August 2018 WVS Thailand Monthly Report Dr Giacomo Miglio, DVM, MRCVS The 8th International Animal Birth Control Surgical Course The month of August has been based in Chiang Mai for WVS Thailand, mostly busy with two back-toback International ABC Surgical courses (respectively the 7 th and the 8 th ) that absorbed almost all WVS staff efforts. We had a total of 22 participants, from Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and, for the first time, United Arab Emirates!
The 7th International ABC Surgical course Also we had the pleasure of hosting Dr Ondrej, volunteer vet from Czech Republic, and Dr Stacy Siquera, from WVS India, for the second time in Thailand as part of her internship. They all seemed to have enjoyed their time here, and, since they all came from different backgrounds, for some of them seems to have been an eyeopening experience. In the words of Dr Juliet P. that participated in the 8 th ABC course: I learnt a huge amount on the course, everything from top tips on how to manage ovarian ligatures without three hands, to the best way to deal with a maggot infested wound or to the techniques to use to estimate local dog or cat populations for a rabies control programme. But more than anything, the ITC course has given me the confidence to take the next step back into clinical practice. I can honestly say that I now can t wait to get started and to practise my renewed surgical skills! Dr Julaluk and nurse Riggy at Trang, supporting Lanta Animal Welfare She sent us a lovely feedback report that you ll find at the end of mine.
Overall during the month of August more than 300 dogs where operated and more than 60 cats; more than 60 animals where attended for medical and surgical treatment over the Rescue Centre. With regards to this last point, one of the activity that most participants seem to appreciate is the rotation over the Rescue Centre side, where they can get directly in contact with some cases that involve a lot more than the mere clinical aspect. A case like Leah, for instance, a young female Pug, likely to have been purchased in order to breed from her, and then abandoned when she suffered a vaginal prolapse, shows you that our mission doesn t end with the treatment of the individual animal, but involves a bigger picture of animal welfare and human education. Just like James Herriot realized almost 50 years ago: the vet duty involves all creatures, big and small, humans and non. Fortunately Leah s story has a good end: after her surgery she already found a lovely home to go after her recovery. Leah after the surgery Some animals come as rescues, some other for neutering procedures; this might seem pretty straightforward and even routine: nope, gentlemen! Surprises are always waiting and the case of Chernobog is a perfect example. This lovely young male dog was brought in for what everybody thought was going to be a routine in-an-out castration, but, while opening his mouth for the surgical preparation there it was: a big hole (oronasal fistula), probably the result of an old non treated abscess, connecting his mouth with his nose. Our vets where happy to take care of it, preparing a big gum flap and close the defect, while our participants carried on his castration. Chernobog's mouth on the preparation table Chernobog seems to have appreciated from the next day having to eat in a more comfortable way, without food going up his nose!
Chernobog the day after, happily jumping around the Centre! Chernobog's mouth after surgical correction Aside from clinical and surgical activities, WVS Thailand took the opportunity of the Jai Thep Garden Party to participate and represent our charity and our activities. The response from the public has been very good, hopefully another step toward WVS Thailand becoming part of Chiang Mai social tissue; to quote our very own Director of Operation Mr Ian
Clarke: It was a fantastic opportunity to engage with local supporters and spread awareness of the WVS mission. With the two ITC courses one right after the other there was almost no room for outreach activities; however, whilst I m writing this report, a small team lead by Dr Luckie just reached Trang province to support a neutering campaign in concert with Lanta Animal Welfare. Nurse Riggy and Top dealing with a difficult dog in Trang Finally I couldn t think of a better way to end this report Kronos, the emaciated, mangy, broken pelvis dog whose story was included in July s report, has been adopted by a lovely Thai-Farang couple. Kronos on arrival at WVS Thailand Rescue Center (April 2018) This brings up to 6 the amount of dogs adopted and 2 new Foster volunteers in August. This is it from myself, but please keep reading Dr Juliet report, something I ll definitely save for a rainy day! Best regards to you all Dr G Kronos with his new Family! (July 2018)
Refreshing my surgical skills at WVS Chiang Mai (Dr Juliet P. DVM, MRCVS 8 th International ABC Surgical Course) I have just returned from an amazing trip to Thailand with WVS. I was a participant on the International Training Course (ITC) at the WVS centre in Chiang Mai, a practical course offering hands on surgical and anaesthetic training (spays and castrates) as well as a wonderful insight into the work of WVS and Mission Rabies. I became aware of the course 6 months ago when, after nearly 25 years working in the animal health industry, I decided to make a change in direction and to return to clinical veterinary practice. The WVS team in the UK were really helpful in providing lots of up-front information about the course and the centre in Thailand. The course is mainly aimed at veterinary students near the end of their training or new graduates wanting to get a bit more experience. However, it is also ideal for anyone who has Happy and relieved graduate of the ITC taken a career break and is looking to re-gain some surgical confidence before taking on a veterinary job. As I had only been in practice for just under a year and my experience was so long ago, I jumped at the chance to join the course and to improve my surgical skills. I was also intrigued by the work of WVS and keen to learn more about their ABC (Animal birth control) and rabies programmes. The course runs for two weeks and includes the opportunity to do an average of 11 spays, 4 castrates and the same number of anaesthetic monitoring. Our course included 10 students 8 of which were international students from the University of Glasgow entering their 4 th year and a graduate from Liverpool who was just embarking on her first job (if any of you are reading this, I was hugely impressed by you all you were a great advertisement for Glasgow and Liverpool vet schools). The scary thing is that not only was I almost twice the age of the students, I was Staff and students at WVS Chiang Mai almost twice the age of most of the vets and nurses. However, I can t speak highly enough of the team of staff and volunteers; whether they were ITC international staff of the local Thai team, their professionalism and dedication were contagious, and the culture of supported learning was really noticeable not just for the ITC students but equally for the younger vets and nurses on staff.
With the jet lag still in full force and lingering self-doubt about my own abilities after so long away from practice, I can honestly say that I was pretty terrified on the first morning. However, we were broken in (relatively) gently with a short, written test to gauge the level of the group, followed by an introduction to the protocols used at the Chiang Mai centre and finally a demonstration spay and castrate in the afternoon. Day 2 was straight into surgery; we were split into pairs working one on surgery and one on anaesthetic Student transport for the week! monitoring. Each pair had a WVS vet (fully scrubbed up) supervising and assisting as needed for each surgery. Each day thereafter was two surgeries and two anaesthetics for everyone plus a number of lectures such as antibiotic resistance, Mission Rabies, wound management and others. Day 10 was our last day, celebrated with a final surgery each and a final exam the picture above is a very relieved and happy student (me) just having graduated the programme. During the programme each of the 5 pairs also spent a really interesting day at the neighbouring WVS shelter helping with the in-patients and out-patient clinic. Our day was TVT day (Transmissible venereal tumour is pretty common among the local dog population) which meant that we worked with the on-duty vet and animal handlers to examine each patient, place IV catheters and administer the weekly chemotherapy as needed. With no prior sedation of even the more aggressive dogs, this was great practice for accurate catheter placement under pressure, made hugely easier by the great skill of the WVS animal handlers in restraining our patients. The beautiful view from the training centre I learnt a huge amount on the course, everything from top tips on how to manage ovarian ligatures without three hands, to the best way to deal with a maggot infested wound or to the techniques to use to estimate local dog or cat populations for a rabies control programme. But more than anything, the ITC course has given me the confidence to take the next step back into clinical practice. I can honestly say that I now can t wait to get started and to practise my renewed surgical skills! I need to finish with a huge thank you to Dr G, our course leader, and the wonderful staff and volunteers at WVS Thailand and in the UK office to the rest of my group for putting up with an old crumbly cramping their style and particularly to Stacy, my room-mate and WVS staff vet from Goa,
India, who was not only a great room-mate and teacher, but also saved my sanity at numerous moments during the course! I have been completely inspired by WVS and all you do, and I sincerely hope that I have the opportunity to return in the future.