For the last couple of weeks the number of dogs requiring veterinarian consultations has not required me to join the vet trip on a Monday but today it was business as usual.

As well as Natalie & Kunking, I shared the front compartment with Loung, a friendly chubby guy and he spent the entire journey wedged between my tummy & the steering wheel, shuffling at times from knee to knee but an ideal driver companion.

I say that, as whenever I needed to honk my horn, he did it for me! All I needed to do was break and his weight would depress the car horn. Very funny. But at a junction, sat in traffic, when he decided to shuffle around the guy in front thought I was getting a little impatient with all the honking going on from the Toyota Vios sat behind.

In the back there were 3 other dogs, all thinking they were off out for a picnic somewhere nice.

Kunking was first to be examined by the vet, lately his eyes have been very bloodshot and watery. It turns out that his eye lashes are turning in & should be removed if we don’t want him to get a very serious eye condition.

Today as often happens at the Purpoon Clinic, Dr Beer had some students from Chiang Mai University with her, making notes and learning about the finer points of veterinarian practice.

Kunking’s tear test was good but there are some ulcers appearing and they are very inflamed. So some cosmetic surgery for this little cutie.

Natalie was next to be seen, she needs a blood test to see if she is recovering from her Pyometra condition and today’s result was not good. Compared with the blood test 3 days ago, she is deteriorating. She is likely to need a blood transfusion if the meds she is on don’t turn her situation around soon.

Sam, he is an old timer, found hanging around a temple with a very bad skin condition.

The vets had previously advised us that Sam was suffering with Auto Immune Disease and as well as developing symmetrical outbreaks of sores and infected areas of flesh on his body and legs, he is looking so stiff and lethargic.

The ideal medication the vets recommended for his treatment are extremely high cost.

We have wrestled with the options available and consequences of our actions and currently we are giving Sam a cheaper medication and hoping we can support him a relatively decent quality of life for a while longer.

Panda to me has always been a grumpy old girl that stations herself on the picnic table under the shade of a tree in the shelter and anyone who walks near, has to be of strong stamina as she gives a mighty woof and stare with her menacing eyes.

But today she was a different girl. She was quiet, timid and obviously in trouble. For a few days now, she has shown signs of having a problem with her back legs. Indeed when the vet worked the legs around and pupated the knees, she found that the right knee Patella was luxating and both cruciate ligaments, left & right, were making a noise too.

Next on the table was my new chum Loung. Well quite the contrary to Panda, whilst he had been meek & mild before the examination, Loung went berserk on the table. This guy was in agony!

This week he too has been limping around and yet strangely enough when we went to put him in the car for the trip today, he looked fine without a limp at all.

The vet did the examination with toe curling screams coming from my travel buddy and at one point I just wanted to shout “STOP !” but soon enough diagnosed that Loung too had a luxating patella. The difference being however, his condition was worse than Panda’s at grade 6.

It would seem that his knee cap was probably completely out of position yesterday when we had seen him limping and today it was back in place and therefore not causing him to limp. Never the less, very painful and irritating for the little chap.

So thats 2 knee ops we need to arrange.

Now it was the turn of Smokey, one of the refugees that Care for Dogs had taken from the disastrous closing of the rescue shelter at Hua Hin last year.

Only this morning, when preparing for the vet run, did we spot Smokey taking a gentle walk to the poop area t at the rear of the shelter. As she squatted, she remained on 3 legs & totally refusing to use her rear left leg.

So when the vet pupated and worked the leg area, she immediately suggested to take an xray as her fingers were finding something we could not explain.

Smokey had come to us a year ago with no criminal record or medical history. But when the result of the xray was shown to me, I could hardly believe my eyes.

But whilst waiting for the xray, I chatted to some folks in the waiting area about a familiar face to me.

Having seen him on previous occasions sat patiently waiting for his place in the queue I asked what he was here for today.

This is Kolo, a big Arsenal supporter who is today returning to the clinic for a check on a fungal problem he is currently plagued with. Kolo, not the player, is being treated for Ringworm.

Shock horror! Dr Beer returned with the processed xray film and it told of Smokey’s  history.

Her left femur had been broken and pinned to hold the 2 shafts in a straight line.

The pin was now out of place, for how long we shall never know and the 2 pieces of the femur at right angles to each other. More importantly, the head of her femur has been shattered in pieces, as if the result of a bad accident.

Dr Beer consulted with Dr Manachart about the course of action and it was clear that an operation to remove the pin & the head of the shattered femur were essential.

So this girl has been keeping a secret. Perhaps we had just assumed she was an older dog who liked to rest in the sun a lot. But the reality is that she was trying to preserve her composure and take it easy, for fear of suffering additional discomfort from her previous injury.

Leg operation number 3 then!

There is a special bond formed between dogs and humans when you are in close proximity to each other. The common phrase of  “Man’s best friend” shouts out to you if you sit in a Toyota Vios with 6 dogs on a vet trip. You feel their pain, you share their mood and you witness the composure of an emotional soul.

If anyone in Chiang Mai on a Monday morning, fancies joining me for any future vet run, please get in touch, I can assure you it will be a rewarding experience.

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