WVS had prepared us for the lack of equipment etc but I still think that none of us were really sure what to expect when we drove up to the shelter on our first day. It was a massive learning curve in so many ways, and I had an amazing time, but I wish I’d known exactly what I was letting myself in for!
I saw about 800 dogs and 100 cats at the shelter, not including the neuter and release animals that aren’t actually housed there, so as you can imagine with groups this big and animals that aren’t used to human contact, we weren’t allowed to wander about on our own! The staff there were brilliant, however, and took us round when we needed to see specific animals etc and as the dogs were used to them (and fed by them!) we were safe enough. With that many animals we had out hands full not only with the neutering but stitch ups after fights, post-op infections and infectious diseases like distemper and adenovirus in puppies.
In the operating theatre there were 2 tables, although we only tended to use one, as the light was better on one side of the room. We did take head torches but the room was very hot so having them round our foreheads was quite uncomfortable! We did, however hook one up to a drip stand as a make shift operating lamp which worked quite well. The autoclave didn’t work and sterility in general wasn’t ideal, e.g. there were limited drapes for us to use and the ones we had were disposable, so we tended to soak them in medizyme overnight and hang them up to dry each morning. We had no electric clippers as there’s obviously nowhere they could be sent off for sharpening etc so we had to use razor blades (quite difficult in late gestation bitches with large mammary glands!).
The anaesthesia protocol was the thing that worried me most before getting to the shelter. We used xylazine and ketamine in both dogs and cats (i/v for dogs and i/m for cats) for induction and maintenance. It was a little bit terrifying. The animal’s colour was terrible, and there was a very thing line between the animal jumping off the table and having an overdose. Out of all the animals we neutered (3 or 4 a day for 9 days, most of them mid to late gestation bitch spays) we only lost one animal under anaesthetic. It’s the first anaesthetic death I’d seen in a dog and we were all devastated, but I honestly think we did well considering we were using unfamiliar and less than ideal drugs. But one thing I’d definitely say is to use small regular doses rather than topping up in larger doses when the animal needs it.
We also had some time to look around Kiev, Tamara (the lady in charge of SPA SOS) took us around the city to see the monastery and parliament buildings etc, which was lovely to have a little break from the sanctuary and do a bit of the touristy stuff! It’s a beautiful city with so much to do, I wish I could have stayed longer, but on the other hand I was definitely ready to come back.
I learnt SO much over there, and would recommend it 100 times over (if you can do it over there doing it over here will be easy!), but there were definitely things I wish I’d known before I’d gone (hope I’ve prepared you a bit!). Plus.. I’ll never take electric clippers for granted again!
