Ghana - Kumasi Children's Home

In clinic today ,two dogs came in that had been fighting. They were both male intact dogs that lived together. There were several bite wounds on the first dog as well as eczema on the underside of the neck. Some of the lacerations were sutured with stitches that had to be removed and lidocaine to numb the pain. The man had no leash or collar for the dogs so they started to fight again after they left. The owner had left his small boy in charge of watching over them.

A puppy came in with worms and gas. Sometimes dead worms get vomited -this is when there are a lot of worms. The puppy needs to be dewormed every 2 weeks. Toxocara Canis can be passed from the mother to the pup through the milk.

Another dog came in with a bloody nose, probably caused by intoxication from antivitamin K - a rodenticide. It was given vitamin K for coagulation. Antivitamin K could make the dog limp due to blood in the joints, make the dog pale, foam at the mouth, have a lower temperature and have blood in the faeces. Other causes of a bloody nose are foreign bodies, a tumour, trauma or fungus aspergillum.

A dog with an enlarged testicle came in next. The owner said that he had noticed it 3 days ago, but the vet said that it was longer than that. Orchitis/inflammation of the testicle is the probably cause, but it could also be a torsion. It was cleaned as there was a puncture mark/wound on it. The dog was then given peroxide, furosemide (a diuretic) and antibiotics and anti-inflammatory. The vet reckons that it will be fine in three days so hopefully I will still be around to see it fully healed.

We were on outreach today at Kumasi children's home. We were tasked with vaccinating the sheep and goats that were kept there. They were all dewormed and given antibiotics and vitamins. Those that were showing symptoms of mange were also given ivomectine. It was funny watching the children run around trying to catch the animals as they had not been rounded up. at one point the dog was joining in on the chase, although it was not a good idea as it had bitten the leg of one of the smaller goats. After this was complete, we moved on to deworming the turkeys, who were a lot tamer and easier to catch. The outreach vet had tried to deworm the dog, but it had run off with the needle stuck in its hind leg. We also castrated the two puppies. My castration went perfect. The dog's testicles were tiny compared to the pigs, which meant that they were a lot harder to hold. There was a very little blood and the procedure was over quickly. The dog seemed to be happy as it ran around. I was a little worried that it would catch and infection as it sat down in the mud.

Ghana - Fourth Day at the Clinic

At my fourth day at the veterinary clinic in Amakom, (Monday the 5th of July), we saw some interesting cases. A rabbit with mange was brought in, as well as a dog with a fungal infection on its foot. The fungal infection as treated with copper sulphate, which lowers the pH and cauterizes the wound, and it was given a penicillin injection.

A dog with a wound caused by a cancer treating drug -vincristine - was the next in. It had a tropical disease known as TVT or Granuloma. It also had skin necrosis, which was treated with the vincristine. As the vincristine had gotten out of the blood vessel, it had caused the surrounding tissue to rot, which as the injury that the dog was coming in for treatment for. The sex organ of the dog was also oozing blood previously but it wasn't today. It was clear that the dog was not in a good way, but at least its owners were prepared to do something about it rather than just leaving the dog untreated as I had seen so many of the other owners do.

The goat and her kid was brought back in today for its course of medicine. There was definitely an improvement in the health of the animal. All of the farm animals that get brought to the vets are not allowed into the vet clinic, but instead are treated on a table that it outside, in front of the vet clinic.

A small puppy was the next to see the vet. It had dribbled everywhere as it was so nervous. It was only coming in for its vaccinations and a deworming tablet. Another dog was in soon after as it hadn't been standing properly on its hind leg and it was wobbly when it walked. the vet wanted to assess/palpate the area as the dog had been spayed recently. However, they couldn't muzzle the dog so it had to be taken home. The owners brought a muzzle for five cedes so they could try and muzzle the dog as home where it would be a bit more relaxed. I didn't see the dog back again so either they came back when we were not working or the owners never brought the dog back.  The next dog that was brought in was sent to the other branch of the Amakom vets in Catena as it turned out the owners lived closer to the other clinic.

A Chinese man brought in his mastiff next, however, he only spoke Chinese - not one word of English or Twi. From signals and hand gestures we managed to work out that the dog was not eating and it had been vomiting, and after taking its temperature, we found out it had worms - probably hookworms as there was blood on the thermometer. As the dog didn't look too dehydrated, it was not put on a drip/infusion. It was given the standard injections and given a deworming tablet. The vet was not sure how well the man understood him so the dog had to come in for the next two days.

A cute puppy with ears too big for its head was brought in as it was not eating. As it was one month late for its vaccinations, it was more likely to be predisposed to diseases such as parvovirus. It is important that you stick to the vaccination times, unfortunately many of the owners in Ghana didn't seem to understand this.

A dog with an extremely badly swollen paw was next through thee door. It had been in over a month ago with a similar wound and after treatment, the swelling and infection had gone down, but not completely at it had come back even worse. They had only brought the dog in today but it was clear that the infection was not new. The dog was not putting any pressure on its leg as the paw was swollen to double the size. Once squeezed some pus came out. I can't understand why you would leave the dog to suffer for this long! To make matters worse, they didn't have enough money on them so they took the dog back home. They said they would return with more money so that the dog could get treatment, but I not sure I can believe that they say. I asked the vet what he would have done if he had been able to treat the dog and he said he would have put the dog on a course of antibiotics, as well as some anti-inflammatory. He had hoped that this would soften the skin so they could open the wound and remove the infection and pus inside.

Ghana - Vet Clinic

The dog that I had seen previously with the wounded elbow came back in today for a check-up. The wound was cleaned with spirit and iodine and it appeared to have chewed at some of the stitches. This dog, like all of the other patients that come in, was not given a buster collar so there was nothing from stopping it from licking or chewing at the wound.

Two sheep were brought in soon after as they were not eating. The vet diagnosed the sheep with liver fluke and worms. This results in a lack of albumin and a skin edema around the neck - which makes it difficult for them to eat. The sheep were dewormed and given a prophylactic treatment. They were given antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and vitamins. A goat and her kid were the next patients through the door. The mother had not been eating and had diarrhoea. It was also given vitamins, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory injections, and was dewormed.

A dog was brought in as a repeat patient. It was very skinny and was suffering from icterus - a condition that is similar to jaundice in humans. Its skin and eyes were yellowed. After around half an hour of bargaining over the price of the treatment, the dog was brought in to the vet clinic for treatment. It was put of a saline drip with Pabiovite vitamins added (one of the drugs that they used in Ghana). From what the vet said, it appeared that the dog looked a lot better than it had done the first time that it came in, although it still had a long way to go before it was fully recovered.

A chick with a swollen knee joint was the next patient to be see by the vet, who scrapped at the wound that looked like an abscess. Iodine was added to help it heal. There was also a Rottweiler/cross that came in for a check up. It had eczema - spots- all across its back and down its sides. Antibiotics were sprayed over it as they seemed to had improved a lot since the last time it was brought it.

A goat with eczema on the underside of its neck was next. The owner had noticed the rash three days ago, but only just brought it in. The skin looked very sore and the goat was clearly in a lot of distress. The vet used a blade to remove the outer layer of dead skin. Hydrogen peroxide, iodine and scavon ( a cream used to fight infection) was added to help clear the infection, and then antibiotic spray was added.

Ghana - Back to Clinic

It was my second day at clinic today, although I could have gone on outreach due to many of the vets being ill. I arrived just in time to see a dog having a wound on its elbow cleaned and sutured. First it was given a local aesthetic and then the area was shaved using a blade - it would have been a lot quicker with a razor. The area was then scrapped clean using a scalpel to make the wound fresh and remove any dead or infected skin. Suturing occurred next in a broken pattern. It was sutured in two layers, one under the skin and one on the skin. Just before the suturing was complete an antibiotic - penstrip - was added under the skin to stop any infection. The area was then sprayed with antibiotic and iodine was added. In the dogs hind leg, it was given antibiotics and vitamins intramuscular. I was surprised to see that the dog was not given a collar to wear so there was nothing from stopping it licking the wound. In England, the dog would have been given a collar.

The dog with ear ache that I had seen previous in the week was brought back in for a check up. It was on a three day course of treatment and today was the last day. The ear looked much better and the vet was happy with how it was healing.

The day at the clinic was very slow as there were only two patients in the afternoon. One dog was coming in for an anti-rabies injection, whilst the other was a small puppy that appeared dead other than a slight breathe. I couldn't understand what the people were talking about as it was in twi (the local language of the Ashanti region), but a short while later the owner took the puppy away without any treatment. It is just like England in that the cost comes first before the treatment.  

Ghana - Clinic

The 30th July, my first day in clinic. I saw a number of different cases being brought in throughout the day. As they don't hand out appointments like they do in England, the clinic could go from being very quiet to being very busy quickly. The owners would just turn up when it suited them.

The first patients that were brought in were a group of puppies that looked very dehydrated. They were also extremely dirty and smelly, and it appeared that they were not that well looked after. They were given their booster vaccinations and dewormed.

Soon after a dog was brought in that seemed dead, however, after a little while I noticed that it was breathing very slightly. It turns out that dog had had a lot of diarrhoea and to make things worse, it had had its since yesterday, meaning that the owner didn't care enough to bring the dog in before it got even worse. The dog was put up onto the table and there is just led still. After preforming a clinical examination, the vet noticed that the dog had injection marks on its arm, which meant that they man had lied that the dog had not received any treatment. The vet couldn't treat the dog as any other injections could kill the dog. In the end there was nothing that the vet could do but make the man leave and take the dog back to the place where it had first been treated.

A well looked after dog was the next patient through the door. It looked to be in good condition - the coat was clean with no sign of ticks or fleas. The owner said that the dog had not been eating, but that it had also not been sick. The vets were about to treat the dog when I saw the same problem that I have seen so many time in England - the owners can't afford to pay for the treatment or they are not willing to pay so nothing gets done to help the sick dog. The dog soon left after receiving no treatment at all.

During the slow times of the clinic, usually around lunch time, everyone occupied themselves by reading, eating or even sleeping.

After a very quiet period at the clinic the well looked after dog returned with more owners. This time the owner brought some deworming tablets and some vitamins before taking the dog back home. It seemed that the owners were going to treat the dog themselves when they got home as it was cheaper that way.

Another puppy was brought in as it was vomiting. it was given antibiotics, vitamins, promethazine and oxy. Soon after another dog that was not eating was brought it. This dog was given Dexa, Penstrip and vitamins. This dog had been vomiting yesterday so it was coming in today as they have to come in for 3 days of treatment.

Just as in England, the table is cleaned between patients, however, unlike England, every dog is made to wear a muzzle. There are also a lot more people in the consulting room as it doubles up as an office. At times it could get very squashed.

A tiny puppy of only a few weeks old was brought in by the owner in the hope of getting it vaccinated. However, the dog was too young so instead they dewormed it and sent it on its way.

A dog with an ear ache was brought in soon afterwards. The owner had tried to help the dog by pouring palm nut oil into its ear and giving it antibiotics. When the vet heard this she burst out laughing. After looking into the dogs ears, she got some cotton wool and dabbed up the rest of the palm oil - thankfully there wasn't too much left! The dog was then given antibiotics and vitamins. As the dog was so scared due to the amount of people in the room at the time, he emptied his bowels everywhere and he growled and wiggled a lot in an attempt to get free.

It seemed that the clinic was busy in the morning and after lunch, which is the same as the clinics in England that I have been to. The only difference is that they are no scheduled operations. During my month stay I didn't see one operation take place at the vet clinic, and neither had many of the other volunteers.

Another puppy was brought in for a check up on a wound it had on its front paw. The wound didn't look infected so it was cleaned and antibacterial spray was sprayed on the wound. It was then given injections before heading home. Soon after a dog came in with scar marks down its back. It was just coming in for a check up and it seemed that the burns were healing well. The owner was hoping to use the dog as a security dog so the vet told his how to go about doing this. She said that you had to limit playtime and its contact with people.

All in all, today had been a rather busy day at the clinic. It was a lot busier than I was expecting after I had heard the others complain at how slow it was.

Ghana - Back to Genesis Pig Farm

I thought today, Monday the 29th July, was going to be my first day at the clinic. I had now been in Ghana over two weeks but never been to the vet clinic. However, due to the new outreach timetable that they had devised, I was back on outreach and back to Genesis pig farm to preform two more castrations each.

The castrations were a lot better than the previous ones as there was a lot less blood. It also helped that the pigs were calmer and the testicles were a lot smaller. We also injected a number of the smaller piglets with vitamins and dewormed them. Some of the injections were given under the skin (subcutaneous) whilst other injections were given directly into the muscle (intramuscular). When the injections are given intramuscular you must make sure that you aspirate, pull back, to make sure that you haven't hit a blood vessel.

Whilst we were there one of the piglets went into shock after it had been given an intramuscular injection. The needle had gone into the blood vessel so the syringe had been emptied into the blood, rather than the muscle. We quickly noticed the problem and sprayed the piglet with water to try and bring it out of shock. Thankfully it was soon back up on its feet and wandering around with the rest of the piglets.

Ghana - Outreach again

I was up early in the morning to wash the rest of my clothes. I was getting the hang of hand washing but getting all of the soap out was not always easy.

We were back on outreach today, visiting more sheep and goats. They were being vaccinated against foot rot and being dewormed. I seemed to be getting the hang of the drench deworming, although some of the animals were not very happy with the whole procedure. Thankfully there were a lot of people to help hold down the animals.

After the first sheep and goat farm, we went on to another farm, called Kumah Farms. Whilst we were there, we were introduced to the Chief of the local area and owner of the farm. He was second in the national agricultural award for Ghana. His farm was a mixed farm, having a variety of animals, ranging from alligators to rats to grass cutters to deer. They also had all of the common animals such as sheep, goats, fish, rabbits and guinea pigs. (I later found out that the guinea pigs and rabbits were bred for eating rather than as pets, and the rats were fed to the alligators). The fish were biologically kept as the populations were controlled naturally - the population of Tilapia was controlled by the catfish. At this farm we were also deworming the herd of sheep and goats.

The third and final farm that we visited was more of a small community than a farm. The sheep and goats were kept in the villagers houses so that we didn't had to chase after them and then released to roam around the village. I had no idea how they knew whose sheep and goats belonged to who. The small community was very run down and the smell was pretty horrific. Many of the local children followed us as we walked between houses to the animals. They were all poorly dressed and it was clear that they were not going to school.

We tried to teach some of the children how to play hopscotch and joined in with a couple of skipping games. They were all very friendly and seemed to enjoy having us to play with. This village was a far cry from the area that I was staying in just the other side of town.

Ghana - Sheep Ecthyma

The next day we were up at 5 as we had to be at the vets early due to the outreach that we were going on. We were back to the sheep and goat farm that we had visited the day before, but this time we were removing an infection from around their mouth, called Ecthyma (or sometimes Orf) .

To remove the Ecthyma we were using a pair of forceps to scrap off the infection. The animals were not that happy with the whole experience but it would be beneficial in the long run. After scraping off as much of the infected area that we could, we would apply iodine to the area to promote healing and stop any of the areas from becoming re-infected.

Ecthyma, or Orf, is spread through direct contact with an infected animal. Symptoms of Orf include Papules (solid elevation of skin with no visible fluid) and Pustules (small elevations of the skin containing cloudy or purulent material). These are often found on the lips and muzzles of sheep and goats.

Ghana - Farms and Newcastle

I spent the rest of the week on outreach at numerous different farms. We were many visiting sheep and goat farms, although we did treat a number of turkeys.

 

Most of the farms in Ghana look the same. They contain a flock of sheep and goats mixed together and often a couple of chickens or turkeys will be roaming around. The barns will be falling apart and made from wood. The ground is not particularly clean as any rubbish gets left on the ground. Some of the larger farms will have armed guards manning the entrances, which was a little frightening as they carried semi-automatic machine guns around with them.

 We were worming the sheep and goats, as well as giving them vitamins and antibiotics. Everything seems to be given vitamins. The de-wormers were given through drench - so down the mouth. This was more difficult in the larger animals as they didn't want to open their mouths and they had long horns. You had to hold on to their top jaw and squeeze until they opened it. The injections were a lot easier especially as the others were very helpful in showing me where to place the injection.




The turkey's were the easiest to inject as they would stay still once they were held upside down. They were also being vaccinated against Newcastle, which is becoming an epidemic in Ghana.

Newcastle Disease is a contagious disease that affects many domestic and wild avian species. The disease is zoonotic so can be passed from avian to human. The disease is passed through the infected bird's droppings and secretions from the eyes, nose and mouth. Newcastle disease spreads rapidly when birds are kept in confinement and are particularly common in commercially raised chickens and turkeys. If humans are exposed to birds with Newcastle disease, it can cause mild conjunctivitis and flu-like symptoms.

Ghana - Return to the Pig Farm

On Monday the 22nd July, we were back on outreach and back to Genesis farm to check on the pigs. All of the pigs seemed to be fine and the wounds looked to have healed. We each then got to preform another castration. Like last time, after the castration, the pigs were given some more injections.

Whilst I was waiting for my turn to preform the castration, I spotted a scrotal hernia in one of the younger piglets. However the vet didn't treat it as he didn't have the right equipment there. Back in England, the vet would have carried around a number of different tools in the back of their car, however, in Ghana, the vet gets everywhere by taxi so they only carry around what they can manage.

We also checked up on the two pigs with an abscess. One had had an abscess on its leg, which burst when a scalpel was pressed against it. A green mush liquid came out which meant that the area was infected. The second pig had an abscess on its abdomen. This abscess did not pop and the liquid that eventually came out was a lot more solid. The wall of the abscess was a lot thicker than the first and the size of the abscess did not go down after the liquid was removed. Both of the abscess had occurred on joints for we hoped that the pigs would now be able to move the joints a lot better.

Upon check up we saw that the abscesses had drained well so all we did was spray some more antibacterial spray on them. We then spotted another pig with an abscess so we attempted to pop it. This abscess was a lot runnier than the others, but the same colour. This time when cut it burst, spraying the liquid all over the person who cut the skin.

After the castrations and the abscess checking, I noticed that some of the piglets had managed to escape the pens. After placing them back in we noticed that they had escaped again. It seemed that they were standing on the mother, who was led down, and stepping over the gate.

Ghana - Genesis Pig Farm

On Thursday the 18th July we headed of on another outreach; this time to Genesis pig farm. We were there to perform castrations on a number of piglets as well as giving the smallest, youngest piglets iodine shots. They were indoor pigs so they needed to be given iodine shots as they wouldn't get enough in their food.

This was the first time that I had worked with pigs and I didn't realised how noisy they are. Every time you grabbed one they would scream and whine and wiggle, which made giving them injections particularly difficult. It was lucky that they were only small piglets as restraining any large piglets would have been more of a challenge and the noise would have been a lot greater! To try and combat the noise the men that worked on the farm would hold the mouth of the pigs closed.

After giving the piglets the iodine shots, we moved on the castrating the bigger piglets. I was surprised to find out that we were all allowed to have a go at castrating a pig. A number of us were still at school and not qualified vet students. I was last up so I was able to see a lot of other people go first. I had seen the others get covered in blood and had the pig kick and scream throughout the procedure.

When it came to my turn it seemed as if they had saved the largest piglets for last and the ones with the largest pair of testicles. Before my castration I went over and over and over the steps of castrations in my head. The way that they performed the castrations in Ghana were a lot different than the many I have seen in England. To start with, only a local aesthetic was used, and no suture material was used. The wound was left open, exposed to the elements. To cut off the blood supply to the testicles we used the epididymis/sperm cord to tie around the vessel rather than any suture material. Another major difference was how sterilised the procedure was - or should I say unsterilized. The same needle and scalpel blade was used for all of the pigs and changed because it was blunt rather than to stop disease spreading. Also, the equipment was put on the farm wall rather than on a sterile tray, which meant that the chance of infection was a lot higher. It seemed to be a miracle that the animals hadn't all died of infection yet.

I managed to perform my first castration with relatively few problems. I had had difficulty holding the testicle firm so that I could inject it with lidocaine, but thankfully this pig had been one of the quieter ones. I then had to shave the area using the scalpel blade, which was quite a challenge. In England the vet would have used a razor. The incision was next, where again I struggled to hold the testicles in place. I was not used to force needed to cut through the skin of the pig. I managed to squeeze the testicle out of the layer, whilst also getting blood all over myself. Finding the epididymis also proved to be a little tricky as I had no idea what it looked like. Thankfully, with the guidance of the over vet students and volunteers I was able to locate it.  Clamping the blood vessel was the easy bit and tying off the blood supply was not too bad. Back in England we would have used sutures to tie off the vessel, but this was Ghana and they do it differently.

As this was my first time performing a castration and I had no idea how tight to pull the epididymis around the vessel, I accidently pulled it too hard and it split. Thankfully this gave the vet a chance to show us another way of tying off the vessel. He looped the testicle around itself so that it knotted. you could then cut the testicle off. The second testicle came out a lot easier as I was not as new to the procedure.

The wound is not sutured up so after I had finished I sprayed antibacterial spray on it. The pig was also given antibiotics and vitamins through intramuscular injections in their neck, and then the pig was released.

The second pig that I castrated was a lot more lively than the first. The vein connecting the testicles to the body was as thick as my finger. Fortunately there were no more disasters and, although the pig wiggled and kicked out lots, the procedure was relatively simple.

The day was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the operation and the chance to actually perform it. It had been a long tiring day but it had been worth it!!

Ghana - Post 1

I arrived in Accra at 11:00 pm on the 12th of July. It was extremely warm and humid and the airport was buzzing with activity, even though it was really midnight. Early the next morning I got on a coach to Kumasi, and 5 and a half hours later I arrived at my host family in the centre of Kumasi. I was staying with a number of other vets.


Tuesday the 16th of July was my first day at the Vets and we were on outreach. We visited a farm to vaccinate cows against a strain of pneumonia. Around 60 cows were due to be vaccinated. I thought that this was going to be quick, however, this was Ghana and they do everything differently. Each of the cows had to be lassoed individually by a man running around like a cowboy. Then each of the cows had to be tied down securely so that they couldn't swing their heads and spear us with their horns. One of us would then run over with the automatic syringe and inject them. The whole process took a lot longer than it would have in England - there were not crush crates or strong metal fence posts.

The next day we were back on Outreach and visiting another farm. This farm was one of the biggest farms in Ghana. It was a huge poultry farm containing over 250,000 'battery farm' chickens. although they had 9 chickens per square metres, they did seem to be some room to roam around. They were not true battery farm chickens as they were not kept in small individual boxes. We may have headed to one of the largest chicken farms in Ghana, we were actually at the farm to vaccinate the 5 cattle that they had. This farm was no better equipped than the last farm so as soon as the man attempted to lasso the first cow the others ran away and we spent the next couple of hours searching for 5 cows. In the end we gave up the search and left the farm having only vaccinated two cows.

Ghana

I recently spent a month in Ghana with a company called projects abroad on the Veterinary Project. Over the next few posts I will talk about all of the things that I did. It was an amazing experience and one that I will not forget in a long time. I met lots of amazing people that I will miss!!

Prolapsed Uterus in Ewes

A prolapsed uterus was the most common problem that I saw during the lambing season. At the farm I was staying on it occurred in a handful of sheep, and after speaking to the farmer, it seems that it happens to a few sheep every year.

It is very important that you spot the problem early so that you can prevent the condition from getting any worse and still have a successful pregnancy. However, if a ewe has had a prolapsed uterus in the past, it is likely to happen again so the ewe is likely to be culled.

One way of treating the prolapsed uterus it to provide the ewe with a harness, which are very useful in situations where the prolapse is detected early. There is also little trauma to the sheep or risk of contamination. However, they must be fitted carefully to prevent sores developing and inspected regularly. The harness applies pressure to the abdomen of the ewe and will stop the uterus from prolapsing again. Although lambing can occur whilst a harness is worn by the sheep, it is advised to keep a close eye on the sheep and remove the harness after the ewe going into labour.

 

Another way of treating a prolapsed uterus is to use a Plastic retention device. The device in placed inside the vagina and held in place by ties.  They work better in mild early cases. Or the farmer could choose to use a Buhner suture. This has to be put in place by a vet as done wrongly it could cause more damage. The sutures must be removed for lambing and for examination of the ewe's reproductive tract when labour is suspected, and they are difficult to retie.

The farmer that I was shadowing found that the harnesses worked better for him so he only used the harnesses rather than the retention device or suturing, although other farmers may say differently. As I only saw the use of a harness, I think it is best that I only really talk about that method of treatment.

 

 

Useful Websites:

http://www.nadis.org.uk/bulletins/lambing/lambing-part-3-vaginal-and-uterine-prolapse.asp 

http://www.sheep101.info/201/diseasesa-z.html

Lambing

Lambing

Over the Easter holiday I spend a number of days on a farm helping a farmer out during the lambing season on his flock of Lleyns. During my time there I saw a number of different ewes and ewe lambs give birth, both with and without complications. (For those of you that are not up to speed with the farming terms, a ewe lamb is a ewe that herself was a lamb born the year before)

 

Over the next couple of posts, I am going to talk about the problems that the ewes can face before they are ready to give birth. The most common problem that occurs, and one that I saw regularly, is a prolapsed uterus. There are a number of different ways that this condition can be treated that will prevent it from getting any worse, however, if a ewe has a prolapsed uterus it is likely to happen again so it is likely that the ewe will need to be culled. Another problem that recurred many times was the awkward presentation of the lambs. The different presentations of the lambs meant that the birth was not as smooth and often the ewe required assistance from the farmer in order to give birth.

 

Update

Update

It's been a very long time since I last updated my blog as I have been busy revising for my AS-level exams. I sat eight examinations in four different subjects in the space of three weeks, so it was a very stressful time! I am certainly glad that they are over...as least for this year! Now that they are all over I have a LOT of things to write about, including my interesting time lambing on a local farm, the action packed week at a Vets and my exciting holiday plans!!

Neutering Male Dogs

Castration of Dogs

I know that it seems a bit unusual to write about the castration of Dogs, but I chose this topic to write about first as it was the first operation that I saw whist I was on work experience at the local vets.

Castrations are a very common surgical procedure in a small animal practise. Many people bring in their dogs to be castrated as they believe it will help reduce the boisterous behaviour of the dog. Whilst this is true, there are also a number of other reasons for neutering your dog, such as, stopping your dog from breeding and benefiting the dogs health.

The procedure is a relatively simple one. A small incision is made in the dogs abdomen between the penis and the testicles. Both the testicles are removed through this incision, one at a time. The vessels are clamped and sutured to stop the blood flow. The testicle can them by removed. you repeat the procedure with the second testicle. The incision is then closed with more sutures

The video posted  shows a castration of a male dog. Don't watch if you are faint hearted.

If you are looking for more information on the topic, the web adress listed in the bibliography is particularly useful.

 

Biblography
Veterinary Advice Online: Male Dog Neutering

Introduction

Hello World!

My name is Alice and I am currently studying my A-levels at Colston's School.

In my spare time, I love to play hockey for my local club, as well as volunteering at the local primary school and charity shop. I am a participant in the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme and currently working towards my Gold award.

In this blog I am going to write about my long journey to getting into vet school; talking about my work experience.