Days 5 and 6: small animals

We took off our 3rd day and went sightseeing: hiking around a volcano and lounging by a warm beautiful lake.  Then we got to work for our last two days in the clinic.

The last two days at the clinic were full.  It started off slow, with only 6 or so animals around, so 3 of the vets and 2 students went off to the horses.  It was nice having a slower morning because I got to learn and try out some new skills. I started placing IV catheters in the dogs (to help fix the earlier problems of starting to wake up during surgery) and I got in my first 3 on the first try! I also helped hand instruments to the drs, and worked the pre-surgery table, to keep the animals coming.

                                            Animals recovering from their surgeries

But by noon we somehow had 20 animals left for surgeries, so things picked up. In the afternoon everyone came back from the horses (they saw 80!) and we sped up and got through everyone, though it was a long day

Other than spay/neuters, they also performed one more leg amputation and removed some tumors in a dog. We got in a little, tiny, skin and bones dog from a village a few hours away. The dog couldn't keep any food down and basically hadn't eaten in a week - he was very sad looking. The Drs. figured he must have a foreign body in him, but doing a surgery was risky, due to his state of health. They decided to re-discuss the case the next day.

                                           Trachea dog a few days later, looking good!


Day 5: Our last day in the clinic was a short half day, we did about 10 surgeries. I got to be Claudio's helper, and placed many of the catheters - it was exciting to get better at it and feel useful. We had 4 or 5 cats to neuter, and we each got to help out with another one or two. I enjoyed seeing each dr's different approach to tying the knot.

After the spays/neuters they decided to try an abdominal exploration on the skinny dog - he'd spent the whole morning on fluids. They found his organs full of air, but no blockages and looking for the most part healthy. His airways where also clear (they stuck a tube down to check). So they sealed him up and put him on a plethora of anti-parasitic drugs.  I heard in the evening he looked a tiny bit healthier, and actually stood up and walked around a little.  We heard a report a week later that he was doing much better.

Amputee dog from the first day, looking good!

That wrapped up the vet work for our trip. Overall I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. Everyone (vets, students, volunteers) were very helpful and willing to share tips or teach and I think we all worked well together and got a lot accomplished. Personally it was also exciting to gain some skills (like placing ivs, more practice with Ims and Subqs) and actually feel what it was like to neuter a cat or tie a suture. I hope to help out on another world vets trip in the future - hopefully as a vet student or vet!