April 18th, 2010 - 30 animals were operated on 
today by Dr. Andrés Tello, our wonderful veterinarian. 

We were fortunate to have still another beautiful day, with no wind and no rain. Dr. Tello sterilized 17 dogs, plus removed a large tumor (not venereal) from the abdomen of a female dog that had been spayed long ago at one of our clinics. He sterilized 12 cats. Of the 18 dogs operated on, 13 were female and 5 were male. Of the 12 cats, 8 were female and 4 were male. 

People from Puerto Armuelles brought their female dog and a male dog of their neighbor's. Some time back another vet had supposedly "spayed" their female - but he only cut her tubes. (That seems to be a common practice with many "vets" in Panama.) The dog would not be able to get pregnant, of course, but she continued to go into heat and although they have a fenced yard, male dogs were literally tearing up their fence trying to get inside. This type of incomplete spaying often eventually causes massive internal infection, and it certainly did with this poor dog. She would have soon died if her ovaries and infected uterus were not removed. (The injections many vets give to females to prevent them from getting pregnant often cause this type of infection also.) This dog's uterus looked like a huge sausage, filled with infection (pus). Proper surgery after this kind of botched job is much more difficult. Dr. Tello can no longer pull on the tubes to find the ovaries, plus removing an engorged uterus is more delicate. (By the way, this is not the first time we've seen an infected uterus like this.) I'm not including a picture in the group of pictures below, but if you want to see what her uterus looked like, click HERE.

Anyone who is local to Volcan, PLEASE talk with your friends and neighbors, explain the importance of sterilization and tell them about our clinics.  My goal is to sterilize at least 30 animals during each clinic. Or next clinic will be on May 23rd. We originally planned on May 16th but had to postpone it because the census is being conducted on the 16th.

Please donate! A donation of just $20 per month will pay for the cost of sterilzing one dog; a $10 donation will pay for the sterilization of one cat. Each contribution goes directly to services for the animals or medical supplies.  Except for Dr. Tello, none of us receives any salaries or "perks." Every penny of your contribution goes for the animals.  Your contribution helps make Spay/Panama-Chiriqui services possible.

MANY thanks to our wonderful volunteers and contributors. Without their help and dedication, this important work simply could not be done. 

Rosemary Rios did a wonderful job as registrar. 
Devin Licata administered the anesthesia and other pre-op injections, and trained Rosemary Rios in giving injections.
Dorreene Reynolds performed pre-op shaving and prepping. 
Jose Espinosa, my permanent employee, helps weigh and tag the animals, provides transportation for animals in my car when necessary, and helps with various duties. Jose and I go to the clinic site on Mondays following the Sunday clinics to clean and organize for the next one.
Wally Ewen performed post-op care: cleaned the surgical site, tattooed the ears of female dogs to indicate they have been sterilized, gave injections of vitamin B-12 and antiparasite, and administered flea and tick treatment when necessary. 
Francia Pinedo assisted Dr. Tello and helped with translations. Francia is a good friend and I know her to be an excellent - and HONEST - real estate agent in Volcan. Her web page is http://www.volcan.paradisepanama.net 
Karolyn Rovira, Eymi Pitti, and Hilary Delgado (a new volunteer) cleaned and sterilized the surgical instruments and monitored the animals while they recovered from the anesthesia.

Thanks to Sharon Borgman for donating a chicken and rice dish, Richard Kongable for the soft drinks and a dessert, and Amanda Rankin for a tasty fruit salad. 

Thanks to Osvaldo Ivan Flores for translating this web page into Spanish. He is the editor of a local newspaper, Chiriqui Libre.

Please forgive me if I have neglected to mention any volunteers or contributors! 

Income and expenses: 

At this April 18, 2010 clinic, we operated on 18 dogs and 12 cats. With my average cost of $20 per dog and $10 per cat, expenses were $480, plus $100 for building rent, for a total expense of $580. With contributions of $566.00, I am pleased to report that the deficit was only $14.00. Therefore, since October of 2006 to date, my accumulated deficit is $3,534.75.  (The clinics began in March of 2006 but it didn't occur to me to keep financial records until October of 2006.)

Please donate! I very much appreciate your contributions, which are welcome and needed! (US citizens: please contact me about how to make IRS tax-deductible contributions.)

Following are some pictures taken during the April 18, 2010 clinic.

Rosemary Rios, registrar	People waiting.	People sitting with their pets post-surgery.
Dorreene Reynolds shaving a dog.	Kitty waiting to be registered.	Wally Ewen tends to a cat post-surgery.
Devin Licata during an occasional free moment.	The female dog from Puerto Armuelles mentioned above. She is being spayed properly. Dr. Tello is operating; Francia Pinedo assists.	This is a daddy cat and his daughter, recovering from anesthesia, with a protective dog. (OK, this is a cute "posed" picture: Dorreene's clever idea.)
Martha Earl from Puerto Armuelles sits with her her female after her surgery. (My dog "Buster Brown" is in the foreground.)	Karolyn Rovira, Hilary Delgado, Eymi Pitti	Dorreene Reynolds brought her neighbor's dog to be spayed.
She loves her doggie!	This is Cindy, the dog with the abdominal tumor. Cindy has a special place in my heart because I'm convinced that she is the mother of one of my dogs that I adopted about five years ago.	This is the tumor on Cindy. Here she has been shaved and prepped with iodine and is ready for surgery. She did just fine, and I went twice during the following week to give her injections of more antibiotics.

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!

Here in Volcan, our small group has been responsible for sterilizing 971 animals to date. Added to the 129 animals that Spay/Panama (from Panama City) sterilized in in Volcan in February of 2005, we have sterilized 1,100 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.

Dorothy Atwater - 771-5883, 6780-2565 or viajar2566@yahoo.com
skype:  muffiemae

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