Hola from Lanquin, Guatemala! We are en route to our second Global Vets project in Sumpango after leaving Hopkins, Belize two days ago. Our first project at the Hopkins Belize Humane Society was a surreal learning opportunity. Within an hour of arriving in Hopkins, we were greeted by Kelli, one of the fantastic volunteers at HBHS, and immediately got to work on our first patient, Marley. This dog had the misfortune of being hit by a car earlier that morning and was picked up by Kelli so that he could get medical attention. With the guidance of Dr. Mia Canton, we assessed Marley and made up a treatment plan for him, which included placing a drain in a three inch pocket wound located on his inner thigh. Below is an image of the drain; it is somewhat graphic so please look away if you are squeamish!

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  Marley stayed at the clinic for six days until he was able to go home to his loving family. As most dogs here are off leash, it is a relatively common occurrence for them to be hit by cars. Our team was very grateful to be able to help Marley towards a speedy recovery from his accident.  

During our 15 days of volunteer work at HBHS, we were fortunate enough to assist in a variety of efforts carried out by the humane society. Our first weekend we participated in a clinic with Dr. Orlando Baptist where 20 animals were spayed and neutered in an effort towards population control. HBHS also offers clinics every Wednesday afternoon providing the community with the opportunity to bring animals in for donation-based veterinary care. These clinics are run by Joseph, the humane society’s veterinary technician who has been working with the organization for years. These clinics really opened our eyes to the prevailing veterinary medical issues in Belize, amongst which the most common things we encountered were mange, ringworm, tick fever (Ehrlichia canis infection), and flea infestations.

Another part of our roles was to carry the HBHS phone and respond to calls that came in. We would travel to house calls on our trusty bicycles and it wasn’t uncommon to be asked whether we had been for a dip in the ocean, when in reality, we were covered in our own perspiration from the hot Belizean sun!

One of such calls was for a pitbull named Mojito, affectionately nicknamed “Mama Sita” by her owner. She presented with generalized edema and hindlimb lameness. On abdominal palpation, we noticed her spleen was enlarged. We did a snap test which came back negative for heartworm, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis and Lyme disease, so we had to look to other diagnostics to help us solve her case. Her concerned owner agreed to do blood work, which was sent via an airplane to Belize City for a complete blood count and biochemistry. The results we received the following day indicated that she had a very low red blood cell count (anemia), few platelets (thrombocytopenia), and low protein (hypoproteinemia). Dr. Canton discussed the results with us and informed us that these signs were an uncommon presentation of tick fever. She then prescribed Mojito with doxycycline to treat the infection. Below is a picture of us with a happy Mama Sita.

Throughout our stay, we had the pleasure of taking care of Sweet Pea, a dog who had been rescued by HBHS. When Sweet Pea was found, she was completely emaciated and covered in transmissible venereal tumors (TVT). TVT is a type of cancer that has the ability to spread between animals via direct contact. Fortunately, it is treatable with the chemotherapeutic agent vincristine. After several rounds of chemotherapy, Sweetpea is now cancer-free and is currently up for adoption. She is quite the character, and was an absolute pleasure to have around during our long busy days at the clinic!

Our time with HBHS was absolutely incredible and we can’t thank our mentors enough for their unwavering guidance and support. We learned so much during our stay and were so happy to be able to give back to the wonderful community of Hopkins. Stay tuned for updates from our second project, Animal AWARE, in Sumpango, Guatemala!

– Stephanie, Haley, Emma and Allison “Team SHEA”