ANIMAL SHELTER SURGERY AT NANAS
COMPARED TO TOA PAYOH VETS
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An incredibly beautifully
designed cat house in NANAS. Waterfront views and wooden floor boards
designed and built by Mr Raymund Wee. |
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An open area permitted cats
to get out and enjoy the views and sun. |
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A 2nd-year vet student who loves
cats visited NANAS. Would she set up a cats only practice in
Singapore? Would such a practice be feasible? |
Sunday, Apr 27, 2008
I visited NANAS (Noah's Ark and Natural Animal Sanctuary), an animal sanctuary in Johor
on a fine cloudy humid Saturday afternoon of April 26, 2008 to know
more about animal shelter medicine. I had the opportunity to study the effects
of Zoletil combination being used.
To share knowledge with others working in shelter medicine in
other countries via the world wide vet, I have recorded below the following
effective anaesthetic
regime in NANAS. It is an
alternative to gas anaesthesia and the dosage is as follows:
1. Zoletil 50 (Virbac)
white powder is present in a bottle.
Tiletamine 125mg, Zolazepam 125 mg.
2. Xyalzine 100mg/ml in a bottle. Put 2 ml of this into the
Zoletil bottle.
3. Ketamine 100mg/ml in a bottle. Put 8 ml of this into the Zoletil
bottle.
4.
The bottle now contains a clear solution of 10 ml. |
FOR CAT SPAYS
1-2 kg. 0.15 - 0.18 ml IM
Bigger cats 0.2 ml IM.
I noted that the duration of
surgical anaesthesia was more than 30 minutes in cats 1-2 kg
being spayed. The tongue
is pulled out as a routine to prevent food being vomited during
surgery. Such food gets
into the lungs and cause death by inhalation pneumonia.
Surgical incision is midway between umbilical scar and pelvic brim
in the young cats being spayed.
FOR DOG SURGERY
In a dog of around 15kg , a 0.8 ml IM permitted
surgical anaesthesia of around 30 minutes in one case of conjunctival growths
being
removed.
As the dog showed signs of waking up (eye reflex and mouth
clamping), a 0.6 ml IM was injected. The dog was under surgical
anaesthesia within 1 minute. This was my only experience using
the combination drugs of NANAS.
POST-OPERATION
In NANAS, the following were given for cats and dogs.
1. Tolfedine 4% (tolfenamique 4g) at 0.5 ml IM or SC for
cats after spay and neuter. A pain-killer.
2. Amoxicillin (Longamox) at 0.5 ml SC for cats after spay.
An antibiotic.
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Information for cat and dog owners
sterilising their pets at Toa Payoh Vets
Recently, some owners asked me why there were no antibiotics
given after sterilisation of their male cats.
Generally, no pain-killers or antibiotics are given to your male and
female cats post-operation from Toa Payoh Vets for cases operated by Dr
Sing as experience indicates that they are not necessary. Many
owners find it hard to give oral medication to cats.
In big
dogs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain-killer and antibiotics may be prescribed after spay.
For Dr Sing's cases at Toa Payoh Vets, the anaesthetic regime is
usually:
Xylazine & Ketamine injectable anaesthesia are used for cats.
Dosage is xylazine 20 mg/100 ml at 0.2 ml mixed with ketamine 100
mg/ml 0.8 ml in 1 syringe, IM injection. This dosage is most effective for a cat around
2-3 kg.
Onset of anaesthesia is 2 minutes after IM injection in most cases.
Duration of surgical anaesthesia is at least 30 minutes.
For fat cats or young ones less than 2 kg, half the above dose is
sufficient but surgical anaesthesia is less than 10 minutes compared
to 30 minutes in above full dose. If necessary, anaesthetic gas is
given by mask for one minute to complete the surgery.
Xylazine & gas anaesthesia or gas anaesthesia alone are used for
dogs.
Please note that the xylazine solution I used is 5X less
potent than that used for the Zoletil combination at NANAS. It is
20 mg/100 ml xylazine, not 100 mg/ml.
INCISION SITE.
In NANAS, I observed that the incision begins at the
middle 1/3 area between the umbilical scar and the pelvic
brim. Cats I observed were around 6 months of age. The
cat's tongue was pulled out to one side of the mouth to prevent vomitus from being swallowed. Bladder
was expressed so that the
bladder would not be nicked.
At Toa Payoh Vets, I incise at the cranial 1/3 area, at 1 cm
from the umbilical scar in dogs and cats. This position
enables me to easily access and ligate the swollen "on-heat"
ovaries easily, especially in dogs. Palpate for the full
bladder and express it free from urine before spaying.
Be careful not to nick the full bladder. Seldom do I encounter
a full bladder at this location but there needs to be care in
incising the linear alba in case the bladder is just below. Palpate
the abdomen first to check for the bladder and express the urine.
Typical anaesthetic regimes for cats living and born in Singapore
are shared with fellow veterinarians by Dr Sing Kong Yuen.
Some vets may seek such internet information. They are
as follows:
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Xylazine:ketamine
injectable combination for the 2 fat cats of around 5 kg
neutered by Dr Sing. Dosage was halved for cats 2-3 kg. Surgical anaesthesia
was around 5
minutes as the dosage should be higher. Neutered around 5 minutes
after injection. No topping up was needed in
this case. If necessary, I would use gas anaesthesia for 1 minute.
That would be sufficient to
provide surgical anaesthesia. |
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For this pregnant 4-kg cat, the xylazine:ketamine at 0.2 ml:0.8 ml IM
(usually given to cats 2-3 kg) permitted excellent surgical anaesthesia
of around 30 minutes for spaying. |
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Dr Sing's incision for spaying of cats is normally 1 cm
caudal to
the umbilical scar. The incision length is 1 cm if the cat is
not pregnant. In this case, it is longer as the womb is much
larger due to the presence of foetal lumps. Ligate the
uterine body in this pregnant cat two areas although there
should be no slippage of sutures with one ligation. |
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A street cat
weighing less than 2 kg. The xylazine:ketamine dosage was
less than half of that used for cats 2-3 kg. The skin
incision is around 1 cm. 2 horizontal mattress sutures are
usually given.
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How young should your cat
be spayed? If it is a street cat, some are spayed as young as
4 months. For your pet cat, I would advise 6 months and
after caterwauling, making sure she does not get pregnant. The
above cat in Singapore was spayed around 5 months of age
by Dr Sing Kong Yuen.
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A stray male cat after
neuter by Dr Sing in 2003 using xylazine 0.2 ml IM and gas
anaesthesia at that time. Clipped left ear tip in stray cats
indicate they have had been sterilised. But stray dogs do not
get such treatment and it is difficult to know the status of
whether the female stray has been spayed or not.
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Despite a first-world country status, Singapore unfortunately
does not have a charitable foundation like the People's
Dispensary for Small Animals (PDSA) in the UK to cater to the
treatment of sick street cats and dogs for owners who can't
afford veterinary treatment.
I saw practice with a private vet in in England in the 1973
during my 4th year at Glasgow University. He spent 1 day a
week at the PDSA to offer his veterinary services. What stuck
in my mind was the arrival of a driver/owner of a Jaguar car.
He brought in a dog for free treatment. One presumes that the
Jaguar car owner does not need the help of the PDSA.
It is hoped that one day, one of our successful entrepreneurs will set up
a Singapore PDSA to help owners who can't afford veterinary
attention for their pets. |
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Be
Kind To Pets educational stories for pet lovers
Telephone +65 9668 6468, judy@asiahomes.com
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Revised: May 08, 2008
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