This is a continuation of our AKI Blog post of April 2022 about the AKI-HaH-Namibia Emergency Fund. Here are the April Emergency Fund cases....
This is Mercy (2 pictures below), an old HaH client (previously spayed by HaH). When the mobile spay/neuter clinic was in Karibib, Mercy's family stopped by to show the vets the lump on her belly. Mercy had a tumor and thanks to the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund, she had tumor resection surgery. Mercy went home to her family after her recovery (2nd picture).
Ousietjie Basson needed and received AKI's help. Ousietjie, pronounced Ousiki, means "my old little friend" in Afrikaans. Ousietjie is from Goreangab and had a greenstick fracture on her left front leg. Greenstick fractures occur when a bone bends and cracks instead of breaking completely into separate pieces. The fracture looks similar to what happens when you try to break a small green branch on a tree. Dr Baines from the mobile clinic put a Robert Jones Bandage on Ousietjie's leg so that the fracture could heal (photo below).
The HaH spay/neuter team recently organized a spay day in a part of Rehoboth called Block E. And that opened up a whole new population for animal care-and for the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund. Block E is too far from a vet clinic to walk so most of the dogs and cats have never been to see a vet. During the spay day of course health issues popped up, the pet owners are poor and can't afford vet care, and HaH s/n funds don't cover anything but spay and neuter. So the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund stepped up.
Liefie (below) is from Block E. Her name translates to darling or my love. She is clearly loved by her family! Liefie's family brought her to the clinic in Rehoboth for her spay but she also had eczema on her neck-as you can see in the photo. She was given antibiotics and a cortisone injection thanks to the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund. After she recovered from spay surgery (2nd picture below) she was sent home. Liefie came back a few days later for a follow-up check and got some more medication for her eczema.
This dog (below) also came in from Block E for his neuter. The vet noticed he had a hernia, which was fixed thanks to the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund. In the picture, he is going home after his follow-up visit (with a friend, the little white dog, and biscuits from the clinic staff):
Browny has demodectic mange. He was neutered and was given antibiotics to fight the skin infection. He's now getting weekly dips until he's fully healthy again. Demodectic mange, especially in dogs with compromised immune systems, or just generally dogs who are not so healthy, can be dangerous, and Browny is not out of the woods yet. But Geesche (HaH) tells us he's feeling so much better. And she says: "Thank you so much for making it possible for the clinic in Rehoboth to help Browny!!!"
This poor dog (photo below) was being eaten alive by flies. Geesche authorized the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund for his treatment and for a bag of food (the clinic is not charging anything for his stay!) He was neutered and he spent a few days at the vet clinic to treat his wounds and to make sure he was well. Geesche said that "he's such a gentle giant, I'm beyond happy he will get help!"
Cesar is also from Block E in Rehoboth. He had a bad ear infection but luckily his owners agreed to have him neutered and Geesche approved the use of the AKI-HaH Emergency Fund to treat him. The infection was drained, he was given antibiotics, and also had to stay at the clinic for a few nights. From Geesche: "Without AKI he would have definitely died soon!" But a little later, we got this from Geesche: "Penny had to pick up Cesar, his ear infection got worse, he is very sick and is at the clinic now, I will update as soon as I have more info." (Photo below is from Cesar's 1st vet clinic visit-we'll update you about his condition when we get more information.)
This boy is a feral cat from a group in Windhoek at the state hospital. He is an old HaH client, which means he has been neutered.
A few weeks ago cat colony caretaker Ronja and her sister noticed that he had a problem with his eye. After a week of trying, they managed to catch him and off he went to the vet clinic where he was diagnosed with an eye ulcer. As a feral cat there is no way to give him eye drops several times a day so the decision was made to remove his eye.
After a few days of recovery, he went back home to his feral cat colony. From Geesche: "THANK YOU SO MUCH AKI!!! There would be no other way to help this boy except via the emergency fund!!"
This is little Bruno (below), another Emergency Fund case from Rehoboth. A bone got stuck in his throat, he stopped eating and started vomiting. He got to the vet clinic in time, the Emergency Fund was approved to cover his costs, he was given medication and threw up the bone, and he was sent home without surgery or any other treatment-although his owners were warned not to feed him bones.
We will keep you updated on future AKI-HaH Emergency Fund cases and also on the status of some of our previous cases--here in the AKI Blog.