Fun Vet Story I Meant to Post a While Ago...

So right now I am not in Karamoja, but in fact in Zanzibar, on the coast of Tanzania. However, that doesn't mean I should deprive my blog from a post/s I wanted to post when I was in Karamoja, but because it is Karamoja, I couldn't.
  So... 'Treating & Trainings.' For the animal health side of the ministry we have continued our weekly program of vet treatments Mon to Fri, tick spraying on Wednesday and animal health trainings on Thursdays. One Wednesday we were spraying in Kasiapus, where we now also have a bible study in the village, and there was a cow that had been speared by the 'enemy'. I should explain that anyone who is not part of the person's family, village (extended family) or even tribe at large, is an enemy. Of course they have much more reason to call them so, as any stranger is likely to have a motive to or actually will steal /raid your animals and possibly kill or injure a family member in the process.
 Every night here 'enemies' are attacking someone else. It makes me think of the question 'who is your neighbour', the answer is much easier to come to grips with back home in the west, than for people here. Your 'neighbour' here that Christ was talking of (i.e. not your literal neighbour but anyone and everyone) could be someone who has killed your father. Or your neighbour is the woman who is your co-wife, whom you share your husband with. The same goes for Jesus' radical statement, 'love your enemy', again much easier to come to terms with back home. I dunno 'bout you but I don't really have any 'enemies'... (that I know of ;)
So anyway back to the bleeding cow. Symptoms: obvious wound, inappetant, anaemic, grinding teeth and 'pain posture', refusal to stand, not drinking, etc. I talked to Emmy and Olum (local animal health workers) about what we should do and we came up with
 #1 full history and examination,
 #2 discuss treatment and cost with owner,
 # 3 treat symptoms; iron for anaemia, pen/strep for wound and infection, multivitamins (mostly A & Es) to get the rumen moving again and the animal eating.
 #4 Advise the owner on antibiotic treatment course & the issue of resistance, get owner to wash wound with clean salt water. When we came back the week after for our weekly Bible group there, the cow was standing and eating and the wound was healing by secondary intention and best of all, happy cow happy owner, as they say here!
 It reminded me a bit of my first case in Karamoja, you may remember, when Dr Jean and Dr Michelle Beville were here and there was a cow that had been attacked by a hyena :)
When holidays are over we are beginning a new chicken project in October with brand new baby chicks and though not set, there is possibilities of doing another goat project and even starting a rabbit-keeping project where the people will be given the start-up bunnies, they will build an off-the-ground cage for them, and will breed with them to both sell and as a source of protein in their own diets too. Let's see what the future holds in my less than three months left here!
Love to you, Mel