Early in the morning of May 17, the VIDAS crew arrived at Dra. Claudia Lewy-Sanchez’ clinic in Playa del Carmen to get set up for a busy day of surgery. As we darted back and forth to the cars, busily unloading our supplies, up walked a little dog off the street. She was all by herself: no owner, no collar and hardly any hair! As a street dog in Playa with no family to care for her, she had spent her young life battling the effects of overpopulation: the eternal search for food, shelter and fighting against infectious disease and parasites. Solita’s wandering had somehow, incredibly, brought her to the very place where VIDAS was holding a day of free veterinary care. One of our volunteers picked up her weary little body and we soon discovered that Solita had a more serious problem than just her parasites and bad hair! Solita had a severe inguinal hernia – a hole between her abdominal muscles and her leg that allowed her intestines to bulge out of her abdomen and get trapped under the skin inside her rear leg! She would need surgery to close up this life-threatening defect and keep her insides where they should be – inside! VIDAS’ surgeons went to work on Solita right away and repaired the hernia that morning. We also spayed her and got her started on treatments for her skin parasites. Solita was feeling much better very soon and was happy to find that we had some good food for her too! Solita adopted VIDAS as her new family and accompanyed us back to the USA after our week of clinics. Today she is happily living in Jackson Hole, WY with Dr. Erica Periman, her new adopted mom and one of the surgeons who saved her life. She is fully recovered after her surgery and is working on growing her haircoat! We don’t know how Solita knew just where to come for help that morning, but we’re sure glad that she chose our door! We thank Solita for touching our hearts and reminding us of why we love veterinary medicine. It’s a warm feeling to know that our work can change the fate of precious lives like hers.
If you would like to help sponsor an animal like Solita please visit our Want to Help Section.
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