Vets cannot heal pets?

Anita da Conceição Ferreira  --

This hamster suffers from losing hair
(Photo by Anita Ferreira)
Pets are regarded as friends or companions. Many people find pet keeping very enjoyable. Beside keeping dogs and cats, some people keep birds, fish, and even lizards as their pets. If their pets are ill, many people will bring them to a veterinarian for treatment. However, not all pets receive the same kind of treatment in Macao.

Cristina, a third year student of Macau Polytechnic Institute, has a hamster which has been losing hair for quite some time. She is worried about his health condition so she decided to find a vet for him. Nevertheless, it was difficult for her to find a vet because many of them were limited to dogs and cats. Afterwards, Cristina tries to find books specialized in hamster, hoping to find a way in treating her pet.

Many people keep hamsters nowadays
(Photo by Anita Ferreira)
Dr. Choi, a veterinarian working in Divisao de Inspeccao e Controlo Veterinario of the Civic &Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), said that he did not know much about hamsters. The information of hamster was limited in Macao.

In fact, the imported animals would be examined in a quarantine station set up by IACM. Choi explained that the service of quarantine station did not include private diagnosis of pets.

According to a local pet shop owner James Seak, a hamster's health condition could be viewed from different perspectives: food, drinking water and waste. If the hamster has health problems, its waste would become rotten, he said.

In addition, Seak suggested the hosts to refer to books on how to keep a hamster. He said that his knowledge of hamsters was acquired from books specialized in hamsters.

Dr. Lehner suggested to react quickly for your pets
(Photo by Anita Ferreira)
Dr. E. Stephan Lehner of Macao Veterinary Centre stated that it was too general to characterize the illness from hamster's behaviour. Instead of giving a clue, Dr. Lehner advised us, with a smile, to seek for medical advice before things become serious.

In Macao, this problem may happen to people who keep other pets other than dogs and cats. Still, there is room for IACM to improve the quality in dealing with other species. Meanwhile, vets face more and more challenges due to different kinds of pets nowadays. Perhaps, IACM can improve its quality in exchanging opinions by establishing connections with different vets from other regions.