More from AWARE and Dr. Linares

Hello again!

I hope that everyone has been enjoying our blog posts so far! We apologize for the delay in uploading a lot of pictures as we have not always had reliable internet. Right now we are staying with a volunteer at AWARE, Darvy, who is an amazing host-- allowing us both the access to fast internet (:O) and a laundry machine (:O!!!!). I feel like I am in the 20th century again! Darvy is essential to the team at AWARE, driving animals to and from Dr. Linares' clinic at least once a week for treatment. He has also rescued many animals from AWARE, and has a collection of adorable dogs and cats. Here is one of our favourites Nina.

Nina enjoys both acting as foot rest (while getting a belly rub) and stealing Sabrina's bed.

So basically this blog is just a follow up to the one Michelle did the other day. I just wanted to touch on what Mike and I have been up to, as well as expand on Michelle's post.

I wanted to start by talking a bit about AWARE and how we are making a difference there. When we arrived at AWARE, the individual who ran the clinic had recently left without training a replacement. This meant that a lot of the treatments and clinic duties were left to spontaneous volunteer members and Xenii, who is very busy trying to run the shelter. We quickly realized that a major improvement we could make was the sanitation of the clinic environment. Since it is often so busy in the clinic, sick animals were let out of their cages while they were cleaned. Unfortunately, this meant that many sick animals were running around on the floor at one time. We quickly realized how big of a problem this was since many of the animals had fecal parasites or even had pneumonia, which was presumably caused by kennel cough (or something similar). We have drastically improved these protocols by ensuring that sick animals are walked alone and that if animals are switched cages, the cage must be well cleaned with bleach. We also noticed that a lot of their dosages for drugs were done somewhat spontaneously, meaning that most animals were getting a lower dose than they required. Using (as Michelle mentioned) the vet bible--Plumb's-- we were able to work out dosages for commonly used antibiotics and treatments and leave this with the employee Deanna. We are also helping Deanna learn to diagnose different problems and how to recognize when an animal needs treatments so they can be brought to the local veterinarian.

This is Michelle teaching Deanna how to do a physical exam, with a special appearance by Dexter!

A lot of time at AWARE is also spent looking around the shelter for animals that may be in need of treatment. Since there are so many dogs, sometimes problems can go unnoticed. Our goal while we are here is to get every dog that needs help the help they deserve. A lot of times these problems are skin conditions, as Michelle mentioned, Sarcoptic and Demodectic mange are very common here in Guatemala. Unfortunately, the treatment for these in Guatemala is not always as simple as Revolution. Revolution is very expensive and impossible to get for every animal here at the shelter, so we are forced to use more difficult treatments including Amitraz baths and Ivermectin which require repetition. We are hoping to make a sustainable difference through training employees at AWARE, including both Deanna and a new employee who arrives on Friday.

Now for what Mike and I have been up to at Dr. Linares'! WARNING THERE ARE GRAPHIC PICTURES IN THIS PART OF THE BLOG!
On our first clinic day we got to help with a C-section! It was a Schnauzer who had been bred to something much larger than herself so she was unable to pass the puppies on her own. Dr. Linares had us help with the C-section and with the puppies.

Me helping one of the puppies begin its life :). When they are first out, Dr. Linares has us insert a finger into the mouth and rub the stomach in order to make the puppy cough and gag. When they are doing this reliably, we set them in a box to keep warm.

Mike closing the incision. This lucky lady was spayed, no more puppies for her!

Even though the dog was spayed, Dr. Linares showed us how we would close a C-section which was really interesting to learn.
Mike was also able to help with closing another spay incision, and I was able to do a dog neuter.

Bye testicles!

Mike also got to do a dog neuter and a penile correction surgery.... yes, a penile correction surgery. We are not sure what happened to this poor guy, but he came in with a tear in his penis and an awful infection. I can practically hear all the men going "OOOOOWWWWW".

Mike working on his masterpiece

At the very end of the day, a cat came in to the clinic on an emergency. It had a massive abscess on the top of its head from a cat bite. As the cat had not yet been neutered, the owners decided to go for a two for one deal and get an abscess drain and a neuter. Dr. Linares allowed me to perform the neuter and the abscess drain and flush. I realized how twisted vet students are when I got really excited about the abscess drain, it was awesome.

Today Mike and I were at the clinic again. It was a much quieter day, but we enjoyed the break!

This little guy had a corneal puncture wound. Dr. Linares was able to suture it and he is currently on optic antibiotics.

We also saw one more case of sarcoptic and demodectic mange, as well as a dog with hypothyroidism.

On a sad note, I performed my first euthanasia today under Dr. Linares' supervision. A dog came in this morning which was suffering from a horrible skin condition and was emaciated. The doctor believes it was Pemphigus Foliaceus which is an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks the cement that holds skin cells together. This means the dog often has blisters and crusty erosions which become infected. There are treatments available for the disorder, but unfortunately, the owners were unable to afford them. He was well sedated before the euthanasia was performed and he passed peacefully.

As I'd rather not end the blog on this note, I would like to mention that Dexter is doing much better. He has been living with us at Darvy´s for the past few nights, and has been quite spoiled! He is the best puppy ever, already learning to whine when he needs to go out to do his business!

Hope you all keep following along for the last couple days of our journey! Can't believe it is already coming to a close.

Terri