That's not all the photos, but you get the idea. All the participants take lots of pictures cuz it's just such an awesome experience.
March Clinic
23 March
Five days, international support with ten vets, and a record number of feline/canine patients. Here's the teaser ... more pix and links to follow.
Tsunami Wall
14 March
Glued to the internet and CNN all day instead of trekking to Colima and Comala as planned. The Nakias also cancelled and instead of joining us on said trek, took Nakia out of the anchorage until well after the threat was over.
Stan all wired on the tsunami wall
The Tsunami Warning Center provided updates of surge levels and damage via email and internet; Twitter provided up-to-date reports from up and down the coast. At the appointed arrival time for Manzanillo, Stan and I perched on the tsunami observation wall, armed with VHF radio and the not-so-dumb phone.
We detected no surge and no change in water level from our convenient perch, where we were joined by only a few other looky-loos. Our 15-foot-high tsunami wall is three blocks from home, an additional 10 feet above sea level, and downhill from the house, which is 40 feet above sea level.
If I'd seen a rise in water level on the rocks offshore, I was ready to head for the hill across the street.
Though we saw no discernable sea change at our location, changing water levels and currents were reported around the bay. Even the next day, Manzanillo was still feeling the effects.
Howard Platt's pix the day after, a 10-minute swing of water level in the lagoon
Clinic Drama
9 March
PATA vets and volunteers produced a nice little clinic north of town in the barrio of Valle Paraiso. The family who hosted us provided a covered and paved carport for prep/surgery, and we hung awnings over their front yard for reception/recovery.
Diana, Stan and Midori cutting off the tip of a patient's ear.
After chopping
Our core clinic group works as a well-oiled machine to provide surgeries in remote locations, but regardless of flawless execution, every clinic sees its dramas. Valle Paraiso was no exception.
First Act: Because their cat patients usually run free, our medicos have become more and more insistent on marking every single cat they sterilize with a clipped ear. At this clinic, for the first time, they put out an edict that homeless or not, each cat's ear will be clipped, no exceptions. For the ferals it's a great idea, but some owners have a problem with disfiguring their beautiful pets....
The clip is simple, the results permanent. While kitty is still unconcious from surgery, the very tip of the ear is clamped with forceps and then less than 1/4 inch is chopped off with a scissor. A coagulant is administered, bleeding stops and the forcep is removed.
One of our patients, a pure white teenager with one gold eye and one blue eye, was gorgeous, just like our Chivo. We volunteers advocated for the little guy and he sneaked out after surgery with both ears intact.
Mama cat before surgery
Nayelly resuscitating kitty
Breathing and suckling
Second Act: An irate owner, orange mama-cat clutched in her arms, checked in at the reception table, being nagged by her equally-irate husband. He apparently had an issue with sterilizing their cat. The owner was equally adamant that she wasn't about to care for anymore kittens....
Mama-cat was already pregnant. The kitten she was carrying was full-term, and Nayelly immediately set to work clearing its airways with an eye dropper and stimulating its heart and lungs. Kitty's suckle response kicked in even before Mama was awake from her anesthethic.
Earlier in the resuscitation, I had bet money that the owner wouldn't accept the kitty -- then one of the vets would end up with a newborn to feed every two hours. But no, the owner actually took the little guy home.
PATA Flurry
5 March
Bless their little hearts, the folks at our local newspaper were just trying to help.....
Unfortunately, they printed their own opinions and not the facts. One can just imagine what an uproar erroneous info would cause on a subject near and dear to PATA hearts. Not only was the info wrong, the picture was of our rescue friend, Mario, who maintains a private shelter, but who is not a spokesperson for PATA.
Big flap over article when it was published in El Correo, though the poor reporter was simply trying to advertise our up-coming 5-day clinic.
First article with erroneous info
The article stated that PATA performs tubal ligations and vasectomies and leaves the animals intact with normal desires and the ability to have. HUNH?! Oh, man! The stuff hit the airwaves; emails, texts and FaceBook pages filled with indignation.
The very next day, the nice folks at El Correo met with a PATA spokesperson and learned the facts.
PATA volunteer vets perform only hysterectomies and castrations at our free clinics.
Total removal of sex organs is preferred and supports the goals of the group, better lives for owners as well as animals.
Total removal reduces agression and roaming, females don't come into heat, and it reduces the spread of TVT, a venereal disease that's quite prevalent.
Corrected article with pic of one of our devoted vet volunteers
The revised article got most of the facts right, this time. It was published on an inside page -- they could have mentioned that we emphasize sterilizing street dogs and cats without owners ... our main thrust.
Wildcats
26 February
PATA sterilization campaigns take on lives of their own, sometimes in austere situations on-location, like at the garbage dump near the beach at Audiencia, where Bo Derick played "10." Wild cats hang out there and reproduce like crazy. They keep the rat population under control, but they also fight, poop, get run over, and spread garbage and disease. Not real popular inhabitants for a tourist beach.
Mini-mini-campaign in the trunk of Dra. Gaby's car
Every once in awhile, the cat patrol sets a couple of humane traps and spends the night at the dump coaxing the wild things into traps with sardines and cat food. Once trapped, they get a little nap and wake up sterile. After a brief recuperation in a cage, they're released.
What we really need for these little excursions, and at home, too, is a long-handled trapping net. Most wiley cats won't walk into a wire trap willingly, and there are still some reticent fellows around the house who need a trip to Dra. Gaby.
The stripey cat and Beige waiting in humane traps for transport to Dra. Gaby's, under the watchful eye of Bucky
Out of ten (or so) feral cats who hang around the Solcasa, there are only a couple who haven't been trapped and neutered. Persistent Stan sets the traps out every week or so to see if he can snag the hold outs.
Our last catch was a stripey girl new to the 'hood, and Beige (we're not even trying to be creative with names, are we?). Stan drove them both all the way to Dra. Gaby's office before he realized that Beige's ear was snipped -- an indication that she'd already been trapped and neutered. Ah well, she got a free ride. The stipey cat got a nap and surgery.
Maybe if we had a long-handled net we could corner the couple of others who need to see Dra. Gaby, two seem to be injured and one still has his cojones ... none of them feel like walzing into a trap. Hunh.
The Audacity
24 February
Tagged wall
We woke up one morning to big-city crime. Our only wall that isn't protected by a wall or fence was hit with creative writing
of the urban kind. Weird for our little neighborhood. We live on a dead-end street with three other families, and there's hardly any
reason for strangers to pass by, and even less reason to maliciously deface our house.
Uphill from us live the only kids who would potentially be of tagging ilk, but we let the kids harvest our backyard cocos, so we've
ruled them out as suspects. Since Stan painted over the tagging, there's been no repeat artistic endeavor.
Why the Frowns, Boys?
18 February
Stan and Chivy
Grumpy old men? With good reason. They're home, alone, again.
Dad suffered his final stroke the first of the month and I hoofed it back to WA, leaving the gang of four (five) on their own.
They look none too happy about it.
The Nakias heading for a landing after more than a month at sea
A Bright Spot
Our great friends and buddy boat from years gone by in the Sea of Cortez,
John and Linda on Nakia, sailed directly to Manzanillo from Hawaii. What a
treat for us that they chose our little town as their first port-of-call for
their Mexican return!
Bad luck that I was in WA when they completed their 35-day crossing, but Stan
was there to snap their picture as they dinghied ashore.
Linda and John keep a day-by-day, very
entertaining blog of their passages.
I've been keeping up with them on their crossing via the blog, but on Sunday
I'll be able to welcome them to Manzanillo up close and personal.
Lots happening on the homefront and I'm anxious to be there. Besides
our favorite guests to visit with, we've got on-line sales pages to format,
clinics planned and home renovations in the offing.
Who knows? I might be starting up the REMODEL pages, again, very very soon.
I'm jazzed ... about everything.
A Dog Festival
25 January
Beti brought doggy ears for everyone
A local magazine hosted a little doggy gathering. Charities scored free display tables. It being Sunday, PATA was there in full force.
Beti stood in line with the dogs in costume and was presented as one of the beauty pagent contestants.
June and Chris made the tri-fold board for the PATA table.
