Day 2: Camp September 2011

Female with demodex

Another beautiful day dawned again in Bucharest. We met in our usual location and today were able to recognise the small group of dogs that lived near to Piata Unirii and identify their small territory. We were slightly quieter today as Monday had caught up with us. It is surprisingly tiring getting used to working with different drugs and in a new environment but all this was forgotten as we arrived at Giurgiu shelter. The group went to check our patients from yesterday as I prepared the theatre for today’s surgeries. 

We were pleased to be able to treat a little female who we noticed yesterday had demodectic mange. We are hoping her skin may have improved enough by the end of the week so she will able to be spayed but suspect this is not likely to happen.

The dog’s wounds all looked perfect with no redness or swelling. All except for the very first female who had somehow managed to remove her intradermal skin sutures. We were very disappointed but set to work debriding and resuturing the wound ensuring her pain relief and antibiotic cover was repeated.

One of the biggest surgeries of the day was a heavily pregnant bitch spay. It was emotionally as well as surgically challenging.  The bitch was already in poor condition which was likely to deteriorate if she had to feed and raise a large litter of puppies. That litter would then go on to produce more puppies so in a years time approximately 50 more dogs could be roaming the streets with more puppies on the way from that one female (assuming they were lucky enough to survive). Sandra operated efficiently to remove the distended uterus and was able to put to good use the Millers knot which she had perfected yesterday. This is ideal for surgeries which need good knot security. Within an hour the bitch was recovering well and we were confident she would quickly improve in condition and go on to lead a happier healthier life.

Sandra Removing the Uterus

Millers Knot

Uno

The afternoon was just as exciting due to a little dog we named Uno. He had a tumour of the nictitating membrane likely to be a melanoma and the globe itself was affected requiring enucleation. He was an unlucky little dog in that he was unilaterally cryptorchid as well, but his luck certainly changed as Sandra carefully removed the affected eye and searched for the hidden testicle under Aurelians careful and exacting guidance. His anaesthetic went smoothly thanks to Katy’s close monitoring despite not being able to access some of the indicators of anaesthetic depth with Unos head being covered in drapes and vets!

Our totals for the day were four males and six females as well as the enucleation. Sandra and Lidia were becoming more confident but careful surgeons with the techniques they were developing and Katy was really using her background knowledge demonstrating both care and skill with her patient preparation and anaesthetic monitoring. Again I did not realise how long the day had been or that I was really tired until we got back to Bucharest but I still couldn’t wait for what the next day had in store for us!