Animal Care on Wheels

We received a call from one of the locals in Ahmedabad regarding a dog roaming around in their neighborhood with a painful wound on the side of his mouth. The dog couldn’t eat or drink because of this. In humid weather, flies can lay eggs in open animal wounds that hatch within a few hours. The larvae, or maggots, feed on the animal’s flesh, often enlarging and deepening their injury. Even a tiny, barely visible cut can become a huge, life-threatening wound in a very short span of time. If proper medical care is not given, the wound can become fatal, especially if it affects the internal organs. Fearing this, we sent out our ambulance to treat his condition right away.

As soon as we reached the spot, we found ‘Simba’ in a very emaciated state, lying in a shed all weak and feeble. The vet observed that Simba had a deep, maggot-filled wound on the side of his mouth. This explained all the pain and discomfort he must have felt while eating. As we approached him, Simba remained very friendly even after being in so much pain. Our skilled animal handlers picked him up and began his treatment on the spot. Our vet carefully assessed the wound and removed as many maggots as possible without causing him more pain.

After three days of flushing the wound and removing the maggots, our vets were able to remove all the dead tissue as well. This was followed by a few days of pain relief and antibiotics course and Simba recovered.

It’s imperative that dogs feel safe in the environment they are treated in. Often is the case where it is better for them to be treated in their own neighborhood where they feel comfortable and are surrounded by people that usually care for them. This is one of the many motives behind our ‘Animal care on wheels’ project.

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