Second day of clinics

Heading out for an early morning walk.  We have air conditioning in the room, so when I go out into the heat/humidity, the lens fogs up.  Looks like it is foggy outside, but it is clear.  Kind of a neat effect, though.

 

Wednesday April 24, 2013

This am, Woofie and I headed out early and went to the beach.  The beaches are beautiful here, lots of gorgeous white sand and beautiful greens and blues in the ocean.  On the way back to the hotel, we saw a local farmers market, strictly fresh fruits and vegetables.  After a bit of consideration, I bought some local plums, cucumbers and soursop.  I can’t remember what soursop is, but I am pretty sure I like it!  It won’t be ripe for a couple of days, so I will let you know when I eat it.

Woofie enjoys being in the pretty flowers.

Woofie with some of his stash from the early morning fresh produce market.  Soursop (not ripe yet), "plums" and cukes.  The soursop did not ripen by the time we left, so I did not get to eat it...

 

Off to our second day of clinics.  We changed the protocol a little bit, still pretty chaotic.  Not sure how many animals we did today, but the cases sure were different!  Most of these animals had fleas OR ticks really badly.  There was also sarcoptic mange, YUCK!!!

 

Lynel with a cute patient.  Lynel is a board certified criticalist.  She was amazing whenever a patient was having any issues with anesthetic or post operative problems. 

 

There is quite a range of condition of dogs, good weight vs. overweight (rare, but we see it) vs. emaciated.  Lots of skin conditions.  Very few pregnancies, no pyometra (so far!) and no transmissible venereal tumors.  The people here don’t want a pet if there is any “deformity” such as missing a limb, or even scars from old wounds.  If there is a nice animal with a deformity, there is a rescue group in the US that will take 3-4 animals/month to the States to find forever homes. 

Mackenzie with a pot dog.

 

The Granada dogs are fairly distinct.  They are called “pot dogs” because all the leftovers are put into a pot for them to eat.  They are short haired, long legged, long and lean body, often have pointy ears.  Their eyes appear fairly large, they are usually brown. 

Domino did not feel well today, and had to “lay out” part of the day (there was a bedroom in the upstairs of the clinic so she could lay down, rather than “sitting out”!).  She feels much better tonight.  Thank goodness!

Recovery.

 

More visiting after our clinic day.  Then another meal at the room.  Last day of clinics tomorrow!

Until later!

Stacy

First day of clinics

 

 

Tuesday April 23, 2013

Got up early and went for a long walk to a neat peninsula called Quarantine Point.  As its names suggests, the location housed quarantine facilities which screened persons afflicted with the dreaded leprosy from the rest of the population.  It had stormed a bit during the night, there were still huge banks of clouds, though it did not rain while I was walking.

 

A wind blown tree on the tip of Quarantine Point.

 

Had a simple breakfast of delicious fresh fruits and yoghurt, then gathered supplies and met up with the group to go to our first day of clinics!

 

Rita (the GSPCA liaison), Elizabeth, Kate, Lynell, Jen, Pam, Les, Avery

Beth, Deb, Domino, MacKenzie, Karen (our trusty leader!), Heather (I am behind the camera, as usual!)

 

The clinics were held at the GSPCA: Grenada Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  (In America it is ASPCA).  They have a nice facility where they provide low cost care for animals all over the island.  We had electricity, running water, even anesthetic machines!  The St George’s Veterinary College is nearby.  They provide care for animals, but at the cost equivalent to North American prices, which is beyond most islanders’ means.  At the vet school there are most diagnostic capabilities such as digital radiography, endoscopy and ultrasound available. 

 

 

Vanessa with a young patient

Beth, a licensed technician, will be placing an IV catheter prior to anesthesia/surgery.

It was the typical chaos trying to get set up and started this am.  There were about 15 feral cats in cages to be done and a stack of dogs.  Many of the dogs were collected by volunteers and brought in this am.  Once they were finished and awake, they were to be returned to owners and a new batch of dogs brought in.  One of the little dogs had been hit by a car a week ago and broke a hind leg.  There are no orthopedics available, so they decided to have the leg amputated.  That surgery was assigned to me later in the morning.

This giant white board lists the work for the day.

We had students from the St George’s Vet School helping along with the employees of the GSPCA, so there was quite a crowd.  It was sort of an organized chaos…

We did some additional procedures such as bite wound repairs and mass explorations.  Everything went fairly well.  I think some volunteers were concerned that there would not be enough work to keep us busy, but we stayed busy all day.  Tomorrow there will be three shifts of dogs brought in.  I don’t know about the cats.

Elizabeth spaying a dog, Kate assisting/monitoring, Karen observing.

Domino assisting Deb in surgery.

A little patient in rocovery.

 

After we returned to our “home” we visited for a while around the pool, then returned to our rooms for a light supper.   We needed to clean up first!

Having trouble getting on the internet… so I will just keep writing these and hope to be able to download them at some point!

Stacy

Island Tour

These little crabs have burrows in the mud.  They are fun to watch!

A rare blue crab!

The cocoa tree and fruit.  (I actually thought cocoa beans grew on shrubs like coffee beans...)

The inside of the fruit.  The white stuff covers the cluster of seeds.  The white stuff is very sweet and yummy to suck off the seeds.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Got up early to check out the little crabs that live along the sides of the road, around the drainage ditches.  They have made amazing holes that they scuttle back into as you approach.  I don’t know how to describe it, so you will have to see the photos! 

A group of us met to go on a tour of the island.  Our driver/guide, Michael, was very good.  We learned history, saw several little towns, went up into the rain forest, visited the Belmont Estate, the River Rum Distillery and a local eatery.  It was a full day!

The Belmont Estate is a 300 year old plantation.  This functioning estate links the past to the present, providing visitors the unique opportunity to become familiar with the centuries old practice of processing cocoa and producing some of the Caribbean’s best chocolate.  The chocolate is really good!  We got to sample two different chocolates and had “chocolate tea” which is basically “hot chocolate” that is made with water but has wonderful spices added to it.  It is really tasty!

The River Antoine Rum Distillery and Estate is the oldest working rum distillery in the Caribbean.  They still use traditional methods for rum making. 

The roads are pretty narrow on the island.  They drive on the left side of the road.  Vehicles stop on the side of the road as needed, others just have to honk their intentions and go around!  The roads up the mountain into the rain forest are very twisty and windy… some folks felt a little queasy… Woofie and I rode up front, so we were fine.  But it was a little scary when other vehicles are coming right at us as we went around corners.

Heather and I walked back to the market for a few more things.  We bought some wonderful local fruit at a street side stand.  Mangoes, watermelon, limes, papaya and bananas.  Michael said the only things they don’t grow here are apples and peaches!  A person could get used to the wonderful produce….

Domino, Avery (a vet student at Ross University on St Kitts Island) and MacKenzie (an assistant at a vet hospital in DC) rented a car (Avery knows how to drive here) and toured the entire island and up into the rainforest. They also had a very good time, though the two passengers were worried about the opposing traffic!

Visited around the pool then we all went out to another local eatery for dinner and chatting.  It has been a nice day!

Tomorrow clinics start… need to get some stuff done with this blog….

Later!

Stacy and Woofie and Domino 

The inside of the seed, the cocoa nibs

The final (YUMMY) product!!

Woofie tried the rum punch.  He said it was pretty good!!  (60 proof!)

 

 

Stacy, Woofie and Domino in Airport

I was never able to download pictures while in Grenada... but I faithfully wrote the blogs and took LOTS of photos!  Now that I am back in the States (with fast internet) I will start posting the blogs in order, so you can enjoy them also!!!

Sunday April 21, 2013

We have arrived in Grenada! No problems with our flights and travel.  We met a couple of our team at JFK and more of the group at the airport in Grenada.   We actually arrived last night, but it was dark when we arrived.  Our accommodations are very nice.  The “rooms” are little casitas with a small kitchen, living room, large bedroom and large bathroom.  There is a nice little balcony with a little table and chairs.  The rooms have air conditioning!  It is warm and humid but not hot and super humid.  Pretty nice!

The grounds are beautiful.  It is toward the end of the dry season so it is still brown, but many different, pretty flowers.  We had planned a snorkel trip for this am, but the weather did not cooperate.  So we had the day to ourselves.  We walked down to the supermarket to get some supplies.  Food is expensive and it is priced in different ways on different items.  Some prices are in US dollars, some in EC (Eastern Caribbean dollars) and price may be per pound, or per kg or 250 gm or 500 gm… three different cheeses were priced in three different ways… no way to compare.  Oh well, just get what you want and don’t try to figure it all out.

Spent time walking on the beach, visited a craft market, drank “Ting” a grapefruit soda (similar to, but not the same as, “Squirt” in the US), visited around the pool, ate dinner at a local restaurant.  I had Calaloo Soup, a soup made from a dark, leafy vegetable (similar to spinach?) that was excellent.

I tried to download pictures for the blog… after one hour a single picture still had not downloaded… so I will have to try something else.  I have lots of pics already to share!

More tomorrow!

Stacy

Beautiful flowers all over the grounds

A sneak view of our casita

A visitor at breakfast time!

Off to Grenada

Thursday, April 18, 2013
Linda just got this blogsite set up for me: Thanks, Linda!!
Tomorrow we will work our full day, then Domino and I will head up to the airport in Seattle.  This will be Domino's first World Vets trip!
Our flight leaves at 11:55pm, we go through Chicago, to New York, change airports then fly to St Georges, Grenada.  We will arrive about 8pm.
I don't know what the internet access will be... will be posting and putting up photos as close to daily as possible!!
Hasta!
Stacy and Domino (and Woofie!!)