I've gotten a lot of new experience and learned many new things already after the first two and a half months in Malawi. One of these is how to set a subcutaneous injection. I was definitely not expecting to learn that, but I assume it is a nice skill to have.
One of the dogs at our house was sick when we took over the place here in January. Her name is Joy. She was constantly scratching and biting herself and loosing a lot of fur on her back. After a few weeks of trying with washing and anti tick treatment we found out that it did not help, so we called a veterinary. The Nkhotakota veterinary is apparently expert on goats and cows, at least he has no affection for dogs. He did not want to touch the dog and had brought an assistant to set an injection. The assistant was also extremely uncomfortable with the dog. But after jumping away a couple of times when Joy looked at him with scepticism, he managed to set an injection. They were happy with the achievement, and claimed that the injection would have to be repeated within six months.
Joy got better after the injection, but after about two weeks she started biting and scratching herself again. This time we went to see a pet veterinary in Lilongwe, to get a second opinion. We did not bring along Joy, but the vet seemed to understand the problem, and said that we had to do a treatment of six weeks with weekly injections and antibiotic pills for the first week. We brought along syringes and 30 ml of a slimy liquid to inject on weekly intervals.
Back in Nkhotakota, I saw no reason to bother the scared veterinary to come and set the weekly injections. So I put my stuff together and got the injection set. Now, after the fourth injection, I think Joy is even looking forward to the weekly ritual, as she knows there is a treat waiting for her afterwards. Our other dog, Kalle, is obviously jealous of the attention I'm giving to Joy, so he's started to line up for the injection himself. I hope Joy will get well after the six weeks, even though it is fun to play veterinary...
2 comments:
Very well done!
Trygve is definitely doing a great job as veterinary nurse :-) I am even afraid that other dog owners will start to knock on our door to ask for injections to their dogs!
Also, we are very grateful for the first accurate medical advice we received from our 'family vet' Karina :-)
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