I have made a connection that might bear fruit for vet care for the
ferrets here in Ethiopia. Oddly enough, it's through an organization
that treats only donkeys.

F0r a while I have been observing an abandoned donkey with a deformed
hoof in our area. At first I thought he was a lucky beast -- he didn't
have to work, and a working donkey has a hard life. The hoof got bigger
and bigger, though, and lately I saw that it had split. So I called the
Donkey Trust -- it was set up by some British abt 15 yrs ago, and I had
heard bad things about them, but clearly somthing had to be done. For
one thing, the hyenas might have gotten him in his weakened state.

I think the rumors were wrong or out-of-date. The people who turned
up were all Ethiopian and very nice and competent. They donkey was in
worse shape than I had realized -- it was the first time I saw him up
close, and he was really suffering -- shallow and rapid breathing. The
vet thought he wd have to be euthanized, but agreed to have a go at the
problem -- it is two problems, actually -- the other leg is deformed,
and a much bigger problem than the hoof, which was bad enough. The
donkey is about 10 yrs old. The problem originated some months ago
when he was hit by a car.

After the initial exam, there was a delay, so I took the vet, Dr
Challa, to my house (a few minutes away) to see the ferrets and look at
my ferret vet books. Dr C is connected w the vet college, and through
them might be able to find me someone interested in really looking
after my ferts

After a rush visdit to my place we went back to the donkey, and Dr
Challa, and his assistants went to work on the hoof -- it proved to
be infested with maggots. They worked for abt 45 mins, and the donkey
reared up a number of times in pain, despite an earlier shot of
painkiller. By the end, though, it was clear that he felt better for
the work -- he began to nibble on grass. His hoof is now bandaged with
a huge ball of cotton wool, covered with bright red plastic tape. At
that point I went off to work, and they went back to their clinic,
hoping to get a transport van to pick the donkey up in the afternoon.
If not, then on MOnday.

He got a mouthful of Ivermectin for the inevitable parasites. It will
clear them out by Monday --- I hope he gets to enjoy the relief and
doesn't get euthanized! I said that we would take care of him if the
problem ends up being maintaining him while he recovers from having
the other leg broken and reset.... They are not sure they have the
resources to do the surgery, and if I understood the suituation,
the leg is and will cause enough pain that euthanization would be
preferable to keeping him alive w/o the surgery. I'll find out more in
a couple of days. They'll phone me and I'll go to see their clinic.

[Posted in FML 6852]