When “fur baby” Mimi arrived at Dr Kelly Yeo’s veterinary clinic, The Gentle Vet, she had a massive tumour one-third the size of her body. She was suffering from aggressive sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that affects the bones and soft tissue.
The three veterinary clinics Mimi’s “pawrents” had taken her to were unable to help her. One veterinary surgeon declared her inoperable because of the tumour size. Mimi was given less than a month to live.
But her family refused to give up. With Dr Yeo’s help, she underwent six months of chemotherapy at The Gentle Vet. Eight months later, she passed away peacefully at home.
“Medically, the treatment was considered a success,” said Dr Yeo.
She explained that chemotherapy for pets above 12 years old is not meant to cure the disease, but to keep it under control and prolong the pet’s life. The medicine dosage is lower and the effects of chemotherapy are gentler.
In Mimi’s case, it bought the cat eight more months of happy life with her family. “She loved life, ate very well and Mum (her owner) started taking her for walks,” said the 36-year-old vet.
ACCOMPANYING OUR FUR BABIES AS THEY AGE
Cancer patients like Mimi are not uncommon at The Gentle Vet, a clinic Dr Yeo co-founded in 2020 to specialise in geriatric care and chronic illness. The clinic is run by four vets, including Dr Yeo.
Common conditions include heart failure, kidney failure, diabetes, thyroid issues and other organ failure.
Half of Dr Yeo’s patients at The Gentle Vet are geriatric pets. “There was one morning when my youngest patient was 12 years old and the oldest was 19,” said Dr Yeo. (Photo: Alina Tay)
Edvarcl Heng’s 17-year-old goldador (a labrador retriever-golden retriever mix) Scav suffers from a rare nervous disease that left him unable to walk. To care for his dog 24/7, the devoted pet owner quit his job at a creative agency and started his own home-based communications agency.
Heng helps Scav to pee every one to two hours, turns him every one to two hours to prevent bed sores, cleans up after him, and takes Scav to Dr Yeo’s clinic at least once every two weeks.
“Because a lot of our patients have chronic illnesses, we make sure they have a nice time when they are here by giving them plenty of treats,” said Dr Yeo. (Photo: Edvarcl Heng)
Beyond in-clinic treatment, The Gentle Vet offers patients like Scav consistent aftercare support via WhatsApp, offering advice as their conditions heal or deteriorate.
It also has its own 24-hour care facility – usually only available in pet hospitals – for critically ill, post-surgery or end-of-life pets, with equipment for pets that are in coma.
For geriatric patients without critical illness, Dr Yeo advocates for earlier screening, including a physical check-up, full blood tests and ultrasound: Twice a year from the age of 12 for a
A DIGNIFIED DEATH FOR BELOVED PETS
Death is part and parcel of caring for a geriatric pet. Since January, more than five of Dr Yeo’s patients have passed away at her clinic from critical illnesses such as brain cancer and lung failure.
Her role: Accompanying pets and their owners on their last journey together.
She recalled a dog with terminal cancer that was rushed to her clinic. At its previous clinic, the owner was given the option to euthanise it because of the poor prognosis. However, the family rejected euthanasia and brought the dog home.
“When the dog came here, it was gasping to breathe. And it would have been gasping for a while. It wasn’t able to stand, eat or drink. This dog was obviously going to pass soon. But why would we let it gasp and starve for days before it passes?” she said.
The Gentle Vet has its own 24-hour care facility for critically ill pets. (Photo: The Gentle Vet)
Dr Yeo gave the dog oxygen and medication to stop the gasping, reduce pain and nausea so that it could pass on more comfortably.
“Typically, when people decline euthanasia, they’re given palliative care medication such as painkillers for their pets. But sometimes, that’s not enough. If the pet is not eating, you’re not going to get the medication down. Or, if they are gasping, sometimes you need oxygen,” she explained.
“End-of-life care is not just going home with a bunch of medication. It is very interactive. We constantly tweak what we do to make the patient more comfortable [at home]. Sometimes, if pets are quite critical, they may also end up here in the clinic on oxygen, or intubated,” she said.
Dr Yeo stressed that quality palliative care and hospice care are very important for geriatric pets. “Invariably, everybody will die one day, and when the time is near, how one dies is very important.”
DRAWING STRENGTH FROM HEARTBREAK
Dr Yeo’s interest in geriatric and palliative care comes from a painful personal loss.
In her late twenties, her two beloved childhood dogs, Munchie, a papillon, and Elmo, a schnauzer, passed away.
“They were very close to me. Munchie and I used to sleep together every night. She would sleep on my head. In the morning, when I tell her, ‘Let’s go’, she would hop down from the bed and go to the door. We knew each other’s actions and wants,” she recalled fondly.
“I’ve always had an affinity for dogs,” said Dr Yeo. (Photo: Alina Tay)
But Munchie’s quality of life deteriorated very much during the last two years of her life. “From 14 onwards, she was totally deaf and blind. She also had kidney failure and was on drips,” said Dr Yeo.
“She didn’t cope with medical treatment well. Because when you’re deaf and blind, you live in darkness and don’t know what to expect.”
Still, Munchie knew where her most comfortable place was – on top of Dr Yeo’s head. “She may not be able to see or hear, but she could still find her way on top of my head. It was very warm.”
One heartbreaking night, the vet woke up to Munchie’s screaming. As the dog could not see and had dementia, she had gotten stuck under the couch and Dr Yeo had to rescue her.
Dr Yeo lost Munchie in 2016 at the age of 16.5. A year later, she lost her other dog Elmo to intestinal cancer.
“What really drove me to geriatric care was my experiences with my babies as they age. Lots of owners think of their pets as their kids or babies. To see them age and take them through this journey is very sad,” she said.
A Thank You card for Dr Yeo. (Photo: The Gentle Vet)
Dr Yeo added that caring for geriatric pets or those with chronic illnesses is very demanding for pet owners and she hopes to support them.
But the job also takes a toll on her.
“I face a lot of emotional overload when my chronic patients pass. These are people I’ve seen so often for a year, or even two to three years. So I get really sad. And I get burnt out,” she said, adding that the vet industry generally suffers from very poor mental health.
But it is a path Dr Yeo has chosen for herself time and again, not just in her career, but also in her personal life.
Dr Yeo adopted a 12-year-old Schnauzer, Alex, last year. (Photo: The Gentle Vet)
Last year, she adopted a 12-year-old Schnauzer Alex with minor kidney issues, thyroid issues and arthritis, from an animal rescue group.
“Ageing in pets is natural, just like for humans,” she said. “There are a lot of things we can’t stop or cure, like blindness and deafness. This is a natural deterioration. But we can gentle that slope,” she said.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what age they pass. What matters is how you have loved them,” she said.
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
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The three veterinary clinics Mimi’s “pawrents” had taken her to were unable to help her. One veterinary surgeon declared her inoperable because of the tumour size. Mimi was given less than a month to live.
But her family refused to give up. With Dr Yeo’s help, she underwent six months of chemotherapy at The Gentle Vet. Eight months later, she passed away peacefully at home.
“Medically, the treatment was considered a success,” said Dr Yeo.
She explained that chemotherapy for pets above 12 years old is not meant to cure the disease, but to keep it under control and prolong the pet’s life. The medicine dosage is lower and the effects of chemotherapy are gentler.
In Mimi’s case, it bought the cat eight more months of happy life with her family. “She loved life, ate very well and Mum (her owner) started taking her for walks,” said the 36-year-old vet.
ACCOMPANYING OUR FUR BABIES AS THEY AGE
Cancer patients like Mimi are not uncommon at The Gentle Vet, a clinic Dr Yeo co-founded in 2020 to specialise in geriatric care and chronic illness. The clinic is run by four vets, including Dr Yeo.
Common conditions include heart failure, kidney failure, diabetes, thyroid issues and other organ failure.
Half of Dr Yeo’s patients at The Gentle Vet are geriatric pets. “There was one morning when my youngest patient was 12 years old and the oldest was 19,” said Dr Yeo. (Photo: Alina Tay)
Edvarcl Heng’s 17-year-old goldador (a labrador retriever-golden retriever mix) Scav suffers from a rare nervous disease that left him unable to walk. To care for his dog 24/7, the devoted pet owner quit his job at a creative agency and started his own home-based communications agency.
Heng helps Scav to pee every one to two hours, turns him every one to two hours to prevent bed sores, cleans up after him, and takes Scav to Dr Yeo’s clinic at least once every two weeks.
“Because a lot of our patients have chronic illnesses, we make sure they have a nice time when they are here by giving them plenty of treats,” said Dr Yeo. (Photo: Edvarcl Heng)
Beyond in-clinic treatment, The Gentle Vet offers patients like Scav consistent aftercare support via WhatsApp, offering advice as their conditions heal or deteriorate.
It also has its own 24-hour care facility – usually only available in pet hospitals – for critically ill, post-surgery or end-of-life pets, with equipment for pets that are in coma.
For geriatric patients without critical illness, Dr Yeo advocates for earlier screening, including a physical check-up, full blood tests and ultrasound: Twice a year from the age of 12 for a
A DIGNIFIED DEATH FOR BELOVED PETS
Death is part and parcel of caring for a geriatric pet. Since January, more than five of Dr Yeo’s patients have passed away at her clinic from critical illnesses such as brain cancer and lung failure.
Her role: Accompanying pets and their owners on their last journey together.
She recalled a dog with terminal cancer that was rushed to her clinic. At its previous clinic, the owner was given the option to euthanise it because of the poor prognosis. However, the family rejected euthanasia and brought the dog home.
“When the dog came here, it was gasping to breathe. And it would have been gasping for a while. It wasn’t able to stand, eat or drink. This dog was obviously going to pass soon. But why would we let it gasp and starve for days before it passes?” she said.
The Gentle Vet has its own 24-hour care facility for critically ill pets. (Photo: The Gentle Vet)
Dr Yeo gave the dog oxygen and medication to stop the gasping, reduce pain and nausea so that it could pass on more comfortably.
“Typically, when people decline euthanasia, they’re given palliative care medication such as painkillers for their pets. But sometimes, that’s not enough. If the pet is not eating, you’re not going to get the medication down. Or, if they are gasping, sometimes you need oxygen,” she explained.
“End-of-life care is not just going home with a bunch of medication. It is very interactive. We constantly tweak what we do to make the patient more comfortable [at home]. Sometimes, if pets are quite critical, they may also end up here in the clinic on oxygen, or intubated,” she said.
Dr Yeo stressed that quality palliative care and hospice care are very important for geriatric pets. “Invariably, everybody will die one day, and when the time is near, how one dies is very important.”
DRAWING STRENGTH FROM HEARTBREAK
Dr Yeo’s interest in geriatric and palliative care comes from a painful personal loss.
In her late twenties, her two beloved childhood dogs, Munchie, a papillon, and Elmo, a schnauzer, passed away.
“They were very close to me. Munchie and I used to sleep together every night. She would sleep on my head. In the morning, when I tell her, ‘Let’s go’, she would hop down from the bed and go to the door. We knew each other’s actions and wants,” she recalled fondly.
“I’ve always had an affinity for dogs,” said Dr Yeo. (Photo: Alina Tay)
But Munchie’s quality of life deteriorated very much during the last two years of her life. “From 14 onwards, she was totally deaf and blind. She also had kidney failure and was on drips,” said Dr Yeo.
“She didn’t cope with medical treatment well. Because when you’re deaf and blind, you live in darkness and don’t know what to expect.”
Still, Munchie knew where her most comfortable place was – on top of Dr Yeo’s head. “She may not be able to see or hear, but she could still find her way on top of my head. It was very warm.”
One heartbreaking night, the vet woke up to Munchie’s screaming. As the dog could not see and had dementia, she had gotten stuck under the couch and Dr Yeo had to rescue her.
Dr Yeo lost Munchie in 2016 at the age of 16.5. A year later, she lost her other dog Elmo to intestinal cancer.
“What really drove me to geriatric care was my experiences with my babies as they age. Lots of owners think of their pets as their kids or babies. To see them age and take them through this journey is very sad,” she said.
A Thank You card for Dr Yeo. (Photo: The Gentle Vet)
Dr Yeo added that caring for geriatric pets or those with chronic illnesses is very demanding for pet owners and she hopes to support them.
But the job also takes a toll on her.
“I face a lot of emotional overload when my chronic patients pass. These are people I’ve seen so often for a year, or even two to three years. So I get really sad. And I get burnt out,” she said, adding that the vet industry generally suffers from very poor mental health.
But it is a path Dr Yeo has chosen for herself time and again, not just in her career, but also in her personal life.
Dr Yeo adopted a 12-year-old Schnauzer, Alex, last year. (Photo: The Gentle Vet)
Last year, she adopted a 12-year-old Schnauzer Alex with minor kidney issues, thyroid issues and arthritis, from an animal rescue group.
“Ageing in pets is natural, just like for humans,” she said. “There are a lot of things we can’t stop or cure, like blindness and deafness. This is a natural deterioration. But we can gentle that slope,” she said.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what age they pass. What matters is how you have loved them,” she said.
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...