"The vet must guarantee that the dog will not die under general anesthesia," the owner of the Yorkshire Terrier told the pet shop girl who had referred the case to me. Should I handle this case or not?
If the dog has an inherited poor heart condition and dies under anaesthesia, the owner is sure to tell everybody about the vet. No doubt about this.
Anasesthetic death opens the door to litigation and demands for explanation from the veterinary authority should a complaint be made. So much emotions are involved in an anaesthetic death. Family members may want to sue.
Why risk my reputation built over a life-time? Just pass the case to another veterinarian. This should be a wise decision. Pass the buck of potential death.
Yet this Yorkshire Terrier was young, active and examined. He was apparently healthy. Still, there may be hidden heart arrhythmias or ventricular tachycardia which manifests during general anaesthesia resulting in heart failure and death.
I did not pursue the matter as I asked the pet shop girl to let the owner decide. Maybe she had her own vet.
The owner decided to operate on an auspicious day and time and told the pet shop girl. I had never met the owner.
This auspicious day would be a Sunday and the pet shop girl made an appointment. Sunday is a busy time for vets as most Singaporeans are free. I did not object to surgery on a Sunday. But the Sunday happened to be busy and I could not finish the cases before noon.
"Doc," the owner said to me as I was in the middle of consultation. "I understand that you have to clear your consultation cases. Please make the first incision before noon."
Her adviser had given her the safest time for surgery of her dog. It ought to start before noon and on this Sunday. Wow, I did not know about the time.
It was obvious to her that I could not complete my morning consultation in time to start surgery.
"It is best you postpone the surgery to another day, after consulting your adviser," I said to the owner. She had this kind and pleasant personality when we talked. I would sense that she was not the litigious type.
But the stars of timing are now against me. I don't want to claim to be superstitious but it is best not to antagonise the stars of timing.
"Why not wait?" I asked the owner.
"It will be 2 weeks later," she sighed. She decided on the operation in the afternoon. She did not tell me then but she was worried that the leakage of "mercury" from the defective chip would kill her dog if she waited much longer. She had already two weeks of worries and hassling the pet shop owner to get remedial action.
The pet shop girl had warned about the "lighter patch" of hair colour for the Yorkshire Terrier at the surgically shaved area. So, the owner asked me not to shave too much of the hair so that the new hair colour patch would not be so obvious.
"No," I said. "I need a large area to operate to remove the chip fragments. If I cut a small area, I may stitch the hair into the wound. The best is to shave the whole body bald and the new hair growth would be of the same colour."
The owner agreed. I asked my groomer Mark about the pricing. $60.00 was too much for her. So she drove to her pet shop to get it done. When she came back, it was still before noon, but the Surgery was crowded.
I must say that not all my Sundays are bustling and I could complete the cases before noon on most Sundays. This Sunday was an auspicious operating date for the owner of the Yorkshire Terrier. Many Chinese pick auspicious dates for marriages too and so I am not a bit surprised that operating dates must be auspicious for the best result of the Yorkshire Terrier.
"My mother's poodle died under anaesthetic at the vet," the owner explained to me although I never asked her as to why she wanted a guarantee that the vet who operated on her Yorkshire should guarantee against any death. "She still keeps the dog's accessories and renew his dog licence."
I did not comment as anaesthetic deaths happen to all vets for various reasons. Now, I am in this situation where the auspicious time had passed. I should not operate. Choose another day.
But the owner had concerns about the toxicity of the fragmented microchip. Not one hard lump under the neck. Two lumps. And 2 weeks had passed. She had not told me about her concerns nor did I have much time to talk to her on this Sunday morning as I was busy with cases.
I did not have any prayers to any God as I operated during lunch time. Used gas only. Intubated the dog in case of the need to give emergency oxygen should the heart fail. Nothing eventful. The lightest anaesthesia was given. The dog woke up before the last stitch was inserted.
The dog came around 3 pm. She was the happiest pet owner in the world as she held her dog up for me to take a picture.
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