Rural Australia Spey Trip: Part 2

The following morning, the dog catchers hit the town looking for strays and community dogs. They returned with several dogs and a litter of puppies. We were all devastated to hear that the puppies were to be euthanised and, despite wracking my brain for bright ideas to get them back to Perth, there was nothing I could do. Thankfully, word of the pups had spread and the police came by and gave one lucky puppy a second chance at life.

We divided into two groups and set to work on our surgery patients. Each dog was examined, pre-medicated, catheterised and induced. We used TIVA (total intravenous anaesthesia), meaning the dogs were kept asleep with frequent top-ups of propofol rather than inhalational anaesthesia. This ramps the stress level up a notch, but also trains the anaesthetist to become acutely aware of minor changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, jaw tone and eye position. The surgeons had problems of their own. The heat and humidity meant that surgical gloves pooled with sweat almost instantly and, when held up, sweat would drip down the arm and into the surgical site. Not so sterile! Our headlamps heated up quickly too, a feeling I can liken to someone burning a hole in your forehead and frying your brain.