For our second project, our team chose to volunteer at Animal AWARE in Sumpango, Guatemala. This shelter was recommended to us by one of the 2013 Global Vets teams. We spent two weeks with the director, Xenii, and her team, and we are so thankful to have had the opportunity to play a role in the shelter’s efforts at population control, animal health and welfare, adoptions, as well as providing locally owned pets with veterinary care. Our days started around 8am in the clinic, where animals requiring medications or special attention are kept. We helped clean all the crates/cages, walked the dogs and then administered medications, changed bandages and attended any other medical needs of the animals. Afterwards, we would walk the other dogs, who are kept in large covered pens outside, and help clean their enclosures. The shelter has about 350 dogs and each one gets walked every day – it’s quite impressive. We were fortunate enough to have had the mentorship of Dr. Bolling, a vet from Germany who was lending her expertise to the shelter for six weeks. Each day brought new surprises – we will share with you a few of our most memorable experiences.      Balzac the cardiac cat:  One morning we were called to the cat enclosure by one of the attentive staff members who noticed that one of the cats was breathing at an alarming rate and with great effort. Dr. Bolling suspected heart failure and after a quick work up indicated that the cat needed furosemide. This diuretic would act to eliminate the fluid that was accumulating in Balzac’s lungs due to the lack of forward flow of blood. Balzac’s panting episode/cardiac crisis subsided quickly after administration of the medication. He will need to be given furosemide each day for the rest of his life to keep his blood pressure down to try to avoid another episode. We have followed up with Dr. Bolling, who says that Balzac is back to his normal chilled-out self.  Joanna the anemic dog: On one of the first days at the shelter, we noticed that one of the dogs was so lethargic that she did not want to go on her daily walk with the rest of her pen-mates. Dr. Bolling and Xenii sent blood to a lab for testing, which came back indicating severe anemia. Dr. Bolling set out a plan that was feasible given the resources available, which was to transfuse blood from one of the young, healthy dogs at the shelter in order to increase Joanna’s red blood cell count. Before administering the blood to Joanna, we had to ensure that the blood types were compatible by applying drops of blood from both dogs to a glass slide and watch for agglutination. We lucked out when the blood from a lively husky did not agglutinate with Joanna’s , which meant that her life could be saved. A few hours after completing the slow and steady process of the blood transfusion, Joanna began to perk up, gain colour in her mucous membranes, and even ate a bit of food. Although the outcome of this transfusion was positive, we were unsure as to the underlining cause of Joanna’s anemia; therefore close monitoring and potentially further testing will be needed to ensure her continued recovery.    Chimaltenango spay/neuter clinic: AWARE organizes spay/neuter clinics each month with local veterinarians. These clinics help raise owner awareness on the importance of sterilization and provide a means of population control of local street dogs. We were happy to be able to participate in this clinic and were impressed with the level of involvement of the community towards such a great cause.  In closing, our two weeks at AWARE really highlighted the fact that spaying/neutering dogs and cats is of the upmost importance. There are so many dogs and cats in the world that need homes so please consider adoption when thinking about getting a pet! If anyone is interested in adopting an animal from Guatemala, AWARE animal shelter frequently adopts their dogs/cats all over the world! Their website can be found here: animalaware.org/adopt    Thanks for reading!  -Team SHEA