Taking your pet to the vet

When your dear pet gets sick, what would you do? Will you run to a veterinary surgeon or will you go to the pharmacy and get 'something' to cure it? Today our Veterinary Surgeon Dr. D. A. U. Samankumara of the Kirindiwela Animal Clinic educates you about choosing the right veterinary surgeon for your loving pet.

There are two types of veterinary surgeons in Sri Lanka; those with local degrees and those with foreign degrees. The one and only veterinary degree in Sri Lanka is awarded by the University of Peradeniya, Veterinary Faculty.

No matter what degree they have, they should be registered at the Sri Lanka Veterinary Council (SLVC), with a registered number, to practise as a doctor. There are many people, who have worked as clerks or helpers for veterinary surgeons, now practising as doctors. These fake doctors (quacks) will harm you and your pet with wrong and even dangerous drugs.

A vet treats a disease by knowing the theory and by diagnosing the disease. If a fake vet tried this without any background knowledge, your pet might experience drug reactions, even causing its death.

Anti-rabies, D.H.L. (Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis) and deworming vaccines should be given according to the pet's age. If these vaccines are not properly administered, they risk catching the disease.

The tragedy is that rabies and leptospirosis (commonly known as rat fever) pose a risk to humans as well. So, we must always remember to go to a vet surgeon to get our pets vaccinated and dewormed.

Another wrong step most pet owners take is asking pharmacists to help them to choose the appropriate medicine. After all, they are just pharmacists with little knowledge about diseases and drugs! Why should you rely on them to get treatment?

When you take your pet to a doctor, you should always go to a person who listens to you, who has the training and can diagnoses disease well.

You may have a family doctor to treat your family members; why not have a family veterinary surgeon to treat your pets? Then, he/she will know your pet's history, how you treat your pet, and the atmosphere your pet is growing in. Thus, it will be really helpful when it comes to diagnosing diseases.

You should take your new pet to the veterinary surgeon. You should make it a point to ask about the vaccinations, vitamins, food you should give, how to care for your pet and the things you should and should not do.

You must take your pet to be vaccinated on the due date. Then only, it will be very effective in the pet's body. When you are giving vitamins and deworming drugs to your pet, you should always consult your veterinary surgeon. Then he/she will decide the medicine, dosage and such, by the pet's age and other factors. Drug overdoses may cause your pet's death.

When your pet is sick, please don't take any chances. Go to a doctor immediately. Otherwise, when it's eventually treated, it may be vulnerable for side-effects.

When you go to a veterinary surgeon, he/she diagnoses the disease and treats it through experience and ability. He/she also looks at the following factors:

1. Pet's history - Its age and the diseases it has had.

2. Clinical signs - Symptoms of disease.

3. Lab report - If the doctor is not sure about the disease, he/she will take reports on skin, blood and urine.

4. Treatment - The doctor might decide on a disease and start treatment. If the pet is getting better, he /she can confirm the disease.

5. Post-mortem - If birds in a farm are dying, a vet can examine their bodies.

When the vet asks you about the history of the pet, you should be able to provide this information. So, you should never send your pet with others who don't know your pet well. You should keep an eye on your pet, even while you are taking it to the vet.

You can be watchful about the urine colour, diarrhoea, vomiting, and food intake. Before going to a vet, you should not give your pet paracetamol or any other drug. Because if your pet was having a fever, it would have gone down due to the medication and the doctor will not be able to give a proper diagnosis.

You should inform the vet if your pet is pregnant, or having any liver or kidney problems.

If your pet has a report book, you should take it with you when you visit the vet. You can ask the vet to write the treatments in this book.

When you go to the vet with your pet, you should help him/her to hold the pet. One of the most important things is that you should never stop giving medicine half way.

Then, your pet's body might get used to the drug, and it may have to be given an even stronger drug when it falls sick again.

Janani Amarasekara

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