Anicare Veterinary Clinic Wangsa Maju

Last Saturday, I decided to take the guard's cat to Anicare for a checkup and vaccine in preparation to get her spayed.

I turned up around 11:30am and was surprised to see so many people waiting! I must've been 5th or 6th in the queue while I waited for an hour. I had no idea how busy Anicare gets during the weekends - Right Angle Animal Clinic only seems half as busy during weekends. But then again, perhaps it's because Anicare is run by only 1 vet, Dr Chris, assisted by 2 aunties - 1 to help with cleaning and holding the pet, the other to serve at reception. Anicare is usually very quiet when I come on weekdays.

Despite being busy, Dr Chris was very attentive with the guard's cat. She double-checked sample crusts from the cat's ears for mites before declaring the cat's ears mite-free. And she was careful to space out a general physical examination with the more stressful temperature check (thermometer in the cat's butt) and vaccine, so as not to stress the cat out. She even praised little Comot for being so patient with her.

All in all, I'd recommend Dr Chris if you're a pet owner living around Wangsa Maju area. However, Dr Chris doesn't really handle spaying / neutering for the moment as she would need to arrange for her vet friend at another animal clinic to come over to assist her. So for now, she would normally recommend going directly to her friend's clinic (run by husband and wife) if you're in a hurry.

Dr Christina Blossom Welch
(Don't know how she got this name but she looks Chindian and speaks Cantonese. She graduated from UPM)
Anicare Veterinary Clinic
90, Jalan 1/2F, Pusat Bandar Wangsa Maju,
Section 5, Wangsa Maju, 53300 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel/Fax 03-41433273
Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 10am - 1pm, 3pm-5pm
Sat: 10am - 3pm
Sun: Closed

UPM Serdang animal clinic is GOOD but it's satellite clinic in PJ is BAD

I haven't found any vets in KL / Klang Valley who practise homeopathy on animals, like the famous Dr Pitcairn. But I have found some friendly vets who charge reasonable prices for treatment.

I have taken cats to Right Angle (Petaling Jaya), Anicare (Wangsa Maju), UPM animal clinic (Serdang), and UPM's satellite clinic (Petaling Jaya). Of these clinics, I would NOT recommend taking your pets to UPM's satellite clinic because the vet is not friendly, and seemed to favour euthanasia over treatment.

About two years ago, I brought the guard's cat, who was suffering from skin parasite, to the UPM satellite clinic. The vet wouldn't touch the cat, and even recommended euthanasia. I guess he's not a cat person.

But when I took the guard's cat to UPM's main animal clinic in Serdang, the vet over there complimented on how "handsome" the cat was, took skin samples, and prescribed medication!

What a difference. Here's UPM's animal clinic website for more info on address and operating hours.

Right Angle Animal Clinic

I haven't found any vets in KL / Klang Valley who practise homeopathy on animals, like the famous Dr Pitcairn. But I have found some friendly vets who charge reasonable prices for treatment. One of them is Right Angle Animal Clinic in PJ.

Right Angle Animal Clinic
7-1, Ground Floor, The Right Angle, Jalan 14/22m Seksen 14, 46100 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-79601822
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri (9am-7:30pm), Sat (9am-5pm), Sun (9am-1pm)
Vets: Dr Siti and Dr Thong, both UPM graduates

This clinic looks more like a pet supplies shop than a clinic but rest assured your pets are in good hands. Both vets are animal lovers and have their own pets at home and at the clinic. When I last met them, Dr Thong has about 17 cats, and Dr Siti (despite being asthmatic) has 7 cats - and that doesn't include the cats that stay at their clinic, like Whitey. Both vets treat cats and dogs.

I especially enjoy taking my cats to see Dr Siti because she makes me feel welcomed. She's chatty and takes her time to explain about the treatments for Oatey and Friesia, asks me about my cat care routine, and talks about her own cats. (Dr Thong is nice too, but she tends to be more quiet and serious).

One time, Oatey pooed in the crate on the way to the clinic. Dr Siti let me wash Oatey with soap. She didn't charge for it even though the clinic's assistant Ann helped with washing the crate.

Overall, I think Dr Siti gives balanced advice, and doesn't make my cats take more treatment than necessary. When Friesia fell off the balcony, she administered some anti-shock injections and gave some anti-bleeding tablets, and asked me to keep an eye on any blood Friesia's bowel movements, and breathing patterns. She even took time explain her major concern - to look out for signs of diaphragmatic hernia where the stomach is pushed upwards closer to the lungs making it difficult for an animal to breathe. And even explained that although the operation success rate is high (90%) during operation, she has known a few cats to die soon after that. On the flipside, she has also known a cat who lived for 15 years despite diaphragmatic hernia, and she reckons it's because owner kept the cat inside the house and carefully monitored the cat's the diet.

I certainly feel that' s better advice than what my colleague got when she took in an injured stray puppy from the car park. The vet diagnosed the puppy with diaphragmatic hernia, proceeded with operation, and charged a whopping RM5,000 for the operation! I have never seen the puppy but I couldn't help wondering whether the puppy would have survived just fine with just some TLC.

In case you're wondering, Friesia seems to have recovered from the trauma, and is back to her normal self but wiser, as she rarely climbs up onto the balcony banister.

Cats and toiletries don't mix

March has been a busy month with family, so I haven't been posting as much as I should have. Thanks Shu for reminding me to keep writing :) I'll try to post at least once a week.

Last weekend, my parents came to stay with me overnight because they wanted to visit my sick grandmother who's living with one of my aunts nearby.

As usual, I put Oatey and Friesia into the master bathroom, along with their litter tray, scratch post, rug, water, and toys. Later on Sunday afternoon after my parents had left, I noticed Friesia had a bald patch of sore skin near her thigh. Both of my favourite vet clinics, Right Angle (Petaling Jaya), and Anicare (Wangsa Maju) had closed by the time I realised, so I decided to take Friesia the following day to Anicare because it was nearer to home.

Could it be mange or some skin parasite? Or did Oatey bite off Friesia's fur? Dr Christina examined Friesia, and concluded that it was probably chemical burn. And that was when I remembered that I did not remove my toiletries, cleaning bottles, and even the toilet brush out of the bathroom when I put Oatey and Friesia in! How silly of me.

Dr Christina prescribed the standard treatment - antibiotics and some medicated cream for Friesia. I haven't found any vets in KL who homeopathy like Dr Pitcairn.