73. Mothers know best

I went to see the young vet whom I had mentored on a bladder stone surgery yesterday to thank him for referral of the old dog with the ear haematoma. He did not know anything about it. It was his mum who did it but mum had gone out for a while.

"How's the Miniature Schnauzer with the bladder stones removed by you?" I asked.
"Very good," he said. "A bit of swelling on the lower abdomen after the surgery and that was all. The owner is here," he pointed at a tall broad-shoulder bright-eyed girl in her early twenties working in the Surgery. No formal introductions.

It was good to hear good news that the vet's first bladder stone surgery was successful and to meet the owner too. I still remember him as a 12-year-old walking around the Surgery some 20 years ago.

Somehow we don't seem to see the young children as adults even though they are now.

His mum came back as the Surgery was closing soon at 8 p.m. I thanked the mum for the referral. Mum said, "Very old dogs are great anaesthetic risks. I refer such cases to other vets.

"Do you spay dogs of big breeds?" the mum asked me. "Lots of bleeding if the ovarian pedicle slipped after ligation. Emergency post-operation calls may be required. I usually refer big breeds to other vets."



"Yes, I do spay big dogs" I said. "Actaully, big dogs are easier to spay as the ovaries and the uterine horns are bigger."



The bleeding, if it happens, is much more profuse and frightening. A very long skin and midline cut is needed to look for the bleeding area. Usually it is the ovarian blood or uterine vessel with slipped ligature. It takes more time to look for the bleeder. The owner becomes dissatisfied with such a long incision of over 15 cm. All practising vets will encounter such unpleasant situations.

I said of the young vet who was doing consultation in the room, "Your young vet here can do it as well."




The mum sat down on the bench and put her left hand to cover her ear and said solemnly, "I will pretend that I did not hear you saying that."

Well, mum knows best. Big breed spays are actually not worth doing if one is calculating earnings/time spent. They take longer to spay. The risks of death from bleeding may be higher as the blood vessels are much larger and unlikely to contract unlike the small breed's blood vessels? Definitely, bleeding during the spay of a big breed is horrible. Fat big breeds can take a much longer time to spay as the fat layers hide the ovaries. The time to spay one big breed is equal to the time taken to spay 2 small breeds.

The young vet had interest in surgery. He has done lots of spays in cats and small breeds. He is quite busy. Spays of big dogs and big fat dogs take a lot of time. This would eat up the time and stress him out.

Definitely, mothers know best after all.