Two puppies spayed and neutered courtesy of the San Pedro Animal Foundation

Two of my patients this morning got me thinking about our little hospital – where we came from and where we are now. 

Dr. Sara with two puppies she spayed for free with help from the San Pedro Animal Foundation

I had a fabulous time back in the San Francisco Bay Area for the months of July and August.  I worked full-time during those months for a small animal hospital in Castro Valley.  I was fortunate enough to secure a temporary position there covering for a veterinarian on maternity leave.

It is truly amazing how quickly veterinary medicine changes.  What you may not realize is that veterinary medicine typically follows the same advances as human medicine.  As doctors are able to treat their patients with more advanced testing and treatments, these same methods are able to be adapted to veterinary medicine.  Pet owners often want the same level of care they are receiving for themselves for their beloved pets.

I was shocked to find that CT’s (formerly known as “cat scans”) and MRI’s are now common place for dogs and cats.  Just three years ago I was practicing in the same area and this was certainly not the case.  Many pet owners are opting for effective chemotherapies for their pets as well, which may allow their pets to go on living for years with a good quality of life.

It is a sad truth that most of our residents of Belize, as well as populations around the world, will not have the opportunity to benefit from the medical advances available in America, or even for America’s pets.  Those of us who have access to modern medicine OR modern veterinary medicine should be extremely grateful.

Although I cannot bring this technology to San Pedro, I did bring back the knowledge that I gained, and I believe that it will benefit my patients here in Belize.

An extra special thank you to Dr. Sara for all of her hard work volunteering her time here.  I know she spent many a late night working in the clinic on emergency patients.  She also performed FIVE free dog spays for families in need while she was here – thanks to the San Pedro Animal Foundation. 

Thank you as well to the San Pedro trivia winners at Pedro’s Inn and Roadkill Bar who donated their winnings to SPAF over the summer, as well as all the clients we see who generously toss extra dollars into the can.  Every little bit counts, and as this generous community continues to chip in, we are fortunate to be a private business which is able to lend a helping hand to the least among us, whether they are able to pay or not.

Pelusa post-op with Dr. Sara and Siomara

We found Pelusa trotting around in San Mateo. 

We were thrilled when we followed her home to her family and her owner said “Yes, please do spay her.  I accept!”

Although she knew how to walk on a leash, she was too fearful to walk with us without the aid of some canned dogfood.  We were able to get her to walk to our golfcart, and at this point we sedated her so as not to frighten with the golfcart ride back to the clinic.  Once at the clinic we started with tick removal.  Pelusa had lots of ticks so we removed them while she was sedated and donated a Preventic collar.

Siomara busy with tick removal

 While Siomara was busy removing ticks Dr. Sara and I checked a quick blood smear for low platelets.  Luckily, despite her many ticks, Pelusa was a good candidate for surgery.  Her platelet count, which are the cells that clot the blood, was only mildly decreased.  Many dogs with tick exposure have low platelet counts due to ehrlichia, the bacteria which also causes “tick fever”.  In San Pedro it can be difficult to find dogs who need help who are also healthy enough to be spayed.  We believe that spaying dogs who are high risk for complications during and after surgery is counterproductive.  If they do not survive the surgery not only have we done harm to the animal and the owner, but we have made it very unlikely that the owner will spay and neuter pets in the future.  Owners of pets who die during surgery are also likely to tell their friends, which spreads fear and mistrust of veterinary procedures such as spaying and neutering.

After her ticks were removed and blood test completed we set up an IV and got into surgery!  At San Pedro Animal Hospital we believe that all surgical patients benefit from IV fluids during surgery, so we donate IV fluids to our charity cases as well. 

Dr. Sara examines Pelusa. Initially she is so scared that she piddles every time we touch her!

Introducing Dr. Sara!

Dr. Sara is from Florida, but she graduated recently from the University of Edinborough in Scotland!  She has traveled around the world for diving in places such as Australia and the Cayman Islands.  Now she is generously volunteering with us during her stay in San Pedro in order to gain sugical experience, which is difficult to get these days during veterinary school.  We hope she will get to enjoy some good diving as well!

Post-op the next day Pelusa is like a new dog.  For some reason she has lost her fear of us and wags her tail when we work with her.  Although she does still piddle every time we say hello!

San Pedro Animal hospital donated deworming and dhlpp vaccination.  Donations to the San Pedro Animal Foundation covered the cost of the spay surgery and rabies vaccination.

It was time to take Pelusa home and her family was so happy to see her.  She is not only their companion but also an essential guard dog for them.

This family also has an 8 week old male puppy they have agreed to allow us to neuter next month.

If you would like to donate to the San Pedro Animal Foundation please click on the blue donation button to the right.

Thank you to our donors and supporters.

"LaLa" loves being groomed!

Sorry for the long lapse in the blog from SPAH and SPAF – the last couple of  months have been busy ones at the clinic.  After- hours emergencies have become the  norm and it’s been hard to find the time to catch everyone up on everything that has been going on!

I have lots to tell and pictures to share from Sarteneja – we have had 3 clinics and about 50 animals spayed and neutered in the last couple of months.  At some point I will get that info organized to share as it has been a real success story for the many furry friends in this little seaside village.

On a related note, the Caye Caulker Humane Society has been frantically working to prevent what officials call an “eradication”, and it appears they have been successful.  For those who don’t  know, an eradication is when government officials in Belize use strychnine-laced bait to poison the dog population in an effort to decrease the numbers of stray animals which may form packs and become aggressive.  This is always a situation that causes a lot of panic among dog owners ( pets are often victims),  as well as concern from many of us over the need for the  humane treatment of animals.  If you are wondering why we always get so excited about spays and neuters this is it.  It is the most humane way of controlling our pet populations and preventing these horrible consequences from occuring.  The San Pedro Animal Hospital has donated  a bottle of tranquilizer to the Caye Caulker Humane Society to aid them in their work of rounding up stray and/or aggressive dogs and humanely euthanizing them.  We congratulate them on a job well-done and wish them well in their continuing efforts to avoid another eradication.

Here at home in San Pedro, the San Pedro Animal Foundation has stepped in to help a pet and owner in need.  Our two directors were kind enough to walk over to the clinic this afternoon and discuss with me the case of “Buddy”, an adorable 5 month-old poodle mix.  Buddy has been sick for several days now with bloody vomiting and diarrhea.  Initially he was not eating well and was treated for ehrlichia (tick fever), but he became sicker and soon hospitalization was required.  He was dehydrated and had a fever, and the diarrhea and vomiting were worsening.  The owner has paid for him to be hospitalized on IV fluids and IV antibiotics the last two days, and Buddy is improving.  Unfortunately he is not completely well yet, and continuing his treatment is becoming unaffordable for his owner, who is a secretary at the high school.  The owner and I are not ready to give up on Buddy yet, and our directors of SPAF agreed that he would be a good candidate to receive donation money towards the cost of his continuing care.  So those of you who have donated, meet one of your beneficiaries!  The cost of his hospitalization and treatments for 24-hour care is about 300 Belize dollars a day.  When patients qualify for aid we decrease our fees by 30% , so SPAF will be donating about 200 Belize dollars to continue Buddy’s intensive care for another 24 hours. 

Thank you SPAF donors and we will be saying a prayer for little Buddy tonight.  

"Buddy" and owner