Rachel Gates, University of Pennsylvania student and DAD summer intern
On a balmy June night, the people of Santa Cruz were bustling about engaging in typical Sunday night activities. From watching the black tipped sharks and golden rays on the pier, to enjoying an evening stroll, to joyously careening through the streets on a motorized caterpillar ride, the residents and tourists of Puerto Ayora were living life to the fullest. Suddenly, tragedy struck by way of caterpillar-dog collision.
Sunday was the first day that the new arrivals from the Vet School at the University of Pennsylvania along with Dr. Capp from Melbourne were staying on the island. Gretchen and I (Rachel), the interns for the summer, had survived the first campaign with the University of Florida students and vet, and after taking a few days off to explore, were biting at the bit to get back to work. Sunday was a day dedicated to restocking and organizing the clinic and prepping for the new campaign of the week. The clinic however, started much earlier than planned.
At about 8PM, we heard a rattling outside, to find a man cradling his seven month old puppy in his arms, blood coming from severe abrasions down the right side of the abdomen. The prognosis was poor, and at the doctor’s discretion, it was decided that fluids would be administered to treat shock and to give round the clock pain relief, all attempts would be made to aide the puppy, Latika, and she would stay the night, with bi-hourly shifts to check the puppy’s progress and overall well-being.
The next morning we were delightfully surprised to find her active and alert with a healthy appetite. She was sent home that day to rest, and a surgery was scheduled for Tuesday to attempt to repair the damage done to her side. Tuesday arrived and the owners returned with a very curious and happy puppy, which is always a very welcome sign. The surgery that Dr. Capp performed was intense and grueling. Large amounts of dead skin had to be removed and the skin then stretched to cover the exposed area. The surgery itself took almost two hours to complete. With drains in place and dozens of stitches holding Latika together, we kept her on morphine and fluids for the remainder of the day. From the severity of the injuries and the trauma suffered from the crash, the situation definitely had the possibility of a very grim outcome.
As the day wore on, she struggled to awake from the anesthesia, but slowly a foot twitched, then an ear flickered, a blink. Then suddenly, she jumped up and attempted a jailbreak across the room. Amazing progress!! But the catheter and the morphine drip were still in place anchoring her to the curtain rod, those in recovery had to launch themselves at her in order to stop any damage to her veins from ripping out a catheter. Once she had been settled again after the original dash, she was soon a very active puppy. Finally, today she came in for another checkup.
he was with us in recovery in the morning, sniffing the dogs and cats coming out of surgery, trying to explore the entire clinic and being a general puppy menace. Dr. Capp removed the drains and she was on her way home yet again. Something must be said for the extremely attentive and caring owners, who today had said that they were sure not to give Latika any food just in case another procedure needed to be performed, they have been amazing throughout this whole ordeal, and gives DAD something to be proud of in the Galapagos community.
We will see how she is when she returns on Monday, but I am going to preemptively stamp this as a success, and another animal saved!!