3 hours of time, ability to drive 25 kilometres and a sense of humour. That’s all you need to do a vet run. Well almost.

It’s a bonus if you know how to approach a dog, talk to them, pick them up and understand their needs. But most of all you must have the inclination to do it.

The Monday vet run.

Today I turned up at the shelter at my desired time, 09:00, based upon 2 factors. Firstly, Dr Beer, the veterinarian at Purpoon 24 Hour Animal Hospital doesn’t start work until 09:30 and secondly, I want to be back at the shelter with the dogs back inside by 12:00, so that I can have lunch.

Now the time of my lunch isn’t really important but after you settle into a Thai style of living, you get to realise that most things grind to a halt at 12:00 until 13:00, as most working people stop for an hour. So why not just join the majority.

The pick up of 6 dogs for their outing to town was not exceptional. Oreo again, enjoyed the front seat, spent most of the time with her face close to mine and her right front paw on my thigh. Kazim also travelled in the front, he however stood the whole journey, nose on the gear knob, tail to the door, in the passenger foot well. It’s where he was placed by Sarah when we loaded the dogs in, it’s where he stayed throughout the journey. How did he know where else to go? Where could he move to? With no eyes, how could he see to reposition himself, other than stand, ‘nose on the gear knob, tail to the door’.

At the clinic, all 6 dogs were carried into one of the examination rooms and with me, the vet and 2 or 3 assistants, it was crowded as usual.

I read the ’shopping list’ to Dr Beer detailing today’s cases and we started with Smudge, a little black puppy that is showing signs of baldness around her eyes. We were concerned about Mange, the test showed only Bacteria.

Next to be seen was Hyena, who needed a new intravenous drip inserted as she had ripped out the previous one.

Third up was Kazim, who needed a liver & kidney test, as he is now to start on further Chemotherapy treatment, after he was recently diagnosed with a new outbreak of TvT. With no eyes, loads of scars already on his body from previous TvT recovery, the fact that his tests showed no weakness in his blood were encouraging.

Coke who had suffered a terrible break of the upper front leg bone had an external support pinned into his bones a week ago. Today he was to have a check, to see if all was ok. Apart from a little chaffing of the bandage with is armpit, the external fixation frame was solid, there were no signs of infection or discomfort so he just got a new bandage.

Last week, Oreo was diagnosed as suffering with a luxating patella. The vet recommended surgery but after a little internet searching and many discussions, we believed there was a possibility of a non surgical approach, at least to provide further assessment. We have given her Remidyl and also Glucosamine every day for the last week.

Today, I asked the vet, where on the scale of low to high pain levels was Oreo at. She said high and on the official grading of this condition, she was at grade 4.

I found this helpful to explain it further.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is made through palpation of the knee. X-rays are necessary in some cases. The luxating patella often causes no or very slight symptoms. There may be intermittent limping in the rear leg. Osteoarthritis can develop secondarily.

There are four diagnostic grades of patellar luxation[4], each more severe than the previous:

* Grade I - the patella can be manually luxated but is reduced (returns to the normal position) when released;
* Grade II - the patella can be manually luxated or it can spontaneously luxate with flexion of the stifle joint. The patella remains luxated until it is manually reduced or when the animal extends the joint and derotates the tibia in the opposite direction of luxation;
* Grade III - the patella remains luxated most of the time but can be manually reduced with the stifle joint in extension. Flexion and extension of the stifle results in reluxation of the patella;
* Grade IV - the patella is permanently luxated and cannot be manually repositioned. There may be up to 90¼ of rotation of the proximal tibial plateau. The femoral trochlear groove is shallow or absent, and there is displacement of the quadriceps muscle group in the direction of luxation.

Treatment

Grades III and IV, as well as most grade II cases, require surgery to correct, if the animal has difficulty walking. The surgery involves a sulcoplasty, a deepening of the trochlear sulcus that the patella sits in.

Additional help can be given with the use of pet ramps, stairs, or steps. These can help the animal travel from one place to another, especially up and down, without adding any pain or damage to the patella.

In view of Oreo’s level of discomfort, perhaps we will need to re-evaluate our current approach.

Last on the table was Judy-White. No No, that’s not her surname, it’s her full given name, as when she first came to the shelter, there was already another Judy (Black as it happens) in residence.

Anyway, Judy-White tried to climb the fence last weekend and in so doing, made a bit of a mess of one of her nipples, well they are a bit floppy and sagging down after too many pups. When the guys at the shelter inspected her belly, to their amazement, they saw a large lump in her groin. The vet immediately had Judy-White on her back, legs a-kimbo and with one finger, popped the intestines back into the stomach cavity. Yet another case with a hernia!

Being just a small opening at present, the vet said there was no need to operate just yet but if it opened wider then perhaps we should..

So, everyone back in the car, for the 12 kilometer trip back to the shelter. The difference on the homeward trip was that Kazim was standing facing forward, actually on the front seat.

Now take a moment to close your eyes and imagine yourself standing on the front seat of a car facing forwards, not knowing what is happening around you and whether you need to lean right, left or even backwards at the next bend in the road. What road, what Tuk-Tuk pulling out in front of the car?

Kazim managed it all perfectly well and appreciated my guiding hand on his back around the corners.

If you or anyone you know has the time and the inclination to help dogs, please get in touch. Volunteering can be extremely rewarding.