72. The banker who loves his Miniature Schnauzer

Immaculately well dressed with a striped long-sleeved shirt and blue tie, the young man in his late twenties put his 15-week-old salt and pepper Miniature Schnauzer puppy onto the consultation table and said, "My puppy just was not active yesterday. Not interested in food. Just wanted to sleep the whole Sunday yesterday."

The 6-month-old puppy had all her 3 vaccinations and a microchip implant at the pet shop. He was from a batch of 3 Miniature Schnauzers.

"Has he any contact with other dogs or was she at the groomer during the last 7 days?" I asked.

"No," the earnest man said. "No dog contact at all."

The puppy had 40.7 degree Celsius. I palpated the abdomen. There was some pain in the stomach and liver area but nothing else. What caused the high fever?



"Did the puppy eat something new?" I asked.

"No," the man said.

"Did you buy puppy treats from various sources?" I asked.

"Yes," the man said. "Different types of chew bones and treats."

"It is possible that the puppy treats had been contaminated with bacteria and the infections caused high fever. It could be a virus. The puppy was at the pet shop some 8 days ago when he was vaccinated for the 3rd time by you."

I gave the anti-fever injection and treatment. The puppy would need to rest at home and take medication. If I don't see her tomorrow, she would have recovered. The banker would use the digital thermometer to monitor his fever every 3 hourly. If the fever returns, he should come back to the Surgery the next day.

"Aren't you supposed to be working in the morning?" I asked the young man.

"Yes, I took time off. I rushed from the bank to bring the puppy to see the vet."

Nowadays, puppies are like family members. Sick and fevered puppies are like babies --both can't tell you what's stopping them from eating. Neither could their caregiver too. This seemed to be a viral fever case due to the sudden onset.

"Do you want to do a parvoviral test?" my assistant Mark asked two times.

"No," I said. Laboratory tests add up to the veterinary costs and increase the revenue for the practice.

However, many puppy owners appreciate minimal costs of treatment. It is understandable as the costs of living in Singapore keeps going up every year and there are various family expenses to consider.