Great Volunteers

It is definitely time to say thank you to all our volunteers. This picture was taken after the clinic in Kantunilkin on Sunday. Unfortunately some people had already left and are not pictured.
So THANK YOU all. Our veterinarians: Kate Schubert, Sherry Crow, Marilyn Christensen, Kimberly Dauphin, Melanie deHaan, Antonio Rios, Dr Eddie from Tiziman; our technicians Caitlin Schreiner, Abbie DeLeers and Angie; all our assistants: John (translator extraordinaire), Natasha Zweig(translator extraordinaire), Missy Young, Alex, Anna, Ashley Eastway, Harriet Johnson (instrument diva!!), Thad DeLeers, Liz, Ed and Coley Aldrich. Our contacts in Mexico were Morelia Montes, Gabby, Gloria, and Roddrigo. Our good friends, Elia and Alejandro Vega of the Tarpon Club, were who we emailed anytime we were panicking before the clinic. There is no way this clinic would have run as smoothly as it did without each and everyone who helped. Thank you!!!

Disclaimer

Isla Holbox Spay/Neuter project is not associated with Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project. I am the clinic director for Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project and I pattened the Holbox clinic after FCS/NP but there is no association between the two. Just didn't want there to be any confusion on that point.

People do care

I have heard it said many times that animals are not cared for in Mexico. I can truly say that the owners we met do care greatly for their animals. The problem is there are NO OPTIONS for care. There are no veterinarians in this area. The closest veterinarian is 1½ hours away. To control population animals are poisoned or puppies and kittens are killed at birth. This is not done out of cruelty. These people have no options. People want to do what is humane. We can and must provide them with options. We will make a huge difference in this area by providing basic medical care and spay neuter services.

Due to the generosity of our donors and volunteers we were able to alter 151 animals in 3 days. We treated many animals for parasites (internal and external) and gave rabies vaccines. At least one broken leg was set and a number of animals were treated for other issues. Supplies and medications were sent to Playa del Carmen for the altering of beach cats and kittens at Peanuts Animal Shelter. Supplies were also left on Holbox for future spay neuter clinics.

I believe this to be a very successful first endeavor. There will be another clinic next spring if not before. I am currently trying to figure out how to do more. I will be trying to secure 501c3 status this next year. I believe the ideal situation in these remote areas would be a mobile unit for surgery. Animals were not transported to us in cars but were carried, led or came on modified tricycles. There are so many little villages that need spay neuter to come to them. The areas that we set up surgery in were very basic. If we had a surgery unit that had surgery table(s), gas anesthesia, an autoclave and heating/air conditioning we could do so much in the remote areas. This is my goal.

Playa del Carmen - Help Needed

On April 14th I received the following Email:

Hi Kim:
By a common friend in the island of Holbox, Morelia Montes, I got word that you will be traveling to the island to perform volunteer veterinary services in the community. She recommended you and took the liberty to give me your name and address. Maybe you might help us.
We live in Playa del Carmen, in Playacar, and we have a growing community of stray beach cats that wander around and are friendly to some of us. We are trying to neuter them, vaccine them and make aids tests (some have tasted positive), but there are lots of them, it´s too expensive because there aren´t enough volunteers to raise funds to cover these costs. We do have competent vets, but too many homeless cats. And we definitely want to have a healthy and controlled population. Because we love cats, and because we want to preserve our environment.

Would you be willing to come to Playa del Carmen when you come to Holbox? In such case, what do you need, and how many people in your party? Where would you perform the operations? etc. We will do our best to provide with whatever you need.
We are looking forward to hear from you and would appreciate your help very very much.

Thank you in advance, for this favor.

Sincerely,
Nelly.

How do you reply to such a plea? "No" has never been a word that I use in regards to animals in need. So I said I would work on this request. What I finally came up with was for me to send extra supplies to the group to help them alter the beach cats and care for the kittens in Peanuts Animal Shelter. I had originally planned to travel to Playa and take supplies. That evolved into Morelia connecting with them after my departure and delivering supplies. I believe they will also get our drugs that were confiscated in customs.

So today I received this email:
Dear Edson, Kim, and all the staff of feral cat project:

I want to thank you, in the name of the volunteer cat rescue team of Playa del Carmen, for your generous support in Playa del Carmen. Kim left a boz if important supplies for us in Holbox, plus a good amount of medication that will help us operate about 100 cats. With the help of two veterinarias who will be working for free, and the trapping and transport that Kelley and Laura will do, we will surely (in the long run)have a healthier and controlled population. Morelia also offered to lend us a couple of traps, which will make the catch easier.
We hope that in the future you can come and visit us in Playa del Carmen, where we are still offering you our home.
We heard that your clinic in the area of Holbox was a success.
Congratulations! You deserve all our respect. With such works, you will definitely save the planet.
Thank you again, and have a wonderful day.
Nelly and Ivan, Kelley and David, Laura, Claudia, Morelia, and volunteers.
Thank

This is so great. We need to help local groups alter animals. The need is so great and PEOPLE WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THING. THOSE THAT CAN MUST PROVIDE OPTIONS!!

Sunday

I decided Sunday we needed a later start. What I hadn't realized was how long it would take us to get to Kantunilkin and get organized. Consequently we didn't start surgery till close till noon. We had decided to only alter males due to a lack of drugs and sterile packs. There were only 14 dogs requiring altering before lunch. We inventoried supplies and packs and decided after lunch we could alter 5 females and 10 males. We had a great lunch in a nice restaurant in Kantunilkin. Dr. Eddie joined us and brought coconut ice cream. What a treat!! After lunch there were only 4 dogs waiting for surgery. 18 animals altered but 25 total seen and treated for fleas, sarcoptic mange or given rabies vaccines. An easy day for all. Headed back to Holbox during daylight and in time for a nice dinner.

Saturday

Saturday the group headed for Solferino. Dr. Kate and I stayed on Holbox to alter cats. We had two cats delivered to us in pillow cases. The kitchen counter in our unit at Casa Iguana served perfectly as a surgery table. Both kitties were female and some what tame. Surgery went well and when the kitties were recovered Kate and I headed for the ferry to join the group in Solferino. We missed the ferry so hopped a small boat across laguna and took a taxi from Chiquila to Solferino. The clinic was set up in the ejido building. Check in was in the adjacent town square and recovery was next door to the ejido building. There was plenty of room for everyone!! 50 animals were altered in Solferino plus the 2 cats on Holbox. Not a bad day. Got back to Holbox late and faced preparing packs for Sunday. We were out of xylazine for the TKX cocktail (still no drugs fron customs) so decided to just alter males on Sunday in Kantunilkin. Suggested a later start as everyone was pretty tired after two days.