Mirembe

So, as most of you, my dog was pregnant.  She went into heat back in Feb. when my mom was here and as she began mating I decided to get her spayed.  There are two options here in Uganda, the typical removal of the uterus and ovaries or you can give her a shot of progesterone.  After hearing about volunteers who had miserable experiences with the supposed removal of the ovaries (one vet simply “couldn’t find them”), I opted for the shot.  I called the vet from the district headquarters and the person that I figured was the most competent.  I paid him 80,000 ($40) which is an exorbitant amount in this country, but I figured it was worth it.  He came and gave her the shot, but was clearly both agitated and nervous when doing so. (everyone in this country fears dogs.... apparently even vets)

 

Mirembe continued mating for the next three days (much to my dismay, b/c dog sex is not pretty) but the vet assured me it was normal.  About 4 weeks later, it was very apparent that the shot didn’t work and Mirembe was pregnant.  So I decided to grin and bear it, and began divvying out the soon to be pups to different Peace Corps volunteers.  I checked on the internet about pre-natal care for dogs.... it included vitamins, massages, and weekly check-ups with the vet, including sonograms. Bah.  None of that exists here, so me and Mirembe made do.  We had bets going at the college as to how many babies were in there.  8-9 weeks went by (63 days is the regular gestational period for a dog) and still no puppies.  I could feel them kicking and moving inside so I wasn’t too worried.  Dogs can carry their babies up to 10 weeks without any issues so I went ahead and let time pass.  At the end of the 9^th week I decided to call my vet in the States (actually my father did this for me).  I gave her the dates for mating and she said wait it out another week.  I was basically a wreck this entire week because I could no longer feel her puppies kicking.  On top of that was the fact that I really didn’t trust the vet here because he did a shoddy job of getting her spade. 

            After 10 weeks went by, I decided that I would get her induced (by the same vet that “spayed” her).  He came to give her the shot and I mentioned that the puppies weren’t moving.  He said, “oh, they are definitely dead so don’t worry about that.”  I was confused as to why they were dead and he simply replied that they were.  He refused to feel her belly to see if they were moving and on top of that he informed me that you can’t hear puppy heart beats in the womb (which is obviously a lie).  He wouldn’t touch her at all because he was so scared of her and ended up sticking her three times before he finally gave her the damn shot.  I was pretty livid by this time and then he had the nerve to ask for payment.  I explained to him that in America if someone spays a dog and it doesn’t work they don’t charge for subsequent shots relating to the birth, or they atleast refund the money from spaying.  He got super angry with me and told me “This is Africa!”  They always say that and it annoys the piss out of me.  So I continued to tell him I wouldn’t pay him and he stormed off on his motorcycle.... really professional.

            Mirembe began bleeding profusely the next day and without internet access and a decent vet I felt totally helpless. I didn’t know if that was normal, if she was okay, if I needed to rush her to Kampala.  I guess although I am living in a third world country, I have not experienced the lack of health care.  We have a 24 hour nurse at Peace Corps disposal and anytime I have any illness, I am quickly sent to Kampala where it is taken care of.  I finally got to experience the fear that must go through a Ugandan womans mind as she begins to give birth or if she has a sick child.   Health care facilities are not available in the village, and even then the doctors are questionable and looking to make money.  So I did the only thing I could do, and had my Dad call our vet in the States and I called the PC nurses.  It ended up that it was totally normal and so Mirembe was finally in labor, but come to find out, the labor inducer he gave her was PFG2.... a labor inducer for cows!! What an idiot! To make a long story short, Mirembe was in labor for around 36 hours (much longer than the average dog is).  I was in constant contact with the vet in the States, via my Dad, who made around 8 calls during her labor.  Each puppy came out and was dead, but Mirembe worked diligently to resuscitate them. (They were all beautiful.  All black with white paws and a tuxedo shirt... just like Mirembe.  And tiny little paws and ears.)  Of course they had been dead inside the womb so there was not much she could do.  I cried for her and she looked at me like she understood my sorrow.  When she finally popped out the 6^th one, a day and a half later she collapsed in exhaustion.  At that point all I cared about was that Mirembe was healthy.  She is laying at my feet right now, in her bed relaxing. 

Though it is very unfortunate that she lost all of her puppies I learned a really interesting lesson about what it is really like to be a Ugandan.  The infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate in Uganda is much higher than that of the first world.  Physicians are far away, they are over-burdened, under-payed, and are usually lacking the appropriate medicines.  It was the most nerve racking thing to know that something was going wrong but there was not someone educated enough to do something about it, and also to know that the knowledge and facilities existed somewhere... but were not accessible to me.  It was also so terrible frustrating that someone who supposedly knew what he was doing had gone SO very wrong multiple times.  So you live and learn.... that we are damn lucky to be living in the first world where health care is a given.... where you can get any medicine you need.... where you have 24 hour physicians who are dedicated and informed... where money can buy any procedure that you want.  Animals in America get better health care than most Ugandans...

(About 6 hours after I wrote this Mirembe gave birth to a seventh puppy.  She is doing good tho...)  A day after I posted this Mirembe gave birth to an eighth puppy!  She is still doing good.