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.