Vets - and loss of a best friend

Post by **Vital Spark** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:24 am

Sorry to hear the news Barry. Leah was a beautiful dog and deserved better treatment than that.

Mr.VS and I have decided not to have another dog in Thailand, because you really can't be sure of their welfare. Our lovely dog Rubble (aka snake wrangler) never settled in to our new home here in Nakhon Pathom and managed to get out of the garden to try and find us when we left him for a couple of hours. We've never seen him since. It's heart-breaking to lose a close friend.

The only hope is that the vet will learn from his mistake, and realise that large pedigree western dogs need a different kind of treatment to smaller boned Thai dogs.

I really don't know whether a teaching college would be any better for Ice if he needs treatment. When they're training students anything could happen...

VS

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:35 am

Tragic news Barry, and I'm gutted to hear of this.

One way of maybe getting over it is to think that Leah is now giving Sean a good nagging in 'the big kennel in the sky'.

She was a beautiful dog with a happy nature.

These so called 'vets' seem to be a waste of space, and I hear nothing good to say about them.

Mrs.T and her pals with dogs have used a local guy by the name of 'Billy' (Tel 081 705 8350) for many years.

This guy visits us (He operates {literally sometimes} from a pickup truck) every couple of months. He keeps our 7 Thai dogs in fine fettle with regular check ups and medication if and when needed.

I watched him perform 5 neuterings in one go (Castration for the lads and Hysterectomy for the lasses) in under 2 hours and all have survived well - being up and about within 24 hours.

He will respond to call outs in emergency and has saved the life of our eldest lass (Somsi) - twice. First for a snake bite when she was a pup 6 years ago and second when she birthed 5 stillborn pups three years ago. We didn't even know she was pregnant until we saw her lying in a pool of blood with her dead pups.

Billy was there within 30 minutes and performed a hysterectomy straight away. Somsi was on a drip for 36 hours - after which she was up and about again like new.

About 9 months ago Billy 'cured' Somsi of a long and developing problem. She was constantly scratching herself raw and she was begining to stink awfully. After various other 'cures' had failed, Billy suggested that we ensured that Somsi did not eat any chicken - problem solved - sems she was alergic to it.

I don't know Billy's credentials - all I DO know, is that he has given us - and our dogs - good service.

Post by **STEVE G** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:57 pm

Yes, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss Barry.
I would advise anyone who wants to keep a dog in Thailand to consider getting a normal Thai dog as they seem much hardier than imported pedigree dogs.
We have three Thai mongrels in Issan and none of them has ever needed to go to a vet. Any minor treatments required have simply being administered by locals in the village in the same way that Terry describes above.

Post by **hhfarang** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:27 pm

Yes, a sad loss and I'm sorry for you... as stated above soi dogs seem to be very strong. We have two adopted ones and they seem to be indestructible. One has been bitten by a Malayan pit viper and lived with my wife treating him with an old village remedy of a poultice made from tobacco and and herbs as it was in the middle of the night and no vets were open.

Again, very sorry for your loss Barry... they become a member of the family and it is really tough to lose them.

Post by **fiesta fred** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:54 pm

Barry so sorry for your loss. As you know I also use the vet on 55/1 and have been happy with the service, I have not had anything major that my two poodles have needed surgery (except neuter). I do hope we can find a Vet to trust in Hua Hin. I do not want to have to run to Bangkok as for my own Major health care.

Heartfelt
Fred

Post by **dtaai-maai** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:42 am

barrys wrote:
I'm trying very hard not to make this into a rant - but it's bloody difficult!!

Does anyone know when the new Kasetsart University veterinary teaching hospital being built next to the new army golf coure (almost opposite Bayan) is scheduled to open???

If ever a rant was called for, this is it. We've talked about this, Barry, so I won't sympathise again now. The question you asked remains unanswered (and possibly unanswerable) - where do we go for a reliable vet who can deal with serious problems?

It will be interesting to see how the training hospital works out, but why should a student vet (presumably supervised) be more reliable than an experienced, fully qualified vet? Although, when it comes to surgery, you'd imagine that would be done by staff. We can only wait and see.

Post by **yabz** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:09 am

dtaai-maai wrote:
If ever a rant was called for, this is it. We've talked about this, Barry, so I won't sympathise again now. The question you asked remains unanswered (and possibly unanswerable) - where do we go for a reliable vet who can deal with serious problems?
.

I would suggest going to Kasetsart University Hospital in Bangkok. Its a bit of a trek but worth it.

Post by **yabz** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:18 am

STEVE G wrote:Y
I would advise anyone who wants to keep a dog in Thailand to consider getting a normal Thai dog as they seem much hardier than imported pedigree dogs.

Agreed. I have a couple of soi dogs and they never get sick. This is an interesting documentary about pedigree dogs:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... d=44215931

However the soi dogs are quite timid so they have limited use for guarding the house.

Post by **margaretcarnes** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:58 am

Agreed Yabz, Soi dogs can be timid. But I think you'll find that it's usually the bitches which are most wary.
I'm hoping that Dawn will comment on this if she is around, but I think if you can gain the trust of the dominant male dog you will have your guard dog for life. Feed the one male only (he probably won't tolerate you trying to feed his lady friends anyway - or his pups - that's his job.)
It can take a lot of time and patience, but a male soi dog can be a very intelligent and loyal friend. 'Max' - at Bernies Bar - was a classic example, although I think he was taken in as a pup. But older dogs can adapt as well.

Post by **hhfarang** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:10 am

So that's why my dogs behave the way they do at feeding time. I have two adopted soi dogs, one male and one female. When I feed them, the male always eats first. The female just sits and watches him until he is finished and walks away (even though they have separate bowls), then she checks his bowl for any leftover scraps before proceeding to her bowl.

Post by **barrys** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:43 am

Thank you all very much for your kind comments and condolences.

The argument about soi dogs being more resilient sounds logical but I'm not sure I agree with that completely.

My 2 dogs (German Shepherd and Golden Retriever) were not pedigree show dogs or inbred.
I also had them for 7 years and nearly 4 years respectively, they were well looked after and had otherwise not been sick.

They simply died as a result of veterinary incompetence/carelessness.
The deaths simply should not have occurred at the hands of a practising professional.

Nor do I buy the argument of their only being used to treating small dogs.
I'm sure that, in an agicultural society like Thailand, vets are also trained how to treat cattle, buffaloes and probably even elephants.

Anyway, we now have a Thai female mongrel puppy as a companion for our Siberian Huskey - so it will be an interesting comparison to see how they fare health-wise.

We have already been in contact with Kasetsart University.
They informed us that the new veterinary teaching hospital facilitity opposite Banyan is scheduled to open next year - presumably the start of the 2010-2011 academic year.