The taxi dropped me on a dusty road on the edge of Leon - I had an address but addresses are not quite what they seem in Nicaragua - there is a serious lack of house numbers and street names - makes life tricky! Luckily I had a phone number so I was rescued from the side of the road!
Yelena and her husband Mario came later that day - they started the Nicaraguan-Veterinary-Project 7 years ago - helping the dogs and cats of Leon and surrounding villages with a free neutering service as well as parasite treatment.
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| Yelena - founder of the project |
We were joined next day by Luis a vet from Peru who works in a zoo in Iquitos and 2 vets from Leon - Erick and Jorge Their small animal surgical experience was low so part of our job was to teach them new techniques
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| Checking our supplies |
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| Steam Sterilising in Terrero |
We held clinics in Yelena's house in Leon and in 3 other areas including down by the beach in Poneloya and in a dusty rural village Terrero
There were two main objectives - parasite treatment and neutering. Each day we would treat about 30 animals for internal and external parasites - the older animals receiving ivermectin injections and pyrantel-praziquantel tablets - the younger ones fipronil spray (they call it Shooter round here!) and pyrantel liquid - the expensive spot-ons that cover all the bases that we have in the UK are not economically feasible for the project In this sort of work compromises have to be made and difficult decisions taken
Nicaraguans like their vitamins - and traditionally they like their pets to have them too - not something I was totally convinced about plus it meant a painful intramuscular injection which wasn't much fun to give or receive!
Neutering were carried out as in Cuba with no gaseous anaesthesia - premed with xylazine and atropine. A catheter is placed and a 50:50 mix of valium and ketamine is given to effect
IV fluids were provided in all cases - if you have a catheter in why not! Smaller bitches were spayed flank - larger ones midline
This year Yelena bought a steriliser and we had sterile drapes and excellent kits - this enabled us to do nearly 90 surgeries in the 2 weeks
The majority were bitch spays - Nica guys are reluctant to let their male dogs lose their cojones!!
Once the animals showed signs of rousing home they went - in a variety of transport - cars bikes wheelbarrows horse drawn carts and bici-taxis!!
Hazards and problems not encountered on the UK were common - how about sun in your eyes or the wind blowing the drapes (we operated outside a lot)- operating at night or on a variety of different height tables - we even had to construct a table out of barrels and a sheet of corrugated iron!
Then there were health issues - canine obesity is not an issue here believe me - parasites and poor nutrition lead to some very skinny pets - combine that with the fact that many bitches were in poor condition due to repeated litters and the risk factor went up
Tick borne diseases such as Erlichiosis and Babesiosis we're common - leaving our patients anaemic and with clotting problems!!
But we knew that those pets would have a better life once they were neutered so the risks were taken - we had no losses which was great
The visit to Terrero brought more challenges and different species! I castrated my first pig in 25 years and my colleagues operated in cattle and did a Caesarian on a Pelibuey- a type of non-wool sheep kept for meat
At the end of the trip Jorge and Erick took me up to their vet school in Leon The school produces about 200 vets a year - a lot if the focus is towards food animals but small animal teaching is becoming more important The facilities to be honest are quite poor by UK standards - one of the biggest surprises here was the absence of laboratory diagnostic equipment - e.g. biochemistry, hormones and all the other assays we take for granted in the UK This makes diagnosis very difficult for Nica vets - its often a guessing game...
Things are not helped by the lax pharmaceutical regulations - owners can readily obtain drugs (which would be POM in the UK) over the counter here without prescription The vets hold no stock of drugs - they scribble down lists of drugs (often 5 or 6 items) on pieces of paper and send people off to the pharmacies
Another big difference here is the perception of animal pain - in the span of my career in the UK there are been huge advances in this area but down here very few animals receive pain relief post op or for painful medical conditions The lack of readily available cheap animal NSAIDS doesn't help - but I managed to get some human meloxicam although splitting it into eighths was more challenging than the surgery!
Other things I saw were a lot of untreated neoplasia - Transmissable Venereal Tumour - lots of mammary tumours and soft tissue sarcomas left to grow and ulcerate...
Dental problems were also rife - vets are totally unaware of the issues here - there is a huge amount of periodontal disease, lots of fractures and retained deciduous teeth Due to lack of suitable instrumentation I couldn't do a lot of the work I wanted but I managed to do a little with my single elevator and forecep!
In Nicaragua people keep dogs mainly for protection - hence the reluctance to get males neutered It makes me appreciate our clients back in the UK - the huge majority of whom care deeply about their pets and present problems quickly
Not to say that Nicaraguans are uncaring about their dogs - the difference is cultural - and the gratitude we received for the work we did was fantastic
So ended my first intensive veterinary volunteer experience ( the work in Cuba was much more low key) I would really recommend it - for lots of different reasons - but the bottom line is the same as it is in the UK or any other part of the world - its about making animals lives better...
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| All Creatures Great and Small.... |
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| Road Block Nica Style |
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| Worming puppies |
Nicaraguans like their vitamins - and traditionally they like their pets to have them too - not something I was totally convinced about plus it meant a painful intramuscular injection which wasn't much fun to give or receive!
Neutering were carried out as in Cuba with no gaseous anaesthesia - premed with xylazine and atropine. A catheter is placed and a 50:50 mix of valium and ketamine is given to effect
IV fluids were provided in all cases - if you have a catheter in why not! Smaller bitches were spayed flank - larger ones midline
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| Luis neutering a cat |
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| Luis and Jorge operating |
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| Operating well into the evening by headlight |
This year Yelena bought a steriliser and we had sterile drapes and excellent kits - this enabled us to do nearly 90 surgeries in the 2 weeks
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| Local dog refuge |
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| All the ops got IVF |
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| Waiting for an op |
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| Recovery ward! |
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| Leaving by bicitaxi |
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| Arrival by horse and cart in Terrero |
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| Heading home! |
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| Erick one of the Nica vets and Yelena |
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| Jorge castrating a pig |
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| Our makeshift operating table |
Hazards and problems not encountered on the UK were common - how about sun in your eyes or the wind blowing the drapes (we operated outside a lot)- operating at night or on a variety of different height tables - we even had to construct a table out of barrels and a sheet of corrugated iron!
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| Luis doing the caesar on the sheep |
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| Hooking up the IV |
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| Spaying Kia - the dog with Ehrlichia |
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| Dripping the dog with clotting problems post spay |
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| Waiting for attention in Leon |
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| Jorge operating - always lots of haemorrhage because of Ehrlichia |
The visit to Terrero brought more challenges and different species! I castrated my first pig in 25 years and my colleagues operated in cattle and did a Caesarian on a Pelibuey- a type of non-wool sheep kept for meat
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| The team |
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| Leon Vet School |
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| Lab at Leon |
Another big difference here is the perception of animal pain - in the span of my career in the UK there are been huge advances in this area but down here very few animals receive pain relief post op or for painful medical conditions The lack of readily available cheap animal NSAIDS doesn't help - but I managed to get some human meloxicam although splitting it into eighths was more challenging than the surgery!
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| Post op NSAIDS |
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| Transmissable Venereal Tumour |
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| Dental problems in one of the refuge dogs |
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| Sorted! |
Not to say that Nicaraguans are uncaring about their dogs - the difference is cultural - and the gratitude we received for the work we did was fantastic
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| Cake to celebrate the end of the project - all natural colourings! |
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| The Street Dogs of Leon |
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