A dog and a cat walk into a hospital

The city that goes on morchas for community dogs got a new veterinary hospital this week under a name synonymous for animal welfare and related charity The city already has many trusted specialty hospitals with passionate vets Dr Leena Dalalrsquos PetZone has branches in Powai Mahalakshmi Churchgate Dr Umesh Karkarersquos Happy Tails in Deonar and Khar Dr Sangeeta Vengsarkar Shah has been one of if not the first veterinary cardiologists Shivaji Park Therersquos Crown Vet in Worli and Khar Cessna in Belapur and The Vet Eye Vet Cancer Vet and Ortho Vet in Chembur All of them offer specialised care for kidney or orthopaedic needs inhouse diagnostics blood tests XRays ECGs ultrasounds and surgeries And attached pharmaciesSo what can Tata Trusts offer Real estate and infrastructure we foundWe tested the newlyopened tertiary hospital with two candidates Kiss the 12yearold Weimaraner and Feroz the eightyearold ginger cat Kiss sought a second opinion for her ongoing sleep incontinence Feroz impersonated a stray cat who needed a checkup before being adopted into an apartment Thatrsquos an outright liemdashFeroz identifies as lord of all he surveys in this writerrsquos home and his pronouns are laadlaraja betaThe three parameters we tested were Infrastructure service and handling price pointWe drive down the winding bylane in Mahalakshmi to the Tata Trusts Small Animal Hospital Pradnya Hattiangadi canine behaviourist trainer and Kissrsquo human remembers that the Welfare of Stray Dog centre once stood hereKiss was prescribed cranberry extract for the infection leading to incontinenceAt the onset Tata Trusts offered pet parents a luxury unheard ofmdashparking within premises That too at the gate for the ease of immobile sedated and senior animals And there is no ramp at the entry because there are no steps The entry to the hospital is at smooth ground levelmdashan extremely mindful and crucial detail There is no hurdle not even a threshold that an ailing animal would have to lumber over A compound parts of it lined with astroturf encircles the main building Again very thoughtful for dogs to decompress before and after a vet visit and to relieve themselvesThe waiting area is wide with seats arranged in a zigzag pattern so the doggies can get a wide berth There are also tables every two or three seats for carriers with small dogs Therersquos a separate cat space in the corner enclosed with a door and the blinds drawnmdashvery important details There are stable tables for carriersThis may seem like a small thought but itrsquos not For a pet a vet is rarely a pleasant experience And the triggers stack up the minute they spot the clinichospital A tussle in the waiting room a snarling dog in your face on the other side of the carrier a dog mounting another sets off a spark in an already tense room and could have a domino effect on all animals waiting A cloud of fear pheromones already looms over the place It also throws off blood pressure and heart rate giving inaccurate reading and lowering immunity in a critical pet Each step taken to diffuse stress at every level helpsOne thing wersquod change is that the weighing machine is right next to the door and is naked in its slippery steelness Behaviourists often prescribe a yoga mat or astroturf so that dogs donrsquot slip and hence get on the machine easily and wersquod suggest that it be in another locationWhy Imagine yourself a dog reluctantly trying to get on and stay put on a slippery surface and the door opens another dog walks in and pokes his nose up your behind to say hellohellipThe reception staff asks if we have an appointment we donrsquot They tell us that itrsquos a 30 to 45minute wait without it Wersquore asked what wersquore here for and given intake forms to fill Wersquore only the second patient in the room but we wait for over an hour This is hard on Kiss who cannot settle down An extended waiting period increases the stress hormones which circulate longer in the system chipping away at immunity Extremely sensitive cats will also drool to the point of dehydration due to stress as well as defecate and vomit repeatedly Many vets request you to wait in the car or walk your dog in cases of extended waiting timeDr Hamid Shah and Aditya Varpe of the Pet Care team take Feroz first to consultation room no 5 Wersquore happy to see that the steel examination table is also covered with a Turkish towelmdashgreat grip and easy to clean We tell them Feroz is here for a general checkup and a green flag to become a house cat He needs to be vaccinated dewormed defleaed and have his ears cleaned Dr Shah is congenial asks where the cat gets his name checks his teeth and ears declares he is healthy does not need his nails clipped never advised in cats but does need to manage plaque buildup on his teeth Weighing a little over 4 kilos Feroz is porky but Dr Shah says we neednrsquot worryVarpe is great at handlingmdashhe applies the spot application for parasites on Ferozrsquos parted fur expertly drips drops into his ears massages them and cleans up stroking Ferozrsquos forehead all the while There are more technical lowstress methods of handling cats using two towels and examining them in the carrier and we wish SAHM had trained vet assistants in thismdashif you are building something anew what a great opportunity to train from scratch This would also add a notch to the vet assistantrsquos qualifications hopefully resulting in more employment opportunities with higher payDr Shah informs us that this is a tertiary hospital ie it deals with specialities so Ferozrsquos basic vaccinations will have to be done elsewhere Bummer While Dr Shah has wonderful human skills Feroz is able to back out of his hold a few times while getting his ears cleaned and I take over A sixpoint hold with a towel would have avoided thisItrsquos Kissrsquo turn and shersquos shaking and shivering in the consultation room She needs her temperature taken which is done through the rectum and Varpe lures her with treats He speaks to her through the procedure and Dr Shah recommends an ultrasound to check her bladderThe ultrasound machine is in another room and we peek through the window The handling is not so gentle anymore Itrsquos the old school ways that are still widely accepted for efficiency which can traumatise sensitive dogs and push some to bite the face off their handlers One attendant sweeps Kissrsquo legs from under her so that she falls on her side gently and one more person holds her down at the shoulder with his body Itrsquos only due to absence of better understanding not abject crueltyItrsquos a minus point for Hattiangadi that she is not in the room for the simple procedure Most pet parents are kept out so as to not excite the dog and complicate the process with emotions but Hattiangadi could make Kiss lie down on command with a treat She uses a form of training called Consent Work in which animals participate and cooperate in treatment plans Conscious zoos use this to medicate large animalsWhile we wait another young vet leads an Indie into a consulting room Shersquos held the leash high so that the dog does not back out of his collar and uses a jaunty highpitched voice to lead himmdashperfect handling The dog thinks shersquos going to do something fun and may not realise shersquos been duped until the thermometer appearsThe ultrasound reveals a cyst and wersquore glad that Dr Shahrsquos prescription is based in common sense Matungabased Hattiangadi asks whether they need to explore hormone therapy to treat this or at least antibiotics and Dr Shah responds ldquoWe donrsquot like to give antibiotics like its candy Try this cranberry extract for a month and then we will see If it doesnrsquot work wersquoll do a culture test to see exactly which antibiotics to giverdquo HearteningOutside billing and pharmacy have teething troubles The machine doesnrsquot work therersquos no paper for billing and the whole system takes time though there are three people and not too many patients Two young guns from the marketing team though are eager to record your testimonials for social media against a trademarked backgroundBasic consultation fee is Rs 1100 for each animalmdashsteep considering the average at a vet hospital is Rs 500 to Rs 700 The ultrasound costs a steep Rs 3400 itrsquos in the range of Rs 2000Rs 2200 at other places and even waived off if the vet chooses it At Happy Tails Kissrsquo chosen vet they donrsquot charge her unless this is something the pet parent insists onSAHM is not all motors firing itmdashorthopaedic physiotherapy and nephrology departments are not functional yet Though the first preference is to patients with an appointment two colleagues have been trying to get one by phone for a few days but nobody is picking up the phoneIf SAHM does manage to keep its 247 promise it would be a boonmdashmost hospitals stop this service a few months after opening This area has a high density of specialty clinicsmdashCrown Vet and PetZonemdashare just up the road so perhaps only the ability to house and handle a large volume of patients is in SAHMrsquos favour A little tightening of processes would be welcomemdasheven the most devoted of pet parents cannot spend two hours for a basic consultation