Some good news for pet owners. You no longer have to worry about losing your pet to medical conditions that were previously difficult to treat within the country. The National Veterinary Hospital in Motithang is now offering advanced surgical services, similar to those provided for humans. However, the hospital notes that many pet owners are still unaware of these services, even though they were introduced over a year ago.
Veterinarians at the National Veterinary Hospital in Motithang perform eye surgery, orthopaedic procedures, and gastrotomy surgeries, among others. They say this was made possible after two doctors received specialised training.
With the introduction of these advanced services, the hospital has performed around 100 different surgeries on pets over the past year.
Orthopaedic and eye surgeries accounted for the highest number of cases.
Last week, the hospital performed an orthopaedic surgery on a cat with a fractured leg. In cases like these, veterinarians perform bone pinning and bone plating just like in humans.
The surgical methods help fix broken legs by using pins or metal plates to hold the long bone in place, allowing it to heal properly and regain strength.
“In dogs and cats, the major surgery we provide is in the field of orthopaedic surgery, which includes the intermediary bone pinning and bone plating in terms of long bone fractures. For gastrointestinal surgery, the common condition in pets, let it be dog or a cat, is mainly a foreign body injection. So, sometimes there is a condition called intussusception where one intestine goes into the other intestine. So, in terms of gastrointestinal, we provide gastrotomy surgery,” said Dr Nima Wangdi, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, National Veterinary Hospital, Thimphu.
He added that the hospital also performs other major procedures, such as cystotomy, a common surgery related to the kidney and urinary bladder.
This surgery is done to remove bladder stones and kidney stones.
“Tumours are also very common in dogs and cats, especially skin tumours. So, mostly it is a benign type. So, we mostly perform a surgical resection. So, sometimes if it reoccurs, then we go for chemotherapy also, combined with surgery,” added Dr Nima Wangdi, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, National Veterinary Hospital.
He added that when surgery alone is not successful, chemotherapy is used as an alternative treatment.
Dr Nima said many pet owners are still unaware of these services, leading to unnecessary suffering and, at times, loss of pets.
Meanwhile, hospital staff have been working around the clock on a shift basis since March this year, providing services day and night.
The hospital currently has 38 staff and five doctors, two of whom are specialised.