Sydney Mobile Vet Service
Being a mobile vet is a great way to get outdoors but not so great in downpours like last weeks’!
Overall it was a little quiet, no one wants to do anything but stay by the heater and keep cosy, including our furry companions. For some of our pets though they still need some attention even in the rain and so out I went on some house calls to help (with my raincoat!). One day was as bitter sweet as they come.
A client that had a sick pussy cat that I euthanased a few months ago came across a sweet little kitten and took her home – Rosie-Cotton. Playful and lively but started developing patchy hair loss and lo & behold – Ringworm!
The kitten is now on medication for a few months and will be fine, and since then we have found out that many from the same litter also landed up with ringworm. Some of our poor little strays get a rough start to life but there are many loving people around to take care of them thankfully.
A few hours later, after meeting this sweet 12 week old kitten, I had to attend to the euthanasia of a dear old companion cat. Ziggy was much loved by her dad but the time had come and she passed away peacefully in her lounge room. Her dad buried her in the backyard to give her a fitting resting place.
Life and death, rain or shine, the world keeps turning.
Ringworm in cats
Ringworm in cats – a very contentious issue so I should comment on it briefly here. Many GPs will instantly claim to a patient in his rooms – “you got this lesion on your arm from your cat!”. Well that is possible but probably not the most common source of ringworm in humans.
Cats can carry ringworm spores on their coats without showing clinical signs and so sometimes can cause lesions in people and if you have a cat and a ringworm lesion then it would be worthwhile getting your vet to test the cat with a “toothbrush” test to see if it does in fact have ringworm spores. But when the test comes back negative, don’t be surprised – and tell your doctor! Ringworm does exist in the environment and can easily be caught from there, especially if you are “immunosuppressed” such as on chemotherapy.
So plenty of people without pets still get ringworm. Don’t worry so much though as it is easily treated in most cases but can take a while to cure. There is no doubt though that good general hygiene especially in a household with pets will decrease the incidence of many problems and infectious diseases.
So back on the road now out to a few sick animals that hopefully we can get back on their feet soon. My last consult today is another lovely one to an old client with a new puppy for its first health check, after also having euthanased their beloved old dog several months ago. Looking forward to that one!
Bye for now…………..