Day1: Intro to life at the Fondouk

Greetings to all my blog followers from here at The American Fondouk in Fez, Morocco! Anna and I arrived in Fez yesterday (Sunday) after 24 hours straight of smooth traveling. We were met at the airport by one of the Fondouk staff and then given a tour of the Fondouk. The Fondouk is a large, walled compound consisting of large and small animal treatment areas and a central courtyard surrounded by stalls for inpatients. There are living quarters for the visiting vets and students and a house for the director. For the last 16 years, the Fondouk has been run by the legendary Dr. Denys Frappier, a Canadian former FEI veterinarian. As Dr. Frappier's tenure at the Fondouk comes to an end the start of the new year, the vacant position is going to be filled by two young American veterinarians (Jeremy and Anne...didn't catch their last name). They are an impressive and gutsy couple with great aspirations for the Fondouk. They treated us to a welcome lunch out and then we parted ways for the day.
Anna and I were both awoken out of deep sleep when the alarm clock rang after 13 hours. We weren't even disturbed by the calls to prayer that are blasted by the mosques at all hours of the day and night. I guess that's what happens when you miss out on a night's sleep somewhere along the way. Work at the Fondouk begins at 7:30 AM when the huge gates are opened and the crowds flood in and line up around the courtyard. Since it was rainy and cold, there were significantly fewer animals seen today...only around 50 instead of The usual 100+. There is
very little order in the Fondouk but everything manages to get done. In addition to the staff veterinarians and Anna and myself, there are 4 European vet students, a small animal, technician, a farrier, a groundsman, and a wonderfully capable Moroccan veterinarian named Houssine who, I'm told, has barely a high school education. There are a large number of small animals that come through the door such as dogs with mange, cats with pneumonia, pigeons with ruptured crops, and even a bunny or two. I poked my head into the small animal room a couple of times but am much happier outside with the donkeys, mules, horses and sheep.
We did so much today and the work is emotionally draining. I'll tell you about a few cases but will try to spare you the gory gory details. Unfortunately, I just discovered that I cannot post my pictures onto the blog because something is incompatible with the iPad that I'm using to type. However, I will ask my office to post some of the pictures that I email them and hopefully I'll remember to put a link to the office site at the end of this post.
One case that gave me a lot to think about was a little gray mule that was dragged in, unable to bear weight on his right hind leg. He had been like this for at least several days, although the history that we get has passed through several people and has been translated from Arabic to French and then French to English. I'm glad I paid attention in French class all those years since I'm able to follow a fair bit of the French conversations and even participate in a few. The femoral fracture in this poor soul is obvious as we take turns manipulating it in the courtyard. The mule's condition is far past the point where we could do anything to help him. We recommend euthanasia to his owner who is torn because he feels that we should not necessarily intervene--"if Allah wills it" the mule will die on his own. Eventually, we convince him to let us euthanize the mule, but only if we agree to pay him 300 dirhams (roughly $40) so he can buy a new one. I have never been so comforted by performing a euthanasia. The only thing made me a bit nervous was learning afterwards that the dead donkey meat would be used to feed the dogs and cats at the Fondouk. If the donkey had died on his own, the meat would have been fed to the man's family.
Another interesting case that I wound up taking involved another lame mule who came in with what looked like rope burn around his pastern. I did not follow all the rationale of taking x-rays right away but two were taken anyway since they're processed the "old-fashioned" way (by getting dipped in chemicals) and development takes 20 minutes. While we were waiting, I clipped the wound and scrubbed it. Once all the debris was cleared, I realized that I was looking at a piece of rope firmly embedded within the wound. It turns out that the Moroccans "hobble" their mules--ie, tie their legs together with rope--to keep them from escaping. This rope had essentially grown into the mule's leg and was so deep that it was down to the bone and mostly covered over by regrowth of skin. The purpose of the x-rays was to see if there was anything else trapped in there since, apparently it's not uncommon to finds pieces of metal in there too. Although this mule did not have any metal identified on xray, the xray was horrifying nonetheless. The degree of arthritis and the evidence of old injuries was staggering. Also, because there is essentially no corrective foot trimming done, the angle of the bones in the distal limb was significantly different from what it should have been. Anyway, a simple nerve block (just like we do at home) numbed the leg. With Houssine digging for the rope with a special hooked instrument I was able to cut the entire rope out. The mule got some IV bute, a shot of long-acting penicillin, and a tetanus anti-toxin. He'll stay for at least a few days. If he doesn't improve overnight, I'll try some regional limb perfusion on him if I can find some amikacin kicking around.
I have so much more to share but I'll spare you the details of the tail amputation I did on a ram this afternoon. Anna and I are responsible for cooking our own meals so it's time for us to get creative in the kitchen. Goodbye for now.

And we're off...

Well, it's been one year in the works, but now this trip is finally happening. Along with my faithful and trusty student extraordinaire, Anna Carroll, I am sitting in JFK, about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Although I have no Moroccan news to report yet and I'm new to this whole blogging business, I did want to share one piece of great news. Together, Anna and I have raised over $10,000 in the last few months on behalf of The American Fondouk. This is an extraordinary amount of money that will go a long long way to help the animals of Morocco. I have been greatly humbled by the generosity of our friends, family, and clients and have great confidence that the money will be put to good use. This fundraising effort certainly would not have been as successful as it was without some help from the inside. I am indebted to my tireless office manager, Debbie, for her creativity and clever fundraising ideas. Our corporate support from Millburn and Wedgewood Pharmacy advanced our fundraising campaign significantly. I would also be remiss not to be thankful for the support of my colleagues who will be stepping up to cover my calls while I'm gone. I am truly lucky to be part of such an incredible team. And with that, it's time to board our flight and get this show on the road.