trips. The vet said we should observe their health and then we could consider sterilisation. Pauline's leg tumour looked amazing when the vet removed the dressing. It seems the daily application of antiseptic cream, to help stop the gauze from becoming part of the wound, had been good advice.

Last but not least, Lucy, the little terrier picked up at a temple, with the now deceased Max, 2 weeks ago, who has Heartworm and TvT was weighed, only to find she is even lighter than last week. Like Phuky, we are still waiting to start the course of treatment. Oh well, she enjoyed the car journey though the Songkran celebrations and a change of scenery.

Just as I was departing the clinic, Dr Arunrat asked me to look at a dog laying in a cage at the rear of their practice. She told me about BuunRod being hit by a car a couple of days ago, being brought to the clinic by some Thai folks and then cared for by the clinic staff. This dog had no home to go to and wondered if Care for Dogs could help with her recuperation. BuunRod (Survivor in Thai) has a pelvic fracture & rear right leg fracture. She also has tested positive for Heartworm & Ecanis.

So what could I do.... my heart told me straight away that there was only one option. We will continue her antibiotics & liver supplements back at the shelter and also get her on some regular meals & allow her to relax rather than stress it out on the street.

As for Phuky, this poor creature has a growth on her vulva about the size of a saucer and looks like fresh minced pork. Flies are all around her and she has her tail down to keep the flies away, as well as reflect her mood. She is thin and her blood is just about recovering an acceptable level of platelets after some R&R at the shelter but then back home as she was so stressed out & home sick! As on other occasions when I have been to the house, its the picture of poor village life we see so often here. Phuky is not their highest priority, in fact she is no priority at all. She features in their conscience because she exists in their home but as for giving her any special treatment at this time to help her, no..... she will be lucky to get through this.

TvT Program - Its catching.... Literally

Today I took 5 cases of TvT to the vet for their Chemotherapy. There were meant to be 6 cases but the last one was a village owner dog Phuky and she was not at home when I called.

Unless you are there, I am sorry to say you might not appreciate the circumstances. Can I just say the neither the guy making straw hats from strips of bamboo, the bamboo splitting process factory next door, the party of elderly ladies gathered around a front porch or the wide eyed & expressionless open mouthed singlet guy knew what on earth I was looking for, let alone had they seen Phuky! I accepted defeat once more and thought it better to take 5 rather than excite them more and keep looking for the 6th case.

I refer to the excitement of the dogs because transportation of dogs can in itself be very stressful for them. Some salivate as if they were Rabid, some vomit, especially if they have eaten anything before hand and some just wreck the cage and hurt themselves in the process.

Today, BuunKaow was on board and she hates being caged. She had her teeth at the bars from the outset and was woofing, yelping & screaming all the way. I checked in on them on the back of the truck when I stopped for Phuky and they were all fretting but never the less sat or laying quite ok, apart from BuunKaow of course. When I arrived at the vets, she was already out of the cage and standing in a small space between the 6 cages I had on the back, thankfully not running off. With a little assistance from the vet staff, we caught her and got her inside. Not a happy bunny.

Anyway, in the 6th cage I had Naiomi, along for a skin scrape & sure enough, her balding patches are early Dermodex mange and her lumpy ear is due to a Haematoma or in other words, a burst blood vessel in the ear. This was possibly caused by a bite or scratch. So on top of her visit recently regarding her anal & mouth warts, she has this on top. These are due to poor health and the vet suggested that because she had suffered with Distemper recently, her immunity was low and these issues were the small price she is paying but at least she is alive.



Most of the TvT cases were showing signs of improvement both visibly and by evidence of maintained or increased weight. The vet suggested that BuunKaow may well go home next week and hopefully Daeng as well. Its been a long haul for her but now her weight is going back on and her tumour is just a feint growth inside, there looks to be a brighter future for her.



Paulines leg and vulva are much improved and Nam Pueng is coping well too. Her tumour has not reduced as quickly as some but you can see it is definitely receding & healing.



But bad news about the village dog Lai. Her vulva had puss coming from it and the vet recommended she should have antibiotics as well as the chemo. In the back of my mind I worry about Pyometra but lets see next week how she is.




This was the first TvT Program trip to this particular veterinary practice. As you may have read recently in these pages, we had established a cost saving scheme with them and from here on will manage to treat cases a lot cheaper. This is such good news for the dogs of Chiang Mai. Next week, we will have another 2 cases to join the program, to replace the 2 that will hopefully have completed their treatment.

TvT - Transmissible Veneral Tumour

TvT appears to be rife in Chiang Mai and this morning Karin & I took 6 cases to the vet for injection of Chemotherapy.








We had Daeng, BuunKeow,Nam Pueng,Pauline,BuunKaow and Lai (pics above) for treatment of their tumours and today Daeng gets her 3rd shot after having a rest for 2 weeks as the treatment was affecting her appetite and she had lost weight.

This week though, despite climbing the shelter fence and escaping on 2 occasions this week (both times just resting outside awaiting capture) she has put half a kilo on.

Pauline is afflicted in a strange way. It seems that where he TvT blood had touched her leg so much, a tumour had also devloped on her leg. Today was her second injection and already her tumours are receding. Amazingly, she was in extreme pain from another problem. An ingrowing dew claw, curling back into the root. Maybe after her treatment for TvT is over, we should remove the nail bed to save future problems.

KaowDam was also along today for sterilisation. Her feet are now repairing nicely and after her sterilisation & recovery, will return to Airport Plaza.

Venereal Disease & Sterilisation

BuunKeow & Daeng are visiting the vet today for their weekly check on the treatment of Venereal Disease (TvT). Daeng last week didn't get another jab as her liver is suffering from the effects of the Chemotherapy. Despite only having 2 injections so far, the improvement is amazing. The vet advised he would not inject this week either and to continue the liver improvement tablets and see her again next week.

(Before - 4 weeks ago)

BuunKeow on the other hand is as fat as ever, eating well and looking healthy and not showing signs of reaction to the treatment. She got her 4th jab today and the vet thinks that next week might be the last one.

NongLai, BuunLai's partner and SongDar (dumped this week at Wat Vivek & picked up by Karin during her weekly feed session on Wednesday)are along today for sterilisation.

JJ is still at the shelter but Daeng is not so good

Picked up Freeway at the shelter for sterilisation today, along with BuunKeow & Daeng for their TvT injections. Stopped off in Wiang Dong village to pick up Mee for an ear inspection and Meow ( a cat ) for sterilisation too. (Forgot a travel cage and had to improvise with a zip up bag)

Kh Yom had told me that Daeng had not been eating for 2 days and when I asked the vet if we should suspend the treatment, he agreed and recommended a course of Hepatatonic tablets for a week to improve her liver as the chemotherapy she is having seems to have attacked her liver. The good news is that the tumour is now very much reduced but this has been at the cost of causing her to suffer. She is now so skinny that her ribs are sticking out.





Later in the day I asked Kh Yom to try feeding her with something really tasty & gave him a tin of sardines.

BuunKeow is doing fine, her tumour is much smaller too.

As for Mee's ears, the vet asked if the owner was actually cleaning them every day, as today they looked just as dirty as when we saw them a week ago. When I took him home, I demonstrated to Kh Sunisa how to clean them. I laid him on his side, filled his ear with cleaning fluid & then massaged for a few minutes, letting the solution soften all the crusty dirt within his ear. Then with tissue, cotton wool or similar, wipe out the entire ear until dry and cleaner than when started. As you can imagine, Mee was having none of this, the first time but once he knows its better for him, he settles down to a nice massage. The secret is to let him know you are confident enough to do it & then he relaxes and lets you do it. If he is not sure, then he will object and that is possibly what had previously been happening.

Mee also had his dew claws clipped as they were extremely long and curling round onto the pad. On one pad, he had 2 claws (nails) growing next to each other. After all he is 15 and has seen lots of changes in his time. He has seen floods( he lives next to the river) and he has wondered about trees falling on him ( there are several large trees nearby and some massive stumps left to rot). He has survived plots to poison his mates in the same road and seen young pups come and go, none of them having sense enough to take things easy and slow. He is a wise old timer!

Meow & Freeway had successful sterilisations, both very sleepy on the way home.

And.... Each time I visited the shelter I looked for JJ. Sure enough he is still there. He is sleeping alot today after a hectic week on the run. Kh Yom removed his stitches and he is ready to go home. At lunch time I met with the kind lady who initiated his rescue in the first place and told her about the rescue last night. She handed me 2,000 for the people who found him and she agreed that it would be best to get him back to his home this Friday. At least that way, he might build his strength and confidence on his own turf.

Delivered the reward to Nuang & Nung at their 4 metre x 4 metre cycle repair shop with approximately 10 bikes in various states of repair. Nuang stopped what he was doing and stated that he did not want the money as he did what he did because he loves dogs. Nung said the same and before I left, the pair of them were close to tears as the reward amounted to more than the payments they would receive for the bike repairs. It was an emotional moment for me too and I could not embarrass them further by taking a photo. Later Nuang asked me for a big sticker like I have on my car, he wants to advertise for us.

If this wasn't Thailand, I would have given him a big hug but there we go, this is Thailand!

11 dogs

Started off with a trip to the small animal hospital in Chiang Mai to see the Orthopedic specialist with 3 dogs we have with bone problems.

Firstly there is Bill, the vet said the damage seen in the Xray was so old that surgery was out of the question and as the teeth were so strong, he would not recommend extraction either. Some student observers washed her mouth out for her and they asked a lot of questions about Cfd work.

Then there was Nong Dai, the puppy I picked up yesterday with what appeared to be paralysed back legs. The vet identified a damaged spine, vertebrae 8 & 9 were compressed together and there was a definite kink at that point. The vet suggested that to operate would not guarantee success and felt the chances of improvement were very low.

Finally there was Chrissy. A shy girl that is foster cared at Karin's home. It appears from Xray & the vets diagnosis, that she has a luxating patella which is why she occasionally limps. The vet said that to operate would most certainly cause more distress to the dog than to leave it alone and try to help the dog with anti-osteoarthritis medication instead.

Visited Hillside Condo 2 car park to see a dog that was reported to us recently as having an injured leg. Sure enough, his right front leg is lame and he doesn't use it. The security guard says that a motorbike hit him 2 years ago and the injury got wet and it didn't heal properly. (Well that's what he said!) So here is another case for next Thursday Orthopedic trip.

Next we visited a local vet, who was caring for a little terrier that had been beaten up by some other dogs & had some nasty bite wounds. We will take this little fella to the shelter next week and we are sure he will find a home very soon.

On route back to the shelter, we stopped at Mr Chan Pizza to check how the remaining 6 of the 9 pups were and to give them a spray for fleas & ticks. Amazing, someone had taken away another 5 and therefore only 1 remained. She looked so lonely. She will now join her 3 other brothers & sister back at Karin's home.

So, back to the shelter and drop off the 4 dogs on board. Then picking up Daeng & BuunKeow for their TvT injections, along with Mee from the village to have his ears looked at. Karin also took Coffee along and asked the vet about his ears.

Great news about Daeng, her tumour looks a little smaller already and certainly not bleeding like last week. Only 1 injection & that has had an effect.






BuunKeow's tumour is internal so far so not noticeably different but certainly no blood coming out of her vulva.

Mee's ears no longer had maggots in them, thanks to the efforts of the owner, applying medication every day but they were now still very dirty and needed to get a thorough clean daily too. At least the dog didn't scream this time every time the vet prodded his ears.

Coffee tipped the scales ( literally) at 36 kilos and it seems his ear canal is smaller on one side and therefore harder to clean inside. Karin said that when he was originally rescued from a temple, he had a wound from a severe bite on that ear, so this may be why he now has a reduced opening to that ear.

Ok, so that's the second trip over. Finally Karin & I went to the rear of Airport Plaza to meet up with a dog loving woman who told us about some of the dogs living around the car park there. We picked up 1 gentle girl we named Freeway ( after a sign on a truck near her) and we will get her sterilised next week.