Worldwide Veterinary Service

Vet Nurse:
Cathy Rose

This was my second trip to Kyiv to help SPA SOS Kiev with their stray dog problem. This time the team consisted of myself, Deirdre Coleman, Elizabeth Amherst and Cathy Rose. The main purpose for this trip was to encourage good surgical technique, rather than neuter large numbers of patients. Two of the vets went on this trip to improve their surgical skills while simultaneously helping needy animals. Cathy was our supernurse- doling out doses of moral support, suture material and humour whenever necessary while monitoring all the anaesthetised patients. My role was one of surgical shadow and occasional VN which worked quite well. I think I have begun to learn the art of hovering!

The charity run a shelter on the outskirts of the city, housing about 700 dogs and 120 cats and is working at maximum capacity. Before we started work on our first morning, we had a brisk walk around the facility to survey the residents. There had been over 50 puppies handed in to the shelter in the previous month alone and it was heartbreaking to watch them clambering around for our attention. The shelter was clean and the dogs are well socialised but I can appreciate the arduous workload the staff carry. Luckily, we had brought a large donation of flea and worm treatments which we were able to distribute among the pens as at this time of the year almost every dog had fleas. We also treated the cats with spot on and wormed them. These cats are semi-feral and it was purely due to the cat whispering skills of Elizabeth, that everyone emerged unscathed (apart from a few minor scratches!).

Our operating theatre was basic but functional for two operating surgeons. WVS donated all the equipment necessary for the trip, apart from the anaesthesia which is sourced elsewhere. Each patient was premedicated with xylazine intramuscularly and also given antibiotics and carprofen. Once sedate, every dog had an intravenous line secured via butterfly catheter and was then induced with ketamine. Once under general anaesthetic, an endotracheal tube was placed to provide an airway in case of emergency. One or two dogs needed intravenous fluids during surgery although most of our patients maintained adequate blood pressure (mainly due to the ketamine, I suspect!). Despite the restrictions of this combination, our anaesthetics ran smoothly for the most part, although we did need to top-up most patients.

The shelter staff kindly provided us with lunchtime refreshments consisting of fruit, meat, coffee, icecream and nibbles.

Over the five days we operated, we neutered 34 animals, mainly bitches. We also did a few other minor procedures, including dog bites, mucky ears and bandage changes. Most of our bitch spays were less than six months old although we did have an eleven year old pregnant bitch which I think must be some sort of reproductive record! I think we would all like to have done more but we had timing restraints. I suppose compromise is a huge part of volunteering and the exciting part is not knowing where or when this will arise! In our case we were limited by available space for surgical patients to be kept overnight within the hospital ward as these kennels were already almost full.

Our accommodation was in the city centre in a very grand, old hotel on the main square. Although now quite dated, it served its purpose well. Each morning, we braved the breakfast buffet and had many weird and wonderful combinations of cabbage, mince, fish and pasta to prepare us for the day ahead. We were driven to the shelter by Boris (wearing a Sombrero!) at 10am in our blue minibus. He was such a funny character, chatting away to us in Ukrainian as we chatted back in English!

Each evening after we had finished up at the shelter we met up with Tamara, the charity director for dinner in a traditional Ukrainian kitchen. The food was delicious, fresh and healthy- exactly what we needed after a hard days work. After dinner, Tamara took us on walks around the city, pointing out buildings, monuments and telling us the complicated and sometimes tragic history of the Ukraine. I think we all looked forward to these walks as they provided us with a fantastic insight into a country we had known very little about.

Our last day was a Ukrainian Bank Holiday so we had the opportunity to celebrate the 17th anniversary of Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union. This was an amazing experience with street parades, military displays, babuskas selling their wares and fireworks, all just outside our hotel.

Many thanks to WVS, VetAdventure and Nature Watch for organising this trip. It is a worthwhile trip and I would recommend it to any volunteer interested in working with dogs.