Pioneers of pet medicare

Barely five years ago a thyroid tumour would have been a death sentence for Shiva an African grey parrot Lucky for this bird and his pet parent Chirag M Desai veterinary science in India has since advanced by leaps and what would have once been a fatal diagnosis is now treatableWhen the Suratbased architect brought Shiva to Dr Rina Devrsquos animal and bird clinic in Bandra West even after all her experience with exotic pets she was surprised to see the parrot who was less than a year old and weighed under halfakilogram tottering under the weight of a table tennissized mass on his neckIn a firstofitskind surgery in the country Dr Dev successfully removed the 33g lump from Shivarsquos neck A thyroid mass removal procedure had never been attempted before in India due to the complex nature of the surgery made even more challenging by the minute scale of a birdrsquos physiologyDr Bhanu Dev Sharma performs a firstofitskind minimally invasive cardiac surgery on a dog in Delhi the procedure involves implanting a valve clamp inside the heart through a 5cm incision in the chestCT scans revealed that the growth was in a tricky position pressing down on both the windpipe and foodpipe and uncomfortably close to the jugular vein and carotid arterymdashthe two main blood vessels that carry blood to and from the heart ldquoThe mass was growing aggressively in a matter of months it had gone from peasized to baby potato The bird had stopped vocalising there was pressure while breathing and swallowingrdquo says Dr Dev adding ldquoThe surgery was tricky considering that the growth was connected to the trachea Besides the bird was so tiny and the lump big If you think paediatric surgeries are challenging wait till you see a microsurgery at this scalerdquoFor Desai Dr Devrsquos surgical expertise was a godsend ldquoI had taken Shiva to so many vets in Surat then one vet told me to go see Dr Devmdashonly she could pull off this surgery in Indiardquo he recalls Desai says the procedure cost R60000mdashwhich some might consider an eyepopping figure to spend on a birdmdashbut it was worth it for the architect ldquoIf Dr Dev hadnrsquot attempted the procedure Shiva would have died a slow painful death If there was a way to save him why would I let him go He is not just a lsquobirdrsquo for me I brought him into my home and life and I will do what it takes to save himrdquo he saysDesai is not alone in this sentiment Indians are now willing to spend even lakhs now that veterinary science is finally on its way to catching up with advancements in the WestDr Rina Dev with Shiva an African grey parrot who underwent surgery at her Bandra clinic for removal of a lifethreatening lump in his neck a 33g mass the size of a baby potato was extracted from the 415 g exotic petJust last fortnight in Delhi a sevenyearold beagle with a lifethreatening cardiac condition underwent the countryrsquos first minimally invasive heart surgery that has prolonged her life from the earlier prognosis of six months to two years to a full lifespan 1214 years on averageThe beagle Juliet was in stage C of Cmitral valve disease which causes backflow of blood in the heart further resulting in breathing distress exercise intolerance and coughing fits In a novel 15hour procedure Dr Bhanu Dev Sharma director at Max Petz Hospital in Delhi performed a transcatheter valve repair by making a 5cm cut in the chest through which he inserted a catheter and implanted a clamp on the malfunctioning valveMaple who was the first dog in India to undergo a total hip replacement with her family at Dr Daversquos clinic in Borivli for a postoperative checkupThis is not the first heart surgery on a dog in Indiamdashthat distinction goes to an open heart surgery that was performed closer home at Andherirsquos Top Dog clinic by Dr Makarand Chousalkar last year with the help of German experts specially flown inHowever the transcatheter procedure is unique because it is performed on a beating heart unlike an open heart procedure in which the heart and lung function are taken over by a bypass machine says Dr Sharma adding ldquoThis reduces both the surgical risk as well as recovery time Juliet was discharged in two days with her earlier distress already having nearly disappearedThe cuttingedge procedure has only been pulled off a handful of times globally and Dr Sharma was the first private practitioner in Asia to attempt it ldquoThis is a superspecialty procedure it is similar to the mitral clip procedure that has saved many human lives Mitral valve disease is the most common cardiac ailment among dogs and with this option now open to dogs it will bring hope to many pet parentsrdquo he saysThe entire procedure cost around Rs 85 lakh compared to Rs 1215 lakh globally says the Delhi vet adding that the implant alone costs USD 6000 about Rs 5 lakh The hefty cost doesnrsquot deter pet parents asserts Dr Sharma ldquoThings are quite different now compared to 20 or even 10 years ago There is now more awareness about pet health among families and many of them consider pets as their children especially the doubleincome nokids couples who will go to great lengths for their dogsrdquo he explainsIf mitral heart disease is one of the most common cardiac conditions among dogs another silent killer is hip dysplasia HD which is abnormal formation of the hip socket causing much pain and resulting in arthritis and lameness in extreme casesWhile reparative surgeries have been performed in India for a few years now they are not a curative solution as they rarely bring the dog back to full function and there can still be further wear and tear of the joint However Dr Vikram Dave from Borivlibased Blue 7 Vets is leading the charge in the country with a more radical solution total hip replacement THR surgeryDr Dave who has trained in the superspecialist procedure in Russia first attempted it in Mumbai in July last year on golden retriever Maple who was diagnosed with HD at just six months Her littermate Loki too underwent the same procedure in DecemberldquoHip problems in pedigree dogs are at an unprecedented level these days mostly due to inbreeding smooth floor tiles in homes and lack of exercise We see symptoms of pain in dogs as young as three to six months of age We see oneyearold dogs who are not even able to get up properlyrdquo says Dr DaveldquoTHR has been performed abroad for the last 15 years and it was something we were lacking in India The problem is that hip replacement is a costly affair The procedure costs R35 lakh of which R25 lakh is spent just on the implant which we have to source from outside the country And pet insurance is yet to take off in India so itrsquos a hefty cost for familiesrdquo the expert saysThe high cost and lack of insurance notwithstanding pet parents are queuing up for the procedure ldquoIn the last three months alone we have performed 12 hip replacements At this rate we will be doing two to three such surgeries every week There is a lot of interest from families because HD is a rampant problemrdquo says Dr Dave who is also the first in the country to have performed a complex procedure called Patella Groove Replacement which involves implanting a prosthesis to give relief to dogs with arthritic kneesIf anything Maple and Lokirsquos lsquodadrsquo architect Kapil Bakshi was relieved that there was an option to provide relief to their furry lsquochildrenrsquo ldquoBecause Dr Dave came up with this surgical plan we at least had a way to end the pain for our dogs Both of them were diagnosed with HD at such a young age we canrsquot imagine how much pain they would have been in as they grew older Now they can run jump and play with no problemsrdquo he saysInsurance companies are grossly underestimating the size of the market and there would be many takers for pet health policies in the country says the Borivli vet ldquoPeople are willing to invest in their petsrsquo health now We get families who have spoken to us about the possibility of paying for the surgery in installments or taking out a loan for itrdquo he addsNot unlike human cases the word cancer can strike terror in the hearts of pet parents as well But Chemburbased Dr Noopur Desai is making strides in the field setting up one of the first oncologyspecialist vet clinics in the country Apart from conventional radiotherapy her setup The Cancer Vet also offers cuttingedge stereotactic radiationmdashvery precisely targeted highdose radiation that studies found to be effective on brain nasal and prostate tumours and other cancersldquoBecause it is so precise higher doses can be administered thereby cutting rounds of treatment from 20 in conventional radiotherapy to just five with stereotactic radiation Not only does this reduce side effects but it also means that the dog will not have to be put under general anaesthesia multiple times further reducing riskrdquo says the oncologist The procedure was available in the US for nearly a decade but was only brought to India three years ago by Dr Desai who moved from the US and began her practice here She remains the only vet in India to provide this highly specialised treatment optionIn Pune Dr Narendra Pardeshi has a cat patient Kuttush whose family hopes to save his life with a kidney transplantmdasha procedure that has never been attempted in India In March Dr Pardeshi had hoped to carry out the countryrsquos first kidney transplant on a dog and had even found a donor match Unfortunately by the time permissions from animal welfare bodies and organ transplant authorities came through the dog had diedWith all permissions in place this time round all that remains is to look for a donor for Kuttush he saysAsked about concerns that organ transplant procedures could open up an ethical quagmire in the future with no regulatory body to oversee where animal organs can be sourced from Dr Pardeshi says that vulnerable populations such as stray animals and those in rescue shelters are wellprotected by hawkeyed welfare workersldquoWe are also searching only for pet parents who will volunteer their cats as live donorsrdquo Dr Pardeshi clarifies