Noelnadesan's Blog

How did our dog contract this disease?

Lynda asked me in a hoarse voice, tears welling in her eyes. Her husband, standing beside her, hugged her and rested his left hand on her shoulder to comfort her. The credit card used to make the payment was in his right hand.

“I don’t know the exact answer,” I replied, pausing for a moment, staring out the window to collect myself.

 Outside my clinic, Melbourne’s weather was sunny and bright, with a gentle breeze. Autumn leaves in red and yellow decorated many trees, contrasting with the occasional evergreen eucalyptus. A pair of honeyeaters was perched on a branch of the large red gum tree in front of my parking area. Nearby, a pair of doves was rubbing beaks.

I could not keep looking outside any longer; I turned to say:

Here’s my theory: when I was studying veterinary medicine 25 years ago, I had not heard of this disease. Later on, I learned that humans can be affected by it, often called ‘blood cancer.’ It is a rare condition that can be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals and radioactivity. Overall, I don’t have a definitive explanation for what causes this disease.

“Is it so?” asked Lynda’s husband, while she said sadly that she had checked the internet but couldn’t find an answer.

“To my knowledge, many residents of Chernobyl, Ukraine, were affected by this disease following the nuclear reactor accident. These illnesses primarily affect the elderly, and Jaxson’s age of seven supports this observation,” I said.

“Did you take the dog to Chernobyl?” Lynda’s husband cracked a joke. As a cheery mood would definitely provide solace in times of sorrow, I wished to prolong the conversation and remarked

“You don’t have to visit Chernobyl; Britain conducted an atomic test at Maralinga in South Australia, where radioactive waves are also present.

They paid my bill, and I commented that they would incur double the expenses by paying me as well as the specialist, whom I had recommended they consult for an expert opinion.

“No, no. We prefer to go to the specialist too. We should know how our dog was affected by the disease. We wanted to know whether the cause of this disease was the food we eat or the environment surrounding the house,” Lynda’s husband elaborated.

 Lynda placed her hand on her stomach and said, “The other reason is my pregnancy of four months.”

To cap the episode, I expressed my shared sympathy, and they left after thanking me.

Let me recount what happened earlier with my close associate, Mr Randall. He is a retired teacher working part-time at a school. He’s friendly, straightforward, and known for his humour and easy conversational style.

One morning, Randall arrived at the clinic with a male Kelpie and placed him on the examination table. The dog, which was red and black, could not stand and rested quietly on the table with his eyes closed.

“Doc, this is my daughter’s dog, who is seven years old, and it has been vomiting for the last three days,” he said.

The Kelpie breed of dogs, descended from the English Border Collie, is now found only in Australia. These dogs can stand for an entire day, guarding sheep from foxes and feral dogs, and safely guiding the flock back to the farm. With a farmer on a motorcycle, a single Kelpie can herd hundreds of sheep to a sheepfold. Their intelligence is demonstrated in competitions held in towns surrounded by many sheep farms.

Kelpie dogs can walk for miles regardless of rain, sunlight, or snowfall. Australians generally refer to Kelpies as ‘working dogs,’ and the costs for food and veterinary care that farms incur for them are considered part of the farm’s maintenance expenses; these costs often qualify for tax concessions.

These dogs are rarely seen at veterinary clinics, except in cases of accidents, because they are generally a healthy breed. However, once they are moved from farm life to urban environments, they tend to forget their unique traits. In towns, as they usually stay in backyard settings, their natural characteristics diminish.

 Houses often have inhabitants who develop bloated bodies because they lack regular physical activity. Moreover, when these residents settle in the backyard of the townhouses, they tend to adopt a timid lifestyle, missing their usual energetic routines of managing a flock of sheep.

When I placed my hands on the dog’s stomach, I sensed the pain Randall had brought to my attention. I told Randall I wanted to monitor the dog further and run additional tests, including taking a blood sample.

“Now you are in charge of it,” Randall said, then left.

That evening, I received the blood test results, which were shocking because they clearly showed Randall’s dog had Monoblastic leukaemia, a condition I had never encountered before.

To confirm the disease, a bone marrow biopsy was required. I explained the test results to Randall thoroughly over the phone. He chose to send his daughter and her husband to discuss the matter more in depth.

Lynda and her husband arrived at my clinic, where I explained the rare disease affecting their dog. I advised referring the case to a specialist for further evaluation, including a bone marrow biopsy if needed.

Lynda agreed and took the dog to a specialist following my referral. That evening, I received a report confirming that Jaxson’s disease had advanced beyond the point of treatment. After discussing this difficult news with Lynda over the phone, she understood that a decision about euthanasia—how and when—was necessary to permanently alleviate his pain.

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