A daily look at how Hongkongers are dealing with Sars. Today we speak to Katriona Bradley, a vet at the Tai Wai Small Animal and Exotic Hospital
When the Sars thing first started, I expected business to fall but it's been the opposite.
I still receive about five inquiries a day about pets having Sars. I can't say that pets can't carry the virus because at the moment there has been no evidence. But I usually tell them that animals need to catch it from somewhere. I ask them: 'Have you taken your pet to the Prince of Wales intensive care ward or Amoy Gardens recently?' If not, then the chances are quite low.
The mother of one of my staff wanted to throw her hamsters out. A friend of mine who runs a chain of pet stores told me people abandoned their cats outside the shops. Since my clinic is across the way from the Prince of Wales Hospital, I have had contact with many high-risk people. One of my clients has Sars, three of the girls who work in the intensive care unit come here and a social worker who takes cares of kids whose parents are infected with Sars comes here. That's why we always wear masks and gloves and spray disinfectant.
My family and I are all taking an immune booster. I wash my hands more than 30 times a day. At home we are very clean. My husband is Chinese and he washes the garden with bleach.
In the beginning I was very scared. One of my friends broke out in a fever after we had dinner with her. I was terrified. But now I have rationalised it. The numbers are going down.