Typically on a Monday I take a few dogs from the shelter to the vet for assessment and specific treatments Today however, was a slightly different story.

All assessments of current cases had been done by a visiting vet to the shelter and on my arrival at the shelter Soraya greeted me with the plan that we wouldn’t need to look far for more candidates for our vet trip.

Indeed,  just next door & around the corner from the shelter are many dogs who are family pets and co-exist with people in their homes.

However, these people are not necessarily able to support the cost of all treatments their pets require and being good neighbours and of course intent on bringing help to all dogs in our area, we try our best for these folks too.

One such dog is Loung, who last month we put through an operation for his right back leg, as he was suffering with a luxating patella.

We questioned ourselves immediately after the op, as he was limping on the other leg and actually using his operated leg!

My notes at the time & even photos were scrutinised and sure enough…….. we had the correct leg operated on.

Phew !

But the left rear leg was just waiting for the right time to succumb to the problem and today the vet confirmed he indeed needed another operation for a second luxating patella. He will get his 2nd op asap.

Big warning lesson here ! If a dog shows signs of one luxating patella, that is not due to an accident, then the chances are high for the second knee having the problem too.

Next to be seen by the vet was Len.

After spending a while trying to catch her near her home, trotting around the roads, trying to evade capture, it was evident from her wiggle we saw, that her hips and legs were giving her trouble.

Being a heavy set girl, it was obvious that when she swung her hips, there was a lot of body moving!

She was a bit snappy at first but the vet managed to manipulate her limbs and finally did an xray which told a story.

The diagnosis was that she was suffering from Hip Dysplasia and the fact that her knees were creaking badly too, gave further concern that the bone disfigurement was developing throughout her legs and her weight was exacerbating the condition.

The vet showed us the lack of definition in the hip socket, as shown in the photo here, where the white line of the hip joint rim fades and then starts again.

So in addition to going on a diet, she will need diet supplements and pain killers for the rest of her life. Poor girl.

Now was the turn of Lucky, the dog that was previously returned to his ‘shop front’ territory near Ban Wang Tarn, where he had claimed as his own space, after being cleared of a acute bought of Mange and also suspected E-Canis.

The shopkeeper had called us to say that Lucky was again bleeding from his nose occasionally so this being a sign of E-Canis, we took him along to see the vet again.

Dr Beer strongly suspects that the bloody nose is from E-Canis infection of the blood and that we should treat him again with the same meds, Doxycycline & FBC for an extended period.

There is a dilemma here as mentioned before in other posts. We could spend 800 baht on a test to give us a reading that was positive for E-Canis. This itself might be false as he has previously been on meds. Furthermore, if we did test and it was negative, we would be treating the symptom anyway, with the same medication. 800 baht is the cost of 1 sterilisation.

Next to be seen by Dr Beer was Lon (not to be confused with Len!) This cute girl had walked up to another shopkeeper near Nong Kway market and made her shop her home.

Lon’s right eye seems bigger than the left and and also discoloured. So Dr Beer performed the various tests and revealed that the tear production in the left is higher than the right but that both of them are high.

Dr Beer also showed us the corneal ulcer on the right eye and recommended some drops and antibiotics with a request for a re-inspection next week to monitor progress. This certainly looks like the start of Glaucoma. Poor girl.

Last to be seen was a guy who Soraya had seen on her travels along the Canal Road up towards the 700 Year Stadium.

Wah (Gibbon in English) is in a wretched state. When we pulled up at the restaurant where he lives, he was laying out on the main road.

Dr Beer ran some skin checks and confirmed that his inflamed and extremely irritated flesh was as the result of Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD).

So with antihystemine, an antibiotic and shampoo, this guy could well get a peaceful nights sleep real soon as well as get his coat back again.

After completing the vet run & return of the patients to their respective homes, we spotted this little creature laying outside a repair shop also on the Canal Road down towards Mae Hia market.

We enquired with the shop owner about the dog & they said she had been thinner a few weeks ago, they didn’t know if she had a family but they were now feeding her. When we tried to take her to the car, she trotted off and we followed her into a nearby recycling yard.  She climbed onto a heap of cardboard and found a safe spot inside the pile. This looked to be her home.

We will try to help this girl back to better health, we will return to Wah & ensure he gets the meds & shampoo he needs, we will get Loung his op and we will also try to ensure that the other dogs we took to the vet today get their deserved treatments too.

These cases are the very reason we volunteer with Care for Dogs.

If you would like to volunteer and help us in what ever way you can, please contact us.