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Sunday,
June 23, 2013 - 39 animals were sterilized today by Dr. Tello sterilized 24 dogs and 15 cats. Of the dogs, 20 were female and 4 were male. Of the cats, 12 were female and 3 were male. He performed abortions on three of the cats. We had 53 animals on the schedule but ended up sterilizing only 39. A few people called to cancel right before the clinic, some people had scheduled more than one animal but only brought one, five cats on the list had sadly been poisoned, one dog scheduled for spaying had to be put down because she had a broken back, and one pregnant cat that arrived to be spayed began to give birth right then. Francia Pinedo, a dedicated volunteer, agreed to adopt the cat - and however many kittens the cat would have. I don't know much about cats - but I learned today that a cat can get pregnant at four months of age! One poor dog had hundreds of ticks on her! We apply fipronil (same ingredient as in Frontline) to all the animals to kill fleas and ticks. But besides having ticks all over her, the inside of this poor dog's ears were BLACK from dozens of ticks. Three of us spent at least 20 minutes trying to remove them all. Only two people were no-shows without calling to cancel, which is a record. I took my recently rescued male dog (Gus) Sunday morning for Dr. Tello to examine. Gus was unable to put any weight on his left rear leg and was obviously in pain. Dr. Tello quickly determined that Gus had had a dislocated left hip for quite some time and he would have to remove Gus' hip joint. Dr. Tello said he would do the surgery in the clinic at the end of the day if time permitted. It turned out to be fortunate (for me and Gus) that we had only 39 spay/neuter surgeries today. Even so, with lots of female dogs, we weren't finished until 5:00 p.m. But Dr. Tello graciously agreed to stay and operate on Gus, and the surgery took an hour. We didn't leave the clinic until after 6:00. Dr. Tello is very good about explaining to me and the volunteers about what a problem is and what he needs to do to correct it. He had us feel Gus' right hip joint and then feel the difference in the area of his left hip joint. Then we watched as he performed the complicated surgery and he explained all along what he was doing. (For the non-squeamish, click HERE to see pictures. When you click the first picture it will enlarge and then you can advance to the others.) There is a long recovery period after removal of a hip joint. I have another dog, Reggie, that needed that same operation. Reggie is big dog, 80+ pounds. He limped for 5 or 6 months after the surgery, but now you'd never know he'd ever had a problem. I hope I can relate Dr. Tello's explanation correctly: The front legs of dogs don't have joints, only ligaments and tendons. After the joint of a rear leg is surgically removed, eventually tendons and ligaments take over the job that the joint had served. Less than two days after his surgery, Gus still has pain but he is able to put some weight on his rear leg when he couldn't before. He must have had horrible pain for no telling how long from that dislocated hip. I was treating Gus for mange as well, but Dr. Tello said Gus is no longer contagious for my other dogs. Tuesday I let a few of them into the area where Gus is being kept separate for now. Gus was really excited and happy, and less than two days after his complicated surgery, he immediately started to play with my other dogs! We already have 52 animals scheduled for the July 21st clinic! I will accept appointments for up to 60 to allow for last-minute cancellation and/or no shows. My goal was to sterilize at least 30 animals during each clinic - but now we have been exceeding that number and I have raised my goal to at least 40. Dr. Tello is a wonderfully skilled veterinarian and surgeon, plus he is a compassionate man with a big heart. I can't repeat often enough how much we love and appreciate him. Please donate! Your PayPal tax-deductible donations for Chiriqui go through Spay Panama's Animals YES in the USA and are eventually forwrded to me. When you click the donate button below, it will specify that your donation is for Chiriqui. Please send me an email if you donate by PayPal so I can thank you personally! If you donate via PayPal, it often takes a long time for the funds to reach me. (See income and expenses below.) If you are local to Panama, please consider donating directly to me. If you're not able to donate in person, I can give you information about how to deposit to my bank account, either in Panama or in the US. Thank you! I can give you a tax-deductible receipt for your US tax return. Donors and amounts are reported on my web page for each clinic. Income and expenses are listed on each clinic web page. Thank you for your help! Your contribution helps make Spay/Panama-Chiriqui services possible. PLEASE BE AWARE that if you donate through PayPal, I cannot credit your donation on my web page until I actually receive the funds. If you have donated through PayPal and your donation has not been credited on my web page, please contact me. Anyone who is local to Volcan, PLEASE talk with your friends and neighbors, explain the importance of proper sterilization and tell them about our clinics. MANY thanks to our wonderful volunteers and contributors. Without their help and dedication, this important work simply could not be done. And by the way, with the exception of Don Binder who is a dedicated volunteer, all the rest are Panamanians. No one except the doctor receives any payment. Every penny goes for the animals.
Also, many thanks to Patricia Chan (Spay Panama/Panama City) for donating three bottles of Endovet, a $51.00 value. Endovet is the excellent injectable antiparasite medication that we use in the clinics. We cannot find injectable Endovet in this area and always have to get it from Panama City. At this June 23, 2013 clinic, Dr. Tello sterilized 24 dogs and 15 cats. With my average cost for sterilizations of $25 per dog and $15 per cat, expenses were $825 plus $100 for building rent, for a total of $925. With contributions of $1,047.50, there was an excess of $122.50 Therefore, my accumulated deficit is reduced to $2,159.10. My heartfelt thanks for the generous donations of those who have contributed in the past and who will contribute in the future! I very much appreciate any and all contributions. They are welcome and needed!
Here in Volcan, our small group has been responsible for sterilizing 2,066 dogs and cats to date. Added to the 129 animals that Spay/Panama (from Panama City) sterilized in in Volcan in February of 2005, we have sterilized 2,195 dogs and cats! There are many more to go, but we are making progress! Our goal is to sterilize at least 75% of the dogs and cats in the Volcan area, and thus almost completely solve the problem of homeless dogs and cats, and the terrible venereal disease suffered by so many dogs. Thanks to everyone who participated in our clinics today, and to those who had their pets sterilized. Always remember that TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Dorothy
Atwater - 6517-8752 or muffiemae@gmail.com Back to Clinics Page Back to HOME PAGE |
Cristina Espinosa did a good job with registration. She is only 13 years old and is the daughter of my employee, Jose Espinosa. 