National 7 (Spotlight Weekly)

Mysterious New Canine Dermatitis

By Dr. Kedar Karki

Background : Relation between pet (dog) and human is as old as the human civilization. As urbanization picks up, which is a symbol of growing prosperity, there is fragmentation of old-style joint families giving rise to nuclear families. In this scenario instead of keeping large milk-giving animals - a practice which has become difficult to embrace particularly in urban areas due to lack of sufficient land for fodder and pasture.

And, here enters a new guest in the house of elite that is pet, that, too, a Dog. Although there is insufficient information about the ways of keeping pets available to the pet owners due to lack of proper knowledge disseminating agency, the Kennel clubs and Vet Practitioner nearby help them. And it is the ego of the owner that decides the type of Dog being reared.

Having Dog in the house is not that much easy in terms of rearing them and providing them adequate and optimum health care and other things they deserve. For this there are Kennel clubs in the corners of every street in Kathmandu. Likewise Vet Clinics run by paravet and vets are also found mushrooming in the cities. On the other hand pet owners are in dilemma and pets are in trauma. That’s why we see a large number of good breeds of dogs roaming around the street, which we cannot say are stray dogs.

Development of modern veterinary science and medicine has well documented most of the disease conditions of dogs and has suggested appropriate means for their treatment and prophylaxis. But due to the prevalent situation, we cannot assert that the same is being delivered at right time by right manner by right expertise.

Since last few years pet owners and pet practitioners are facing problem regarding the skin disease, which was considered to be caused by external parasite mite and mange. With the evolution of latest range of medicine every practitioners used to do miracles in curing the diseases. But today although the1 symptoms are same, practitioners are same and medicines used are same, the cure is elusive.

Why so happened?

If we analyze the history of past two decades worldwide, there has been tremendous environmental degradation due to massive deforestation, ozone depletion, global warming and green house effects. These menaces have combined to help the emergence of new opportunistic pathogen, which otherwise used to be considered not harmful to plants and animals.

Now a new invader in the form of saprophytic Fungus related to Fusarium has emerged as new challenge to our garden plants, agro-horticulture, timbers under such scenario our pets and domesticated animals as well our public health can’t be aloof from it. But how much attention are we giving towards it? If answers are not found soon, today's mysterious canine dermatitis in pets may tomorrow affect you, too.

(Dr. Karki is an M.V.St. Preventive Vet. Medicine. He can be contacted karkiked@yahoo.co.in)

King Grants Audience to Leaders

On the eve of his ‘goodwill’ visit to India, King Gyanendra granted audience to prominent political leaders on Monday and Tuesday (December 20 and 21) evening at the Royal Palace.

On December 20, he separately met with founding leader of Nepali Congress (NC) and former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai; general secretary of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal; president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Pashupati SJB Rana; and president of Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) and minister Badri Prasad Mandal.

The King discussed about his India visit with the leaders. “Since it is a goodwill visit by the Head of the State, we should all look at it from that perspective alone. I gave him best wishes and informed him about our party’s viewpoint,” said Nepal. The meeting was held as a part of regular exercise of holding consultations with the political leaders in relation to the visit.

On December 21, he met with former prime ministers Girija Prasad Koirala, Surya Bahadur Thapa and Lokendra Bahadur Chand and president of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) Narayan Man Bijukchhe.

“We held discussions over his visit to India. I told the King that his hand would have been strengthened had he gone there with people’s backing, which comes through parliament,” Koirala told reporters after the meeting.

He added that he also informed the King about his viewpoint regarding what he should talk about with Indian leaders on Maoist issue. Bijukchhe told reporters that he asked the King to remain vigilant over the India’s intention of fishing in troubled waters.

King Gyanendra is making his third official visit to India from December 23 till January 2. He will visit New Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, Dehradun and Kolkata during his stay in India.