CAYE CAULKER, Day 8

The morning began with a light rainfall and another mouth-watering breakfast prepared by Isabelle. Afterwards, the team congregated on the waterfront to discuss the day’s plan.

Laurie and Cathy arrived early with their camera to interview team members and observe surgeries and vaccinations. It was an incredibly humid day, with quite a few frustrating circumstances, including the sad news that one of Kenny’s cats was attacked by a dog last night and killed.

Volunteers attempted to capture Bambi, a stray female dog in heat. When this proved too difficult, they decided they would round up the posse of male strays after her and neuter as many of them as possible.

“I’m exhausted,” said Jackie. “We did a lot of surgeries today.”

A partial eye enucleation was undertaken on one of Kenny’s cats, as well as a number of pregnant spays, which is always hard for the team to do. Our largest number of surgeries to date was completed today, including 7 cat spays, 2 cat neuters, 1 dog spay, 4 dog neuters, and a tooth extraction on a feline.

Late in the afternoon, a very emaciated dog was brought in. The dog had eaten very little over the past four months. A blood sample and a look under the microscope confirmed the presence of microfilaria in her blood.

The team was kept busy with surgeries, working past sunset into the darkness, and finishing up well after 6pm.