Here's the weekend recap! Okay, so Friday at the clinic was another slow day. The first case that came in was feline panleukopenia (the cat version of parvo). The kitten was smaller than the kidney tray that we use to carry the vaccines. It was in obvious pain, gasping for air and hardly moving. After giving fluids for five minutes the kitten died on the table. Sahana informed me that the difficulty that comes with treating cats is that they don't show pain. When they do show pain it may be too late. The next case was a dog that was here for a follow up appointment. His jaw and mandables were extremely swollen and has not been able to eat food. He was given another round of fluids and antibiotics and sent on his way. A doberman with a limp came in next. Dr. Prasanna did several physical tests to see if the limp was caused by neurological problems or a sprain/break. This test was done by pinching the toes of the injured leg and seeing the dogs reaction. If the head is turning in reaction to the pinch then the problem is not neurological. Good news, the dog did turn his head and the limp was determined to be a sprain which was treated with some painkillers. The case of the mammary tumor that was removed on the lab earlier in the week came back for a check up. The stitches were still firmly in place and there were zero signs of infection! Dr. Prasanna that it is because the owners are giving the antibiotics on time resulting in a successful follow up. During my time here I have found a common theme: it is critically important for an animal's well-being to have a caring owner (this component could mean life or death for the animal). The last interesting case of the day was a dog that came in and it's backside was completely covered in blood. No one knew exactly where the bleeding was coming from and Dr. Prasanna said we could not examine it until we administered an anesthetic. When a dog is in that much pain or distress a thorough examination can be difficult due to the unpredictability of the dog. After the dog was sleeping well, Dr. Prasanna started examining him. It turns out he had a rip in his anal cavity, Prasanna said this could've been done by someone throwing things at it (such as glass or rocks). He sounded very sure it was a malicious act but the good news is it was an easy fix. One suture and the bleeding stopped!
On Friday night we took a bus for eight hours to Ooty. Ooty is very beautiful and full of mountains. Driving up the mountain was similar to riding up to Boone but much larger! When we got off the bus I felt a little bit nauseous. I shook it off and didn't think anymore of it until we got on the next bus to mudumalai (location of the safari). The bus ride was rough, I felt like a rag doll being dragged around every which way. I felt completely sick when we finally arrived in Mudumalai. I could barely walk without feeling like I was going to vomit and each step I took felt like I was carrying weights on my ankles. I asked Conner if we could just get a hotel as quickly as possible so I could lay down. The only hotel available (according to the guy at the reception center) was run by the government and cost 2500 rupees a night (compare that to the 600 rupees we spent per night a Pondicherry). At that point I didn't care what the cost would be I just needed to lay down on a bed for a while and happily paid the very large fee. When we got to the hotel and the manager directed us to our rooms my body hit the bed like a rock. I was desperately hoping that all I would need is rest to feel better but when I woke up I felt like I could hardly move (I was so weak) and I was covered head to toe in sweat. I reluctanlty dragged myself out of bed and we went down to the main lobby for a meal but I had zero appetite. I stuffed half a chapati down my throat and kindly asked Conner for some advil. By some mercy of God I woke up feeling so much better. What was coming out of me was not solid but I did have more energy. Unfortuntely by that time all the safari's were closed but we did meet some friendly guys who were vacationing for the weekend and offered to give us a ride around town. We stopped by a really huge lake that was absolutely stunning. On the ride back they offered to make us dinner and of course we accepted. The villa they were staying at was only half a mile from our hotel and the food they bought us was incredible (per usual). They kindly drove us back to the hotel after a few hours and we planned to catch the earliest safari in the morning. In the morning we got up and took the safari where we saw a hundreds of deer, buffalo, and a tiger. The tiger was by far the most interesting part (unfortuntely I did not get a picture). After the safari we went to elephant camp where we saw trainers feed elephants and ride them. Seeing the chains on the elephants is still something I am uncomfortable with so we left shortly after. For the rest of the day we hung out in Ooty. We went and saw the tea factory and museum in the city and scored some homemade tea and chocolates. We then went to the botanical gardens where the landscaping took my breath away. The flower arrangements they had prepared were incredible and there was even a design picturing the country of India using different shrubs. After hitting the market for a bit we caught a train back to Trichy which was cramped but cheap (you get what you pay for). Overall it was a unique experience I just keep wishing we had more time in this wonderful place!
Rest in Peace little kitten.
This is the guy with the swollen face and as you can see he is not amused with my picture taking.
On the way to a clean scar!
Where's the blood coming from??
On Friday night we took a bus for eight hours to Ooty. Ooty is very beautiful and full of mountains. Driving up the mountain was similar to riding up to Boone but much larger! When we got off the bus I felt a little bit nauseous. I shook it off and didn't think anymore of it until we got on the next bus to mudumalai (location of the safari). The bus ride was rough, I felt like a rag doll being dragged around every which way. I felt completely sick when we finally arrived in Mudumalai. I could barely walk without feeling like I was going to vomit and each step I took felt like I was carrying weights on my ankles. I asked Conner if we could just get a hotel as quickly as possible so I could lay down. The only hotel available (according to the guy at the reception center) was run by the government and cost 2500 rupees a night (compare that to the 600 rupees we spent per night a Pondicherry). At that point I didn't care what the cost would be I just needed to lay down on a bed for a while and happily paid the very large fee. When we got to the hotel and the manager directed us to our rooms my body hit the bed like a rock. I was desperately hoping that all I would need is rest to feel better but when I woke up I felt like I could hardly move (I was so weak) and I was covered head to toe in sweat. I reluctanlty dragged myself out of bed and we went down to the main lobby for a meal but I had zero appetite. I stuffed half a chapati down my throat and kindly asked Conner for some advil. By some mercy of God I woke up feeling so much better. What was coming out of me was not solid but I did have more energy. Unfortuntely by that time all the safari's were closed but we did meet some friendly guys who were vacationing for the weekend and offered to give us a ride around town. We stopped by a really huge lake that was absolutely stunning. On the ride back they offered to make us dinner and of course we accepted. The villa they were staying at was only half a mile from our hotel and the food they bought us was incredible (per usual). They kindly drove us back to the hotel after a few hours and we planned to catch the earliest safari in the morning. In the morning we got up and took the safari where we saw a hundreds of deer, buffalo, and a tiger. The tiger was by far the most interesting part (unfortuntely I did not get a picture). After the safari we went to elephant camp where we saw trainers feed elephants and ride them. Seeing the chains on the elephants is still something I am uncomfortable with so we left shortly after. For the rest of the day we hung out in Ooty. We went and saw the tea factory and museum in the city and scored some homemade tea and chocolates. We then went to the botanical gardens where the landscaping took my breath away. The flower arrangements they had prepared were incredible and there was even a design picturing the country of India using different shrubs. After hitting the market for a bit we caught a train back to Trichy which was cramped but cheap (you get what you pay for). Overall it was a unique experience I just keep wishing we had more time in this wonderful place!
Lots of deer on the safari
Elephant camp
Ooty mountains
Tea museum
Look at this awesome thing!
More incredible work at the botanical gardens
This tree is huge!!
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