Animal Care in Egypt (ACE)

Felix takes part in Luxor Marathon!

2012-01-27T16:08:00.001+02:00

The runners at the start line.

Ok, maybe not the entire 26miles, butFelix, the orphaned donkey, who now lives at ACE and helps with the educationprogramme, today took part alongside Kim Taylor, ACE Centre Manager in the 5kmkids race at the Luxor Marathon event. This was after some negotiation with thecar park policeman who said that donkeys were not allowed! This was soonresolved and Felix and Kim were soon at the starting line, with the impressive desert mountains andHatchepsut temple providing a unique and stunning back drop.

Felix grateful for a drink.

Also competing as part of Team ACE were Becky Parkes, a UK vet whois at ACE for 6 months and Chris, who is an Australian guest vet at ACE. Bothran the half Marathon and completed the course in 02:08:15 (Becky) and 1:12:36(Chris).

A Jubilant Kim and Felix cross the finish line!

To sum up the event and its unique historic location, Becky and Chris bothsaid at the end 'What a finish, heading up to the Mountain with Hatchepsutwaiting for you'

Becky running towards the finish line

The Team were taking part to raisefunds for much needed isolation facilities at the ACE Centre in Luxor. If youwish to donate then please go to the Teams Just Giving Page - www.justgiving.com/acerun2012

Becky and Chris

Thank you to Becky, Chris, Kim and ofcourse Felix for taking part. I am sure you are all having a well deservedafternoon off! Maybe this has inspired some of you to compete in next years Luxor marathon and raise funds for ACE!?

'Team ACE!'

Keep those exercise New Years Resolutions!!

2012-01-23T02:53:00.004+02:00

JUST WALK for ACE, and not only keep your New Year regime and diet going, but raise very much needed funds and awareness for ACE!

Its a great way to raise money and there are distances to suit all abilities - from 10km to 60km!

Click on the link below for more information.

ACE - Just Walk


The working of animals of Luxor walk for miles everyday often with poorly fitted harnesses and heavy loads. By participating in Just Walk, and walking a few miles for ACE will help us help these animals carry their loads in a bit more comfort.

For those who wish to stay in the comfort of their own sofa's then you can support Becky, Kim and Felix on 27th January 2012. The 'ACE' team are running in various parts of the Egyptian Marathon to raise money for a desperately needed isolation facility. This would allow the hospital to isolate infectious cases, such as 'flu, from other horses and donkeys.

The 'ACE' team encompases:

Felix the donkey- Felix was orphaned, so he was raised at ACE, and is now a permanent resident who helps to teach local children about animal care and the right way to treat your donkey. Felix will be walking the children's 5km (he is only two years old, after all), carrying saddlebags with snacks for the route and leaflets about ACE's work.

Kim Taylor - Kim is the founder of the charity and manager of the ACE centre, and will be accompanying Felix on his walk!

Chris Elliott - Chris is an Australian vet visiting ACE for a month. He was inspired by Felix's dedication and talent on the running track, so has donned his running shoes and will be sprinting to the finish of the Ramesis Run (12km) after only two week's training.

Becky Parkes- Becky is a UK vet who is volunteering alongside the Egyptian vets for six months, and will be running the Luxor Half Marathon.

Click on this link to show support for the ACE team run!

Good luck team ACE...I'll stay here and keep an eye on things.....

ACE Newsletter Winter 2011/2012

2012-01-18T11:28:00.000+02:00

Dear ACE Supporter

Welcome to the latest ACE newsletter. It certainly was an eventful year for the ACE team.

Fortunately ACE has managed to gather enough funds to keep running throughout 2011, but with ongoing financial troubles here in the UK and a reduction in tourism in Egypt, 2012 is looking to be a tough year. As always, we are incredibly thankful to everyone who has supported us throughout 2011, and allowed us to continue our valuable work in Luxor.

Wounds like these, in the photos, are so simply to avoid but sadly an all too common sight. With your help we can educate owners and children on how simple adjustments to harnesses can make a huge difference to the working life of an animal.

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish a Happy New Year to all our supporters. We hope to have your continued support throughout 2012, so that we can continue helping the thousands of working animals of Luxor who use the ACE hospital.

All the best
Kim and the ACE Team

If you haven't purchase one of our ACE Calendar's yet, please contact us, they are now on special offer.

A3 calendars, spiral bound at the top for secure hanging throughout the year. Plenty of space to fill in all your important dates. Beautiful images from Luxor, Egypt for each month.

£8 each + £2 post and packing*
or
3 for £20 + post and packing*

*Post & Packing to one UK address,

a further £2 charge for each additional postal address,

or charged at cost to post to overseas addresses

including Northern Ireland, and Channel Islands

CONTACT US NOW FOR YOUR ACE CALENDAR

Please click here for the link to download our latest newsletter from our website, or download from the link below. Thank you.


Newsletter

	ACE Newsletter (1.09 Mb)- click to download

2012 © ACE Egypt | Powered by BlueBox™

Lucky kitten!

2012-01-10T00:48:00.000+02:00

This littlekitten was lucky enough to be rescued by an Egyptian man who wanted a cat forhis children. When the man had found the kitten, he had a ruptured eyeball which was verypainful and had become severely infected. Concerned for the welfare of the kitten, he bought him straight to ACE to be examined by one of the ACE vets.

The kitten when he first arrived at ACE.

Sadly the eye was so severely damaged, that it was not possible to save it. The kitten was given pain killers and antibiotics,and then underwent an enucleation operation to remove the eye.

Becky Parkes, a volunteer vet from the UK performing surgery on the kitten.

After surgery,he was much more comfortable, as the infected eye was extremely painful, and he was soon running around, climbing things,and demanding fuss and cuddles very noisily!

Little kitten post surgery up on the sofa!

He has now gone home with his newfamily, and is doing very well. He comes for regular routine health checks and he’s growing fast, and is being very welllooked after.

Seasons Greetings

2011-12-19T15:26:00.002+02:00

We would like to wish our supporters a very Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year.

Thank you for all your support in 2011. Without you, the amazing work that ACE does in Luxor cannot be done.

We look forward to your continued support in 2012.

Buffalo wound

2011-12-15T19:52:00.000+02:00

This donkey came in after being attacked by a buffalo on thefarm where he is kept. The Buffalo caused severe damage with its horn.

As you can see, he sustained a nasty wound to histhigh and perineal region (the bit just below the tail and around his bottom).

Thankfully his owner had brought him straight to ACE, so the wound was fresh and the ACE vets were able to thoroughly clean it and suture it. Due to the location of the wound, we also had to place a drain to allow any build up of fluid to escape, and pack some swabs into the top of the wound to prevent faeces from contaminating it.

The wound all cleaned up and sutured. The white object is the drain.

As the flap of skin involved was facing 'upwards', the blood supply to it was poor; we knew that eventually part of it would die and have to be removed, but in the meantime it acted as a good natural 'bandage' which protected the underlying structures.

His better side!!!

After several weeks of flushing, applying honey and dressing changes, the donkey was able to be sent home. All the deeper tissues have healed, and there is now just a small superficial wound which will heal over with a little bit of time.

A Ray of Hope

2011-12-09T14:04:00.001+02:00

In Luxor you often see many dogs running around the streets needinga good home. We would like to tell you about 4 men (Ahmed, Khaild, Abdo M and Abdo H)and a wonderful lady called Maria Woodyatt who has written the following story.

"The men work guarding a building site inLuxor. Whilst working in the streets helping the animals inLuxor I came across two dogs called Bushka and Tushka. I began workingwith the four men who owned them guiding them on how to meet all of their dogsneeds. Ahmed agreed for me totake Bushka to ACE to be spayed which is unusual for an Egyptian to agreeto due to their culture. Bushka has thrived since the operation and shehas put on weight and is enjoying her freedom from having endless litters ofpup's.

Ahmed with Tushka

Ahmed, also has rescued dogs from the streets who were in desperate need. One being Cheron who was a small puppy wondering past the building site. Ahmedrealised he was lost and managed to get Tushka to accept him as one of herpuppies and together they nursed him to health. Cheron is now a hugeboy, who loves lots of play and cuddles.

Abdo and Cheron having a well earned lie down!!!

Recently Ahmed saw another dogwalking past with an awful eye injury which we think was sustained fromfighting with another dog. Ahmed rang me in England to tell me and I wasthen able to contact the vets at ACE who were able to operate saving Rex's eyewhilst neutering him at the same time. Rex now lives with Buhska, Tushkaand Cheron on the building site.

Rex looking pleased after wolfing down his dinner!!!

Comparedto life of many English dogs, Bushka, Tushka and Cheron may appear to have primitivelife, sleeping in the sand but I can assure you that these 4 men are wonderfulowners. They ensure the dogs have fresh food and water every day, theyuse all of the flea and worming treatments, collars and leads they are given, they regularly shower them especially during the summer to keep them cooland most importantly they love and respect their dogs.

I would like to thank ACE for all of their support and medical treatment theyhave given to these beautiful dogs and to Julie Clarke (a long term ACEvolunteer and supporter) who regularly checks on them taking bags of dogsbiscuits but most importantly a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the men for givingthese 3 very lucky dogs a good home and being an inspiration and role model toother Egyptians. "

Abdo and Ahmed feeding Bushka and Rex

ACE would also like to thank Maria for all her hard work raising funds for ACE and also for her tremendous work with the owners of numerous animals in Luxor, helping them help their animals. Thank you Maria - you are one in a million!

Car accident

2011-11-25T11:58:00.001+02:00

This mare was rushed to the hospital as an out of hours emergency a few weeks ago, after sustaining an injury during a car accident. She had a huge wound between her leg and chest wall. There are lots of vital arteries and nerves near to the wound and this mare was extremely lucky not to have sustained any injury to these.

The wound when the mare first arrived at the hospital.

The area was cleaned and she was admitted for antibiotics and pain relief. The wound has had to be cleaned every day and we have been using honey on the wound.

A very difficult place to keep a bandage on a horse! Luckily the patient is very compliant.

The wound a few weeks afterwards, healing well.

Thanks to all our supporters who have helped, by either donating money to keep ACE running or by donating bandaging materials. Your help ensures working animals like this mare have somewhere to go to get important veterinary attention.

In the wars!

2011-11-17T18:15:00.001+02:00

'Jenny' was admitted after being attacked by an entire male donkey. She sustained wounds to her face, her right fore and right hind limbs. We x-rayed her skull, her elbow and stifle (the joint above the hock on the back leg) and luckily for her she sustained no fractures.

The soft tissue where she was bitten were extremely swollen and infected and the swelling was compressing on some of her nerves (the radial nerve and facial nerve). Compression of the radial nerve left her unable to extend her right fore leg whilst compression of the facial nerve meant she was unable to shut her eye on the left hand side. As she was unable to blink (which is essential in keeping the eye surface healthy by lubricating it with tears) she developed a corneal ulcer on the surface of her eye.

She was hopsitalised is in the hospital now still receiving pain relief and anti-biotics and having eye drops every hour. Drains have been placed in her leg to allow any pus to drain helping prevent further infection of deeper tissues.

As the swelling has gone down in the leg the nerves are no longer compressed and she is able to mover her right fore leg a little. The wounds on her right fore are still discharging but the drains are doing their job. Her blink is slowly returning and we hope that the ulcer in her eye will heal quickly.

Thank you to Jo Goliszek who is a vet currenlty volunteering at ACE for providing the words and pictures of this story. And for looking after 'Jenny' of course!

Thank you!

2011-11-15T16:31:00.001+02:00

ACE woul dlike to say thank you to Pen Llyn Lusitano Centre for organising a fundraiser for ACE and raising £600! A great effort thank you!

Beyonce and William

2011-11-07T23:01:00.000+02:00

Beyonce (right) and William (left) eating some alfalfa in the ACE paddocks

Beyonce is a 4 month old foal who was aptly named after the famous singer. When she arrived at the ACE hospital she had a rather curvaceous bottom as a result of an abscess in her buttock (ouch!). The abscess was caused by an injection being administered elsewhere in the buttock, which had become infected. The abscess wascut open to allow it to drain and also flushed out daily until it began to heal. While she was here,Beyonce became very good friends with another little foal called William, who hada urinary tract infection. Both Beyonce and Willy have now fully recovered andgone home with their owners.

Beyonce with her owner ready to take her home.

Nasty wound

2011-11-01T16:42:00.001+02:00

This horse came in with a very large chest wound after being involved in an accident. However, when the horse arrived at ACE the wound was a few days old and had been sutured elsewhere with string! Needless to say, when the horse arrived the area was incredibly swollen and infected, with a lot of dead skin, as the blood supply had been damaged. Our ACE vets got to work immediately and had to remove all the necrotic tissue and leave ‘an open wound’ to heal. The horse was hospitalised and received antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
Pictured below is Jonathon Dixon, a British volunteer vet visiting ACE, debriding the wound, ensuring only healthy viable tissue remains.
This is the wound after only a couple of weeks!!

Rossdales Charity Bike Ride raises £10,000 for ACE

2011-10-09T00:20:00.001+02:00

Martin Clunes, popular TV actor and Patron of ACE visited Rossdales Equine Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Exning on 5th October to receive a cheque for £10,000 on behalf of ACE from the members of the Rossdales Charity Bike Ride team.

Fred Barrelet, Martin Clunes and Marcus the Pony!

During the bike ride, 71 cyclists, comprising Rossdales staff, friends, family and clients, rode either a 100 mile or 25 mile route. Each mile cycled contributed to the team's original collective goal of 2,500 miles, the distance from Rossdales Equine Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Exning to ACE's clinic in Luxor, Egypt. In the event, they cycled a collective total distance of 4,100 miles – the distance to ACE’s clinic and two thirds of the way back!

The 100 mile team at the Start

The inspiration for the bike ride, held as a part of Team Green Bike Week 2011, was Paul Dewey, who is the partner of Rossdales’ radiographer Josie Meehan. Paul was treated successfully for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at Addenbrookes last year and he was amongst the cyclists who completed the 100 mile route.

25 milers pose for a photo

Paul Dewey and Detlef Gerdes

Adam Mehan - 25 miles dressed as a donkey!

The Rossdales grand overall fundraising total was £20,000 which was split equally between two charities close to Rossdales heart. Vet Lorna Brokenshire-Dyke, chair of the Bike Ride Committee, said after the event: "Our choice of charities was easy; we wanted to show gratitude to the team who helped Paul through his long treatment and we also wanted to support ACE, a charity with which we already have strong links, and which has had a particularly difficult year with the recent political turmoil in Egypt. Originally we had only a handful of people planning to cycle but with the generous spirit of our

colleagues, friends and families at Rossdales, the event soon grew, along with the fundraising.”

Following a tour of the equine hospital and diagnostic centre, Martin, who owns 14 horses, and recently presented the ITV series ‘Horsepower’, said: “ACE is a small charity of which I am Patron and it does a fantastic job in providing free veterinary treatment and care for working horses and donkeys in Luxor. ACE’s education programme is superb, teaching children and the animals’ owners that they should respect and care for their animals. It’s tremendous that the Rossdales team has raised so much money – it will make a huge difference to ACE, which needs every penny to continue its valuable work – thank you so much.” Sue Akehurst supported Martin’s sentiments, saying: “We are delighted to be receiving this cheque from the Rossdales bike ride team. ACE is totally reliant on generous donations and this will make a great difference to what we can do and how many animals we can reach, as well as providing much needed resources to further our education programme, which is so important for current and future generations”.

Team heading off along the coastal road

The team members cycled across Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. The Fenland Villages 25 mile route explored much of the new Lodes Way and visited Burwell, Lode, Bottisham, The Swaffhams and Reach. The Coast, Forest and Fen route took the team a gruelling 100 miles along the North Norfolk Coast from Sheringham, to Hunstanton and back down through the Norfolk countryside before finishing at the hospital in Exning. The emergency on-call team of vets, nurses and students helped build up 100 miles for the team by cycling in relay on static bikes based at the equine hospital.

Paul Dewey, Martin Clunes, Annalisa Barrelet, Sue Akehurst

Rossdales partner Fred Barrelet said: "We were delighted to welcome Martin, Sue and Lorraine to Rossdales today to receive the cheques. This is an excellent achievement by everyone involved from our practice and the funds raised will provide a great boost to the excellent work of the two charities. Thank you to everyone who has helped us to raise this magnificent amount of money - all cyclists, supporters, organisers, everyone who has sponsored us or made a donation, bought raffle tickets or contributed prizes to the raffle and auction, and of course to the members of the Bike Ride Committee."

Sue Winter, Rosie being met by Lynn Beach from Rossdales

Rob & Erin Clay meeting Rosie!

Midnight

After the bike ride, Rossdales held a fun evening including a raffle to raise further funds. There were two special guests in attendence, Midnight and Rosie who were kindly brought along by Sue Winter. Annalisa said "Midnight & Rosie were impeccably behaved, everyone was so enchanted with them and they helped to make the evening that little bit more special, as they represented the thousands of donkeys in Egypt which this money will be directly helping".

Midnight making a new little friend!

Rossdales

Rossdales is an internationally renowned equine veterinary practice in Newmarket providing first opinion, emergency and referral services to clients via their ambulatory practice, state of the art equine hospital and diagnostic centre and laboratory.

For more than 50 years, Rossdales reputation as a world leader in equine veterinary healthcare has been built on expertise, the provision of innovative and specialised treatments, and its commitment to providing an always-available quality service.

In 2010, Rossdales committed to send to the ACE clinic for 10 days each year a team of one veterinary surgeon and one veterinary nurse to work alongside the charity’s own professional staff and volunteers, providing free veterinary care to working horses and donkeys.

Rossdales veterinary surgeon Pat Sells, who was a member of the Bike Ride committee and himself cycled 100 miles, has very cleverly put together an excellent short film charting the day's events. Watch it by clicking on the link ... http://vimeo.com/25907450

Cambridge Evening News website video clip

Rossdales Commitment to Equids in the Developing World

See Rossdales Facebook page for our photo gallery of the bike ride

See ACE Facebook page for lots more news and pictures of the work ACE does

You can read more about the Bike Ride through the following links:

http://www.rossdales.com/news/rossdales-bike-ride-raises-more-than-16k-for-charity.htm

http://www.rossdales.com/news/rossdales-charity-bike-ride-team-ready-to-go.htm

Lizzie runs Half Marathon in loving memory of her beloved horse "ACE"

2011-09-26T03:58:00.000+02:00

Lizzie is a nurse that works in a busy Intensive Care Unit, and she is running a half marathon in September.

Lizzie & ACE - fond memories

Lizzie says:

"I wish to raise money for ACE by completing this run. The reason I chose your charity is because of my own horse, whom I had named ACE.

Sadly I had to have him put down last September, after owning him for 17 years, and I want to remember him by raising money for the poor animals that you care for."

Please show your support for Lizzie and "ACE" by donating to her fund here:

http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/elizabethgunton

THANK YOU LIZZIE WE WILL BE ROOTING FOR YOU WHILE YOU RUN

Help always comes when you need it the most ...

2011-09-14T03:55:00.001+02:00

At ACE we always seem to get help when we need it most, and this month it arrived in the shape of a wonderful, gifted lady called Kath.

Kath lives in Luxor and has an industrial sewing machine she wanted to sell - ACE needed one, as we have a lot of heavy duty fabric that often needs repairs, so we decided to buy it from her.

When the sewing machine arrived, Kath came in for an hour to show us how it worked. It was her first visit to ACE and she immediately loved the place, and the work that we do. We were able to show her some of the saddle sore problems we face on a daily basis and how easy it would be to prevent these with 'doughnut rings' for the donkeys.

To our delight Kath offered to come in and make these cushions for us!

She is now at ACE two mornings every week in making cushions for needy patients. The material and cotton stuffing is cheap, and the labour costs nothing as it is all done with love!

This is Kath's first patient who presented to us with huge sores on each side of his body. The sores were being treated and dressed, but as the problem causing tack was goign straight back on, the healing process was incredibly slow. Kath made two cushions for him that were stitched together at the top.

Here you can see how the ring sits perfectly over the dressed sore to raise the tack off the wound. The sore is now healing beautifully and is nearly gone.

Thanks to Kath we are now able to put ACE's preventative approach to animal care in to even more practise!

A Report from Volunteer AMANDA HORAN

2011-07-08T10:55:00.000+02:00

I been visiting Luxor for 6 years but it was only last year while eating in a restaurant I noticed the ACE leaflet on our table. I picked it up, read through it and was heartened by what they were doing to help the work animals of Luxor.
The same year I started my degree in veterinary nursing. After the first year we were required to complete 6 weeks work placement. I knew this would be a perfect opportunity give some of that time to ACE. I visited the website and was delighted to see that they accepted students. I contacted Kim to make the arrangements and the rest as they say, is history!
My days at Ace usually went something like this:
The day would start at 8AM in the in-patient clinic where myself, Catherine (a volunteer vet from the U.K), Assma and Hanna would prepare all medication required for the morning. Then we would do the morning rounds. This involved taking the temperature, pulse and respiration of the animals and also checking if they had eaten and drank. They also receive their medication. After this we would meet back in the clinic and discuss each patient and what care they needed that day.
Then it’s time to start showering! The animals get showered daily. It helps to keep them cool and removes any sand and dust. Bandages are also changed at this time. Any horses that need exercise are taken for walks. While all this is happening Dr David treated the emergencies and large animals in the front clinic. He would see up to 200 animals every morning!
At 12 o clock it’s time for lunch and a chance to rest our sweaty, weary bones!
At 1 c o clock we would join David in the outside clinic. The temperature at the time I visited was very high so we saw allot of dehydration induced colic. We also saw allot of strangles and lameness as the animals sometimes have to carry heavy loads for long periods.
At 4pm we would return to the in-patient clinic and get the medication ready for the evening. We would then do the rounds again administering the medication and checking that all the patients were content.
At 5pm its time to close the gates and get some rest so we can do it all again the next day!
I had an incredible time at ACE and the experience I gained is priceless. I’ve seen and learned to treat cases that I will never see at home. Everything I’ve learned will no doubt help me in my studies.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at ACE who made my experience what it was. Especially the stable hands, without them I would still be trying to get a certain stubborn donkey out of his stable!!
I hope to see you all again soon!
Amanda

In Tribute to Rita

2011-06-20T22:58:00.020+02:00

Rita - A very special and loyal companion - RIP 13 June 2011

Kim and Rita found each other when Rita was approximately 6 months old. As a young dog, Rita was very protective over her food, she would slowly lick her milk, whilst lying down with one paw either side of the bowl, and her nose resting on the far edge. The same when she was eating her biscuits. However, she would never rush her food, savouring each biscuit in turn, resulting in it taking her 20 minutes or more to finish! However, if anyone got too close, a deep rumble would soon warn human or animal that it was her food and she wasn't going to share!

When Rita was small she used to sit under Kim's desk, or next to her on the seat, and that is where she always wanted and longed to be all her life - next to her Mum, and watching over her, but also where she felt safe and secure too. As Rita grew, when tourists came to visit ACE, Kim had to move her as she could be a bit too protective! But Kim always sneaked her back whenever she could!

Rita immediately took on the role of chief security officer. Of a night time, Rita and the ACE night watchman would keep watch together. He would rest for some of the night, knowing that without a doubt that Rita would alert him to anything unusual whereupon they would inspect it together. In the day, she was most unhappy - and very audible when people came in the ACE gate without an animal! She somehow knew that that was wrong!

Rita has had many friends and fans over the years, from the volunteers who helped at ACE to animals that needed to be "shown the ACE ropes". Rita always took her role very seriously. Jacks was one of the first, another dog who helped Rita in her duties. Numerous cats, not all of whom Rita took to, and not all took to her! However, she always knew to keep an eye on them when they were kittens or ill.

Rita was a lady and rarely liked to play. Her role as chief security officer was too serious a task! So when her most recent companion, Sole, arrived it was a bit of a shock. Sole is a 3 legged teenager who has boundless energy and is always looking for a new source of fun. Rita would generally watch from afar as Sole got in and out of buckets of water, dug his mud holes to wallow in - and generally looked disdainfully at him the muddier and the wetter he got! But they were still good friends - just with different priorities in life!

Rita loved her morning walks. Since being at the new ACE centre Rita would welcome all volunteers who stayed at the centre. Zofia was at ACE volunteering with us for a whole year, and Rita would always keep her company. At times there were no other volunteers staying at ACE, and Rita would do her best to cuddle up beside her (or anyone!) on the settee of an evening. If Zofia didn't shut her bedroom door properly, Rita would push it open at 4am and jump on her bed and bark to wake her up! She was always certainly more ready than Zof was for their morning walk!

Rita has been with Kim through all the trials and tribulations over the past 11 years. Rita had the best life and she will be remembered by many for lots of different things. Mr Sabry, the ACE accountant for when she chased him and ripped his trousers! The vets, staff and volunteers for her constant attention to security, and keenness for walks! But of course Rita will always be remembered the most by Kim, for her unconditional love, adoration and companionship.

Rita was there waiting for Kim when she got back after her recent heart surgery. She was so happy to see Kim after such a long time away, and as soon as she saw her came leaping in the air. Just before Kim went to England in May this year, she took Rita for a long walk. As there was no one around, Kim let her off the lead, but Rita soon found and chased a fox for miles, when she had finished, she then came back to her Mum exhausted, but with a happy smile.

We all, but especially Kim were deeply saddened to find that Rita was suffering from spleen cancer. As the final act of love, that we humans can make to our animal companions, Kim made the horrible decision that all pet owners dread will come one day, and said an extremely sad goodbye to Rita on 13 June 2011.

Kim says: "Rita was always there to help me feel better when I cried, and I have cried a lot over the years. There are millions of dogs in Egypt who have a miserable life, and you cannot help them all, but if you can help just one have a healthy happy life it will be one of the most rewarding things you have ever done."

If you would like to send your condolences to Kim and them to be posted (if you like) on this page, or if you have your own pictures and memories of Rita to share, then please send them to rita@ace-egypt.org.uk or post them to us at our normal address. Kim will read all letters and emails. Thank you.

Rossdales Vets & Staff cycle from Exning Clinic to ACE in Luxor!

2011-05-22T19:00:00.000+02:00

Rossdales to Host Charity Bike Ride

On Sunday 26th June 2011, Rossdales will be hosting a charity bike ride with the aim of fundraising £2,500 for ACE!

The team members, comprising of Rossdales employees, family and friends, will each be cycling either 25 miles, or 100 miles. Each mile cycled will be vital to our collective goal of 2,500 miles, the distance from the Rossdale Veterinary clinic to ACE's clinic in Luxor, Egypt!

Rossdale's would like you all to follow the progress and build up to the event on their FaceBook page. If you would like to sponsor the team, please visit their donations page. Every donation, no matter how large or small, is greatly appreciated and will help them achieve their target.

The bike ride is being run as a part of Team Great Britain Bike Week (18-26 June 2011) a national celebration of cycling.

GUVMA Raise £1,000 for ACE in one night!

2011-05-15T00:06:00.000+02:00

GUVMA presenting cheque to Patrick Pollock ACE Trustee

Patrick Pollock, Veterinary Director of Animal Care in Egypt (ACE) and senior lecturer in Equine Surgery at the School of Medicine in Glasgow was delighted to accept a cheque on behalf of ACE for £1000 raised by GUVMA (Glasgow University Medical Association) at a recent race night organised by the students.

In recent years a number of students and staff from Glasgow have sepnt time at the ACE clinic in Luxor which provides veterinary care to over 100 working horses, donkeys and mules per day.

ACE particularly need help at this time due to the ongoing political unrest in Egypt which has led to increased poverty for the human population which had a knock on effect on the welfare of their hard working animals.

Speaking on behalf of ACE, Patrick said that the support of The Veterinary School, both financially and through many staff and student volunteers who visit ACE each year, was critical in improving the welfare and raising awareness of working equids.

A big thank you to GUVMA from ACE and the animals which we help EVERY day.

Boukeline - Vet from Holland helps ACE with funds and by volunteering

2011-05-09T08:33:00.000+02:00

Boukeline has come to help us for the next two months. Before her visit she was fundraising hard, and raised a tremendous amount. Thank you Boukeline.

Here is her account of her fundrasing day:

"On a chilly day in February somewhere in Holland it was the start of an exciting day. Today was the day of the ‘benefietborrel” which is Dutch for fundraising party.

My departure to Luxor is in April, I’m going to volunteer with ACE for two months, however, I wanted to do something more which is why I decided to organise a fundraising event.

Local newspapers featured 3 articles about ACE and the fundraising event, with the inconvenient result that I had absolutely no idea how many people would come to the party!

There could be five, twenty or a hundred? It was difficult to predict! At two o’clock there were only two ladies and all the volunteers, and the volunteers were getting quite nervous!

But half an hour later we saw that the articles had had results, and the room was getting fuller and fuller. Kick-off start!!

I opened the event with a welcome speech. I tried to make the audience understand why it is important to support these kind of actions and why we need to help suffering animals. Then two lovely girls, both were volunteers for ACE last summer, Nikki and Merel, told everyone about their experience and the work of ACE. They showed slides of the hospital, the animals and the people who are working for ACE. They talked about the most common injuries and diseases, as well as the very important role that ACE provide, in education about animal welfare.

After this performance those present were impressed by the information and images, so it was about time for two other activities. One thing was a seventies dance, called ‘lollipop'. That was great fun, everybody young and old joined the group. With the exception of most of the boys, they escaped to another room where a course in cartoon drawing was planned! This course was a very instructive and animated the brand new students, and they managed to draw some beautiful things.

Unfortunately time was ticking and still so much to do! Drinks and cookies were sold very enthusiastically, as were the tickets for the big raffle.

The prizes were donated by all the small shops of our village. I’m still very thankful for all of this generosity. We sold so many tickets!

All afternoon the activities were accompanied by some very sweet and beautiful guitar music. The day was a great success, at the end we had collected 2,000 Euros!!! All those people together created this and I am very happy for this!

Next week I am off for Luxor and I’m looking forward to working with the animals and all the people about whom I have already heard some great stories .. "

JUST WALK - Yes that is all you have to do!!!

2011-03-30T02:45:00.001+02:00

JUST WALK FOR ACE

7^th May 2011

This challenge is for anyone who is prepared to get their walking boots on and hike for charity - you can choose either 10km, 20km, 40km or 60km routes - so something for everybody. This walk offers YOU, our enthusiastic walking supporters the chance to experience a breathtaking walk over the picturesque South Downs in West Sussex and generate much needed funds for Animal Care in Egypt.

Are you coming to join us?

Our 2010 - 10k team!

You could RUN it!

2 of our 2010 - 40K'ers having a little rest!

Or do it 3-legged with a friend!

Or in fancy dress?

Or skipping!

Or challenge someone to a race!

			It is time to get fit for the summer .... what better way than in this beautiful countryside for a fantastic cause ...
2010 - 40K'ers - Then back to it!

2010 - A fantastic spread and well earned food for the long distances!

2010 - 40K'ers HOORAY - Some might be in odd socks, and no shoes - but they made it ! :D

Last year was a fantastic day, and we would love to get even more people involved this year. You must register with us soon, so please contact us if you would like to come and join us in this fun event. info@ace-egypt.org.uk

Huge Thank-you

2011-03-18T15:43:00.000+02:00

Thank-you to Neil and Jon who every year struggle doing any kind of work so that they can spend one month a year volunteering with a charity. We are so happy that this year they chose ACE to help, sadly they picked the time of revolution to come but this did not deter them. Thankfully Rita, Sole and Felix new nothing of the revolt and continued to have their daily walks and grooming.

We hope you will both be able to come back to ACE again.

ACE FULL BLAST Again!

2011-02-17T18:29:00.001+02:00

Due to the state enforced curfew in Egypt, we had to limit the hours our vets were at ACE, which meant we needed to limit our work to just the emergency cases. But we were able to maintain 24 hour emergency care. Now that the unrest in Egypt is over, the ACE centre has re-opened to all cases, and is back to FULL BLAST!!

We are sure you will all recognise Betty! She is doing well, and has just had a lovely cool shower!

So far ACE is as busy as ever, with the local vets reporting that they are seeing as many new animals to treat every morning as used to be seen in a whole day!

This poor foal had a penetrating wound to his eye, we were left with no choice but to remove his eye. However he is now doing very well and will be going home soon with a lovely new headcollar which our kind supporters have donated.

ACE is under pressure as many of the normal lines of supply have not yet been re-established following the major upheaval

across the country.

However, as ever ACE turns no-one or their animals away.

We would like to give a huge thank you to Mike and Nik of Mike Daines photography for very kindly donating lots of fantastic photographs from the time when Martin Clunes - our Patron, visited us at the beginning of the year.

ACE's Patron - Martin Clunes with some of the ACE staff.

You will see plenty of their amazing shots over the coming months. Thank you Mike and Nik.

Please help us now to ensure we can maintain our high standards of care over these troubling and difficult times to come.

Donate now ... Just click here.

THANK YOU

We need your help to save ACE

2011-02-03T05:13:00.002+02:00

Dear Supporters

At the beginning of the year, we were delighted to welcome Martin Clunes, to Luxor as the first Patron of ACE. We are excited to welcome Martin to our charity, and honoured that he has chosen to support ACE.

Sadly, just a few weeks on, we are extremely concerned about the situation all over Egypt, and the knock on effect it will undoubtedly have on the hard working animals of the region.

Martin has kindly written this personal appeal to you, as one of our supporters:

"Since I visited the ACE centre recently with my family, I have followed the great work of the hospital with interest and admiration. The events that have unfolded in Egypt over the last week will put even more pressure on the hard working animals in the Luxor area, making the work of ACE all the more critical. I have been in contact with the ACE team, who have already started planning a response for the days, weeks and months that lie ahead. Please put your weight behind this wonderful charity and support these poor animals, who need our help, now, more than ever.

Martin Clunes
Patron of ACE"

Below is an emergency bulletin on the current situation at ACE in Luxor. We cannot thank you enough for all that you do for us, we appreciate it, and hope that you are able to continue to help us at this time of great need.

Please also, pass on this appeal to friends, and family members. Perhaps you could hold a collection at work? Arrange a quiz evening? Or bake sale?

Anything that you can do to help us raise these much-needed extra funds will help. Every single pound counts.

Thank you all.

Kim

P.S. “Hello” magazine, which is out now, has a full report and plenty of pictures from Martin’s visit to us in Luxor.

__________________________________________________________

PREPARE AND PROTECT

ACE GETS READY FOR THE ONSLAUGHT

Animals safe in the peace and safety of ACE just a short while ago

Donkeys scavenging for food wherever they can

The ACE clinic is already stretched dealing with over 100 new cases per day, can you help us be as prepared as possible for what is to come?

ACE believes that animals and humans are inextricably linked – in Egypt the survival of one often depends on the survival of the other.

It is vital for the welfare of both to protect animals in times of crisis.

People and animals are inextricably linked

People affected by poverty are most vulnerable to disasters such as that affecting Egypt at the moment, they frequently lack the skills, knowledge and resources to rescue or protect their animals.

The staff at the ACE centre have the expertise and local knowledge to get help to these animals. In the aftermath of the unrest in Egypt, it is more than likely that there will be an influx of animals which have inevitably been caught up in the troubles.

ACE has already begun to prepare for this, but we can’t do it alone, additional funds are needed for drugs, dressings and feed, to name but a few of the essentials.

Please click here to donate to us now.
or
alternatively click HERE
THANK YOU

Emergency situation developing in Egypt

2011-01-30T16:09:00.000+02:00

We are sure that as supporters of ACE, you have watched, with growing dread, the events in Egypt. Sadly the ACE centre has not been immune from the unrest, and this morning we have taken the decision to temporarily close the centre, a skeletal staff will maintain a service for critical cases and animals caught up in the current situation, however, our UK volunteers are being evacuated.

In the days and weeks ahead the service that ACE provides will be more important than ever for the hard-working animals and the people of Egypt. ACE's team will continue to provide emergency care for as long as the situation allows and prepare to care for animals in the aftermath of these troubles which will no doubt come.

For this reason we are appealing to all the friends of ACE to dig deep and continue to support us through this difficult time. We will strive to keep you updated on the developments at ACE in Luxor.

Click here to donate to this appeal. THANK YOU.

"Wolves" story in Luxor

2011-01-24T10:02:00.009+02:00

There have been reports on Facebook this past week regarding a family of wolves (a mother and cubs) terrorising the locals and their livestock in Karnak. This sparked a massive Facebook/publicity campaign to save these wolves. As a result, ACE was asked to investigate the area and to assess the situation.

Below is a statement from Kim Taylor, ACE Centre Manager in Luxor.

***
WARNING DISTRESSING PICTURES FOLLOWING
***

"I would like to fill you all in with the actual facts on the so called 'wolf problem in Luxor' ...

We became aware of the problem on Wednesday 12 January 2011 and were able to visit the abandoned hotel site on 14 January 2011.

We found the corpse of one domestic canine (dog) and one wild fox only.

We searched the whole grounds with a professional tracker from the UK, but found absolutely no sign at all of any other animals. It is highly unlikely wolves would inhabit this area as it is in close proximity to humans. Also, there are no reported sightings of wolves in Upper Egypt, but occasionally sightings of jackals have been reported.

The government veterinary services had been called to 'deal' with the problem and we believe strychnine poisoning was left around the site at least some 10 days before hand.

The local council in Luxor usually deals with the stray dog population in this way.

On the 22 January 2011, we had a meeting with the Luxor Veterinary Services and the result was that they will call ACE prior to dealing with any 'problem animals', in the hope that matters will be resolved in a humane way in the future.

Kind Regards

Kim Taylor

Enc photos of the dog and fox"

Dog as found


Fox as found

Donkey and Cart

2010-12-03T00:38:00.000+02:00

Facial Wound

This donkey arrived at ACE as an emergency one Friday. The worried owner told us that he had been pulling a cart alongside a deep drainage ditch when one of the cart wheels went into the ditch and the cart and the donkey tipped over, and slid down the bank. He brought his donkey straight to us and we were able to asssess the injuries. Luckily apart from a few superficial wounds the majority of the donkey had escaped unscathed. However, the left side of his face had a large deep wound which was going to need treatment. It was very swollen and obviously painful and there were signs of facial nerve damage.

Swollen & showing signs of facial nerve damage

After giving the donkey pain relief and some tetanus anti-toxin, we administered an anaesthetic so we could better assess the wound. The wound was very deep and had cut through both skin and muscles almost down to the bone. Because the owner had brought his donkey to us so quickly, the wound was fresh enough, so we had a chance of closing it up successfully, even though his face was so swollen.

Huge damage to muscles & underlying structures

Pulling the muscles together in the correct place took a long time, but finally they were all back where they should be. There wasn't enough skin to cover all of the wound, so we closed it over the top half of the wound to cover it, and left the bottom open. This did have the benefit of letting the fluid drain by gravity.

Facial wound after stitching up

The donkey stayed in the hospital on antibiotics and pain relief and we monitored his wound closely. The area that was stitched healed very well and the area we left open has started to heal. The nerve damage has improved but not quite fully gone, sometimes making it harder for the donkey to pick up food. However, he seems to have adapted well and munches through his food happily here in the hospital. The owner is desperate to have his donkey back and we have agreed that he can pick him up very soon.

Facial wound healing well

WANTED !!!

2010-10-26T15:32:00.000+02:00

6 Month Vet

We are looking for a vet to volunteer at ACE for 6 months from 1st March - 31st August 2011.

The ideal candidate will have 3+ years small animal experience with some equine experience also.

The position is at the ACE hospital in Luxor working alongside 3 Egyptian vets. We are looking for someone to help develop the small animal side of the clinic. The caseload will be predominantly medical with a moderate surgical caseload (mainly neutering but also limb amputation, enucleations, wound debriding etc).

If you are interested, please follow this link for further details about our work on our website and for application details. Where you can also see, in the For Professionals section, far more about our work from a veterinary view point.

Welcome to Two New Volunteers!

2010-10-19T04:12:00.000+02:00

We would like to welcome two of our newest volunteers at ACE - Ilona, and Maddie.

Ilona is pictured here with Felix!

Ilona has just graduated from Cambridge in the UK and is working here for two and a half months in the hospital before starting her new job in Australia.

Maddie is pictured here with one of her freshly bathed new friends!

Maddie has taken a month off work to come and volunteer around the equine hospital, and is currently responsible for keeping all our inpatients showered, groomed, and exercised as well as taking on the daunting task of teaching our resident donkey Felix to pull a cart!

Before they came to Luxor, they undertook an amazing amount of fundraising for ACE, raising £1,330 via Just Giving by arranging a sponsored walk/ride across the South downs.

http://www.justgiving.com/animalcareinegypt

Maddie & Ilona with some new friends!

This money will be an amazing help to all the animals here and a large amount towards our isolation block which is our next big project at the hospital. We would like to thank them and all the people who have sponsored them, on behalf of ACE and all the horses and donkeys here in Luxor who will benefit.

Heidi returns home!

2010-10-05T22:46:00.001+02:00

Just a quick update to let you all know that Heidi Habibi has now returned to her owner. She was strong and healthy enough to leave the hospital, and had been weaned off from her milk. We were sad to see her go but it is nice to see her go to a caring home.

Her owner was so proud of her, and made sure we all said our goodbyes!! We hope to see her in the washing bays cooling off in the future!!

We would like to thank everyone who came to visit Heidi and we apologise to those who missed her! Also a big thank you to everyone who helped feed her by donating to ACE.

A sore little donkey

2010-09-29T16:34:00.001+03:00

This little donkey arrived at ACE looking very woebegone with a large sore as a result of tack rubbing across the middle of his back and was also unable to bear any weight on his hind limb.

The wound on his back was fortunately quite fresh and the wound has responded really well to daily cleaning and application of honey soaked dressings. He has now been at ACE for 10 days and the wound is a quarter of its original size.

Less fortunately, on investigating his hind limb lameness, we found a large hole in his hoof, just above the heel. After inserting a sterile probe and taking an x-ray picture, we indentified a large tract extending from the heel to the toe. This tract has been flushed daily and appears
to be starting to heal, with him now walking almost normally and enjoying daily exercise and a good roll in the ACE paddocks.

BUPA Great North Run 2010

2010-09-21T04:32:00.002+03:00

HUGE THANKS TO HELEN HERINCKX FOR RUNNING THE GREAT NORTH RUN FOR ACE!
Please support Helen for doing this momentous challenge for ACE .....

http://www.justgiving.com/helen-the-vet2
Why did I doing this run??
I was inspired to run for charity this year for several reasons.

Many of my friends and their children have raised money for many worthy causes over the past years and I felt it was time I made a more personal contribution.

Having reached the lovely age of 50 last year I realised I was becoming complacent with my level of health and fitness - so incredibly easy to take for granted. So I took up the challenge of doing my first half marathon, The Great North Run on September 19th.

Training started several months ago and even I can't believe how far I have progressed from my first 10 minute run which left me unable to walk the next day through to my last 10 mile run which left me glowing. Even my children couldn't believe that I had spent the last 105 minutes running (they thought I had gone shopping!).

I am privileged to work as a small animal vet, and as such I am aware of how important animals are in our society, bringing not only joy and companionship to their owners but also providing important services to less able members of our community, and so I chose to raise money for Animal Care in Egypt

I hope to be fortunate enough to run again next year.

A huge thank you to all my friends and supporters, especially my clients and the staff at Haughley and Thurston Veterinary Centres for their generous support.

With love
Helen

http://www.justgiving.com/helen-the-vet2

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RUN THE GREAT NORTH RUN NEXT YEAR, OR ANY OF THE MARATHONS PLEASE CONTACT MICHELLE FOR FURTHER DETAILS. supporter@ace-egypt.org.uk

________________________________________________________________

JUST GIVING
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity

Little Heidi Habibi

2010-09-15T20:42:00.000+03:00

We've had a new arrival at ACE causing a bit of a stir - in the form of Heidi Habibi, a little 4 week old orphaned baby donkey.

The owner brought her to the centre as her mother had died, and he was unable to care for her properly. We agreed to keep her at the centre, so that we could feed her the right nutrition to enable her to have a good start in life. She is pictured below having a shower with one of our volunteers followed by some milk. She certainly preferred the latter - even if there was some competition for it!!!

Heidi is growing well and is getting stronger by the day. The owner has been coming to visit every few days to check on her progress! It will not be too long before she is old enough to eat forage, and return to her owner.

Back online!

2010-08-31T22:07:00.003+02:00

Firstly – huge apologies to blog followers for a serious lack of updates. ACE here in Luxor has been extraordinarily busy (during the heat of the summer we tend to see fewer animals than normal). Our vets have been working hard (sometimes not leaving the clinic till late in the evening) and we have been extremely grateful for all the volunteers we have had over the past few months! I am going to start by thanking everyone who has come to ACE to volunteer over the past few months – without you all we would have really struggled to cope with the caseload! Apologies to those of you who I was unable to get a photo of.
Rachel O’Higgins, a new graduate from the UK who was here for 3 months.
Katie Wu, a 4th year veterinary student from The University of Edinburgh. Katie is the Fort-Dodge Pfizer rep at University, and we are very grateful for all the supplies she managed to donate to us. Rachel (bottom right) and Katie (bottom left) are pictured below with Dr Assma, Dr Hanna and Dr David, our 3 full time Egyptian vets.

Lauren Leicester and Mya Gaby, who are both Zoology graduates from the University of Otego, New Zealand and are pictured below with Sarah Hamlin from Montreal.

Meghan Waller and Leah Knox (pictured below with Ramses the camel, who joined us for our 10th anniversary open day), Both are 2nd year Veterinary Students at the Ontario Veterinary College in Ontario, Canada.
Vicky Bond, a small animal vet from the UK. Vicky has spent 2 months with us in the past as a veterinary student and we were delighted to see her back at ACE again. She is pictured below with a patient that wouldn't usually walk through her doors!!

Nikki Pijnberg (Vet Student) and Merel van der Velden (student in Agro & Biotechnology) both from the University of Ghent, Belgium. We are extremely grateful for Nikki and Merel fundraising which totalled 11,200 LE. A tremendous effort by the girls!

Jo Gregory, a registered EVN (equine veterinary nurse) from The Bell Equine Clinic. Jo spent the run up to her visit to ACE collecting money from colleagues in order to buy veterinary supplies, and also managed to get plenty of donations from various drug manufacturers.

Zofia Lisowski (who was out here for 10 months in 2008-2009) has been back to Egypt for a further 3 weeks in July this year to help with our 10^th anniversary celebrations and see how we are doing. We are extremely happy to say that she reported a marked improvement in the animals she saw on the streets in and around Luxor. In just a relatively short period of time of being away from Luxor, it is really nice to know that our work is really showing in the condition of the animals of Luxor. She is pictured below with Felix.

Lorna Bidston and Hannah Brinsmead 2 veterinary students (pictured below with ACE’s Dr David) and James Crilly (pictured below with an ACE inpatient), a new veterinary graduate. All 3 are from the University of Cambridge.

Hannah Smith and Ceri Tupper, 2 veterinary students from the University of Liverpool.

Abdullah, a final year veterinary student from Egypt.

Gigi Kay (our veterinary director) also visited us for last time in a while due to moving to Australia. Sadly we do not have a photo of Gigi as she rarely is still for long enough!!! We wish her well in her new job ...and thank her for all she has done and is still doing for us here in Luxor. Without her and all the effort she has put in, improving our vets skills and assisting with their teaching, we would not be where we are now.

SO a HUGE thank you to everyone. It was great to have you all here and we hope you will visit us sometime again!

Strangles & a sad goodbye ...

2010-06-25T23:30:00.011+03:00

Thank you Jane

We have said a sad goodbye to Jane Harry who has been working out here with us for the past 6 months. She is a kind, dedicated, and hard working equine vet who has helped us enormously, especially through the recent bout of strangles. The strangles outbreak was at its worst whilst she too was suffering from a nasty cold, and nursing our tortoises who had caught an infection. However, she still found time to give the puppies a much needed cuddle and play!

Tortoises are a little different from Jane's normal work, not only in size! But this didn't deter her determination to do what was best for them, as well as all our other in-patients! A big thank you to you Jane for all your hard work - not forgetting your photography skills and writing up of many ACE cases to pass on to our supporters. From all of us at ACE and from the tortoises and in-patients here too, THANK YOU.

Bambi's story
Bambi is one of our funniest looking in-patients that we have had in some while! He is a five month old baby mule, with the most beautiful dished face, huge water buffalo style eyes, and the longest eye lashes, that any mascara maker would have loved to use to advertise their products!

His owners had bought him from Cairo, and he developed strangles soon after he arrived in Luxor. He had big abscesses under his jaw and at the side of his throat, a runny nose and a cough. We hot packed his abscesses until they were mature, then we were able to lance them and flush them daily to clean them and until they resolved.

He was a real character and very stubborn in a very benevolent way; you couldn't 'lead' him anywhere, he had to 'want' to go! His mule tendencies were apparent even as a baby!

He got on very well with Belson, another in-patient with strangles. As they couldn't infect each other due to them both having the same disease, we allowed them to 'talk' to each other!

Belson's story will follow in the next Blog posting!

Paddock update

We thought that you would like to see the new paddocks, they now have very smart white painted fencing, and the grass is growing well.
They are nearly ready to be grazed and to allow some of our in-patients who are healthy enough to be turned out, to experience what is probably their first taste of freedom in a pasture. They will be free to roll, run, leap and play and we cannot wait to see this! We will of course keep you updated with pictures!

Success Stories

2010-05-16T17:00:00.000+03:00

Sinusitis with Tooth Root Infection

This is a long story as this poor donkey was with us for a long time!

The donkey came to us with a revolting smelling one-sided nasal discharge. We suspected tooth root involvement, and we checked his mouth and found his teeth were in a terrible state. In particular, he had a large gap (called a diastema), between 2 of his upper molars, which the tooth opposite, having formed a huge sharp spur, had grown up into, packing food into the gap.

Once we had picked this food out, we were able to pass a probe through the gap and right into his sinus. An x-ray confirmed our suspicion of tooth root infection, so the tooth had to be removed for us to be able to cure the sinus infection.

The surgery is rather gory, involving making a hole through the bone of the face into the sinus cavity, and forcing the rotten tooth down from the root, and out via the mouth. We pulled a lot of old, rotten food out of the sinus cavity. Following the surgery, we flushed the sinus daily, initially by squeezing a bottle and later using a garden 'killer' spray which gives additional pressure.

We removed the overgrown tooth with molar cutters, but lacked any other tooth equipment to address the rest of his mouth. We packed the hole daily with swabs from the tooth removal from the sinus end, to keep food out of the sinus cavity whilst the gum filled in, but 6 weeks on and it still wasn't closing. We had to think of something else!

We managed to find some tooth cement in a medical suppliers (you can buy all sorts of strange things in Luxor!), and made him a filling. This worked remarkably well, and we were then able to stop packing the hole, and allow the sinus surgery hole to close. Having been open for so long this took another couple of weeks but eventually it closed and he was ready to go home. However, we knew we had two dental experts coming to visit the following week. Sally and Sam, so we made sure they gave his mouth a thorough service before he went.

With huge thanks to Sally and Sam, we are now very fortunately extremely well kitted out with dentistry gear, and are able to treat the teeth of all out in-patients and as many of our out-patients as we can.

This little donkey will always be one of our favourites - he was a real character. He was allowed to graze free around ACE after his daily flush (to help drain the sinus) and always found a way into the fresh alfalfa store, or stole it from the other patients; and he would demand a nightly cuddle at late checks when he had his sheepskin rug put on for the night!

Non-healing Leg Wound

This is another of our long-term patients who has just gone home! He arrived with deep wounds on the front and back of his hind cannon that had gone through the extensor and flexor tendon. The owner said he had bandaged the donkey for a month as he had been lame, and when he took the bandage off this was what he found!

Having cleaned and debrided the wounds, they initially healed fantastically well, but then stopped at the middle photo stage. We tried leaving the wound open to the air but he just bit at his leg so we had to keep it covered.

Eventually after a lot of bandage changes, honey dressings, regional antibiotics and general ACE TLC, it had reduced enough to try to get it to dry out. We left the bandages off and this time he didn't try to eat his leg!

He was the grumpiest donkey in the world, even after three months of love and cuddles from the ACE staff. Perhaps he was just bored and wanted to get back to work!

Donkeys are very intelligent animals and require lots of stimulation. Particularly if they have worked every day all their life, they sometimes find it difficult to cope with the box rest that is needed to heal their wounds. If any of you have any "horse toys" out there, we would love to put them to very good use! THANK YOU.

15th May 2010 Walking 170K for Isolation Stables

2010-04-29T00:39:00.002+02:00

PLEASE help ACE raise the much needed money for isolation facilities.

Currently Luxor is amidst a Strangles outbreak ... We DESPERATELY need these facilities ASAP ... Please PLEASE donate whatever you can afford ... from ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD safely and securely here ... http://www.justgiving.com/acestables

We are walking a collective 170 Kilometres to raise these funds on 15th May ... please inspire our legs to keep going .... Thank you.

Grateful Animals, making good use of donated tack ...

2010-04-27T12:25:00.000+02:00

Animals Grateful to Dave Rendle ...

You may remember from a previous blog Dave Rendle, who not only brought his expertise out to Luxor, but a whole truck full of medicines, provisions, and donated tack. Here are some of the animals who have benefitted from his kindness, and the kindness of all of you who helped him collect up these donations to bring out to us:

Burnt Donkey

This little donkey had horrific burn scars, so his skin was very brittle and his harness was rubbing in some places. ACE was able to give him one of the numnahs that Dave Rendle (pictured above) brought with him when he came to visit and work with us. This numnah covered most of the donkeys back, which is going to protect his scars from further damage.

Donkey with Harness Sores

This donkey had sores both sides of his body, caused by a chain link in his harness. Having treated his sores, we gave him and his owner another donated numnah and fitted it backwards to protect both his withers and his sides from future damage.

A happy visitor going home!

Another donkey with a sore nose (pictured left) being given a donated head-collar which is soft and padded.

A donkey having a donated kind bit and correctly sized bridle fitted (pictured right)

We also take away the old head collars or contraptions that have been used, which cause these sores, so that we can destroy them and they cannot be used on another donkey ever again.

Volunteers ...

We have been blessed with some wonderful volunteers ....

Jeanette, who was an enormous help with the cats and dogs, and they I am sure all miss her lots.

Also Lee Moulson, pictured on the left, with one of his freshly showered in-patients and taking the opportunity to have a cuddle at the same time!

It is lovely to have volunteers visiting us at ACE - extra pairs of hands are ALWAYS welcome!

Finally, for this post, just for fun, a horse with a very funky clip!

WALKING our HIND LEGS OFF, for THE DONKEY'S & animals of Egypt

2010-04-13T15:58:00.014+02:00

WE ARE WALKING in the Goodwood area, (North of Chichester, West Sussex) On the 15th MAY 2010.... WHY?

ACE, desperately needs isolation facilities, so that we can separate contagious cases from our other in-patients. Following the outbreak of equine flu, (as well as regular cases of strangles - strangles, like equine flu is a potentially fatal disease and highly contagious, affecting horses and donkeys). Plus a number of outbreaks of highly contagious diseases amongst the kittens, cats, puppies and dogs. We urgently need somewhere where we can admit these cases without risking the health and lives of our existing in-patients.

We hope to raise enough money to build an isolation block, to enable us to admit any and all kinds of contagious animals, and any left over money, after building the facilities, can be utilised to purchase the veterinary, and general sterilisable equipment needed to further reduce any infectious diseases spreading …..

This will make a huge difference in protecting the lives of many young and weak animals we have at the hospital. Please support us……

Walk with us to raise funds for Isolation Facilities for ACE - Animal Care in Egypt ......

Please support us financially while we do the walking, just click this clink and there is a secure way to donate from ANYWHERE in the world via credit card .... http://www.justgiving.com/acestables

Kim Taylor – Kim always has ACE at the forefront of her mind and is always looking of new ways to raise money and to help the animals of Egypt. Despite undergoing major open heart surgery less than 8 months ago, Kim has decided to bravely join the 10k walk whilst she is visiting in the UK in May ……. this is a HUGE challenge for Kim, so please especially support her!

She is being joined by her daughter Michelle who is undertaking the mighty 40k! Also joining them are a number of other ACE supporters who are determined to raise the funds for these desperately needed facilities.

Kim comments as follows: "I spend all day everyday seeing donkeys and horses walk in the heat, burdened down with someone beating them with a stick, this is why I HAVE to do everything I can to help stop this, and to provide them with somewhere to come to get well, and to educate their owners to try to stop this from happening in the first place. PLEASE help me to help them. Whatever you can do will help, whatever you can afford, it all adds up and goes a long way."

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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US IN THIS EVENT TO HELP US RAISE FUNDS FOR THIS CAUSE ...

Please contact Kim's daughter Michelle who is the organiser, michelle@ace-egypt.org.uk with details of which distance, WALKING the 10K, 20K, 40K or 60K and she can send you further details.

Did you know: A donkey travels on average at 10 kilometers per hour. In Egypt they work all day, sometimes in excess of 10 hours a day. This means they can be pulling heavy carts for over 100 kilometers nearly every day of the year!!

Come and try the distances yourself to get a feel what it must be like for them, and then imagine the Egyptian sun beating down on you as you walk, the donkey's do not have the water to hand that we will have either!

Or, please come along and cheer us along the way.... We will need lots of encouragement to keep our energy up, and legs moving!

You can donate to this cause securely from anywhere in the world via credit card, at http://www.justgiving.com/acestables

So please dig deep and donate now...

-> Perhaps you could invite your friends round for dinner instead of going out, but ask them to donate the money they would have spent, to this cause instead?

-> Perhaps instead of buying that bottle of wine or two for the weekend, donate the money to this cause instead?

Thigh abscess, Fetlock Sepsis & Sarcoids ...

2010-03-28T12:02:00.021+02:00

Thigh abscess and subsequent contracted fetlock joint.

This donkey foal arrived one afternoon with a horrible bite injury to her thigh. It had resulted in an abscess that involved most of her upper limb. With daily flushing and antibiotics the infection gradually cleared and the wounds healed. However, the injury had resulted in shortening one of the flexor tendons of the limb preventing her form straightening her fetlock (ankle). This caused her to knuckle over when she walked, badly traumatising the front of the leg.

We tried physiotherapy along with splinting to try and straighten her leg but this did not work. Eventually we resorted to surgery, cutting the constricted tendon to release the fetlock contracture. This worked really well and after surgery she wore a splint to support the joint in the correct position. With time we were able to reduce the support and start limited exercise until she was able to stand and walk normally without support.She should have no further problems with the leg, as long as she stays away from whoever bit her in the first place!

Fetlock Sepsis

A beautiful chestnut yearling colt was brought to the outpatient clinic with a very small puncture wound close to his fetlock. He was very lame and immediately Dr David was suspicious of joint sepsis. He admitted the case and his suspicion of joint infection was confirmed by a sample of joint fluid taken and examined under the microscope where a lot of white blood cells and bacteria were evident.

The joint was flushed with several litres of sterile saline to remove any bacteria and damaging inflammatory cells.

If this is not done it will result in chronic (sometimes fatal) infection that can spread to the surrounding bone and leave a persistent arthritis. Having flushed the joint, antibiotics were injected into it and the leg was bandaged. The very next day he was walked and trotted up without any lameness at all! He stayed for a further week until the wound had fully healed before going home. We are always hopeful of a good outcome from these cases but it is pretty unusual for them to be sound quite that quickly!

Sarcoids

This beautiful young, female donkey arrived at ACE with a huge, painful, infected sarcoid on her hind leg. Sarcoids are a benign skin tumour that can grow very large and in doing so outgrow their blood supply becoming ulcerated and infected on the surface.Somebody had previously tried to remove the sarcoid which had aggravated it and made it grow even larger. Under the guidance of Professor Knottenbelt at Liverpool University, we treated the sarcoid with the AW4 'secret recipe' Ludes cream supplied by Liverpool and were amazed by how quickly the sarcoid shrank in size and then fell off altogether. Thank you Professor Knottenbelt for sharing your expertise and secret recipe with us!

The pictures to the left and right show the sarcoid before and after treatment with the AW4 Ludes cream.

Such success stories are thankfully becoming more and more common at ACE as our own expertise and access to high quality drugs, treatment and professional support grows.

It is a rewarding days work for us when animals are healed and sent home healthy and happy!

New Website Launch ...

2010-03-13T01:22:00.010+02:00

We are very excited to announce that our new look website ... has just been launched ...

There is lots of information on there, all about our work, the animals we treat, the problems we face, as well as plenty of pictures of our new centre, opened in January 2008.

You can donate directly from the site in numerous ways, AND PLEASE, sign up for our E-Newsletter from the link on the top left of every page.

From Luxor with love....

2010-03-10T22:14:00.021+02:00

A charity's work is often a sad struggle from one day to the next and here in Luxor it can sometimes be heartbreaking and frustrating. However, every so often things happen to renew our faith in human nature and give us the motivation to carry on. Over the past few months ACE has been overwhelmed by the generosity of people.

Donations come in many shapes and sizes-financial, medical, expertise and time, but no matter how they present themselves we value them all. They enable us not only to treat the animals of Luxor but they also reinforce the work we are doing here and give staff a much needed lift!

We would like to take this opportunity not only to thank our regular supporters without whom we would not be able to continue our work, but also the following people who have helped us recently:

Sally Kingsley, vet and equine dental technician (EDT) and Sam Norris, EDT from www.s4edt.com. They visited us for one week and as well as rasping teeth were able to deliver a master class in oral care to our Egyptian vets. They worked really hard often rasping up to 20 sets of teeth in one morning! For local owners the oral health of their animals is not a priority so Sally and Sam were quite surprised that most teeth did not seem that bad. They have put it down to the amount of roughage in the diet here - a small godsend for the working horses and donkeys.

David Rendle was recently sponsored by BEVA to come out to ACE and teach internal medicine to the vets. Not only did he give three fascinating and informative lectures when he was here but worked hard to raise awareness of ACE within his local community before he arrived. Actually he raised so much awareness through a newspaper article and radio interview that he had to hire part of a plane to bring over all the equipment that was donated! Ok, not a huge part of a plane but he did manage to convince EgyptAir to help him transport thousands of pounds worth of donated medicines, dressings, bandage materials, surgical equipment, dental equipment, tack, rugs, bits and the list goes on......! There was of course the obligatory haggling that always has to take place at Luxor airport customs (a sort of tradition!) but after two days, the ACE truck was loaded with the donations.

Not only have the donated drugs saved us alot of money but our diagnostic capacity is now hugely enhanced:

The vets have been busy learning how to use the endoscope and ultrasound scanner!

Dave and his fiance Gemma had a very busy week including two tetanus cases and an eyelid surgery. We thank them both for their invaluable help both here and in the UK and hope to see them again soon.

*Please see below for a list of the UK companies who kindly donated equipment and materials for Dave to bring out to ACE.

Dave performing eyelid surgery assisted by the EDT girls and with Gemma recovering a donkey after general anaesthesia.

Annalisa Barrelet visited ACE primarily to establish links with Beaufort Cottage Equine Hopsital, UK and to bring some invaluable laboratory equipment. Thanks to Annalisa and Beaufort Cottage Equine we are now able to perform red and white blood cell counts and are very excited to team up with such a well respected and established practice as well as having the support of so many equine experts. It was wonderful to meet Annalisa and we hope she will visit us again.

Dr Hartmann, a long term ACE supporter from Switzerland, has finally made a dream of ours come true. We have been dreaming for a very long time about a new autoclave and finally thanks to Dr Hartmann's generosity we can now safely sterilise all of our surgical equipment and indeed anything that stays still long enough is at risk of a spin in the autoclave! We are delighted and extremely grateful.

Huge thanks go to Agnese Santi and Maria Woodyatt - two ordinary animal lovers who do extraordinary things. Agnese gave up a month of her time to volunteer at ACE in the Autumn. Her help was invaluable and she made a huge impact whilst she was here, brightening up the day with her enthusiasm and obvious love and care for the animals. We hope to see her again one day soon. Maria uses all her holidays from work in the UK to come to Luxor and help the animals on the streets. She brings a suitcase full of dressings and medicines for the animals leaving only the bare minimum for herself. We always know when she is in town as donkeys and horses start appearing proudly showing off freshly padded nosebands and tack. Maria's help means alot to us at ACE as she is able to get out and about giving basic first aid on the streets and sending cases to us if needed.

Agnese with Felix and one of our resident felines and a more comfortable donkey ready to brave the streets of Luxor with a new numnah.

Finally we cannot end a 'thank you' without once again remembering all the people, both expats and locals, who support our work in Luxor. Many people give up time to help us run ACE as well as looking after the animals in their local neighbourhoods. It is heartwarming to know that we have a team of animal lovers living in Luxor who regularly help the many defenceless creatures fighting for survival here.

With so many people helping in whichever way they can we know that the future for the animals of Luxor is a little bit brighter.

Take a look at next week's blog to see how, if the animals of Luxor could speak, they would be thanking you all too!

*UK contributors courtesy of David Rendle

Gabriel and Grills-ultrasound machine
North Park Vets and VES -endoscope and light source
Frazer from CEVA
Liz Barrett of Beohringer
Mark Scott at NVS
Liz from EV Products
Toby Lee from Equine Blades Direct
Ben Gaskell+Ben Lacey from Phizer
Susie Blackburn from Merial
Ben Hartley from Dechra
Kirsty from Schering-Plough
Abbey Towniss at Millpledge
Russel at PMA products
Alison Abbott from Aquapharm
Mel form Vetplus
Sarah Evans from Vetoquinol
Matt Evans form Forte Dodge
Paul Wright form Janssen
David Mead from Dunlops
Bev Moore
Michelle Coran
Duncan Henderson
Duchy College
South West Equine Protection
Dart Vale in Totnes
Market Vets of South Molton
Equest of Tavistock
Westmoor Vets of Tavistock
Charter Vet Group of Ilfracombe
The Mount Veterinary Centre of Wellington
Blackdown Equine in Newton Abbott
The Vale Vets Collumpton
Langaller Farm
Mrs Angela Stevens

Thank you all so much-your donations area already making a difference.

Some of our recent cases ...

2010-02-06T21:45:00.007+02:00

Rectal Prolapse
A young male donkey arrived with a rectal prolapse. This occurs when by straining the donkey manages to push some of the rectal lining out through the anus. Once outside, it becomes traumatised, dry and inflamed and very sore.

After we cleaned him up, we give him an epidural to stop him straining, and then we replaced the prolapsed rectum back inside. To prevent him from pushing it out again once the epidural wore off, a 'purse string' suture was placed around the anus and tied in a bow. Obviously he could not pass faeces through this, so every 4 hours the bow was undone and the donkey was allowed to do so. No fibrous food was given, only fresh green food called 'hashish', to encourage soft faeces to be produced. This donkey was very sore and reluctant to push so we had to give him several enemas and pull his droppings out for him. The second day he produced some enormous worms about 4 inches long, so we gave him a dose of wormer as well.

Over a few days he gradually became less sore and started to push his droppings out for himself, and eventually we could leave his bottom untied without worrying that he would prolapse again. After we had re-introduced his normal diet, and he was passing droppings normally again, so he was allowed to go home.

Penile Injury
A poor male donkey arrived with a rather embarrassing problem. He had tried to cover a female donkey but had unfortunately got his rope between his privates and the female, causing severe trauma to his penis.

When he arrived here his penis and scrotum were hugely swollen and sore, with bleeding under the surface of the penis. After 2 days of ice packing (which he found a little mortifying but very soothing), and anti-inflammatory medication, it was not getting any smaller, so we made some small drainage holes, and squeezed a huge amount of blood out from inside. The penis was then bandaged and placed in an open-ended, padded plastic bottle to keep it clean and prevent further damage, but allow him to urinate.

After several days of antibiotics the drain holes healed and the penis remained a much more normal size. He has gone home, hopefully having learned the important lesson of practicing safe sex!

SOME SAD STORIES ...
A puppy tale ...
A small boy brought a puppy to us whom he had rescued from some other boys, as he had seen them cut its tail off. The poor puppy was very frightened and sore, and all we could do was to clean it up, bandage it and give him some pain relief until it had healed over.
We have no idea why the boys cut off this poor puppies tail, but at least our education programme is reaching some, as the boy who witnessed it knew exactly where to bring it to get it some help. The education programme is working, but there is still many more people to reach.

Too many road accidents ...
A foal was brought to us having been hit by a car, sustaining a horrible fracture to the cannon bone. This is really tragic and the owner was devastated but brought the foal straight to us to be put to sleep humanely.

Dog Leg Amputation
A charity working with mobile units from the West Bank of Luxor brought a dog in to us with a fracture to his right foreleg after a car accident, and brought him to us at ACE for a leg amputation. Dr Assma performed this challenging procedure and the charity funded the drugs used.

The surgery went well, and we wish her a speedy recuperation and a happy 3 legged life, like Sol has, who is one of our resident dogs, pictured here, who has adapted to 3 legged life without any trouble.
Unfortunately we continue to see a tragic number of fractures caused by road traffic accidents in donkeys, horses, and dogs. Most cases are not so lucky.

We look forward to seeing you here at the clinic in the near future, and are always grateful for supplies - we are very imaginative and can put most things to good use!

Thank You's and Welcome Back!

2010-01-23T03:00:00.011+02:00

We are so happy to welcome Kim back to ACE, feeling a lot better than she did before. Ayman now has the difficult job of stopping her from working too hard too soon!

We are very grateful to Jan who has been doing a fantastic job running the centre in Kim's absence and during her recuperation. We are really missing Dr Vic who went home to Australia in November. We really appreciate all that he and his wife Coralee did here during their time at ACE. We now have a new equine vet from England, Jane Harry, who has come to work here for 6 months.

Some other thanks ....

To Melissa (pictured here with an abandoned puppy) and Stacey, who volunteered at ACE from September to December and helped raise awareness of ACE in Luxor.

To Satoka and Frank who were here for 2 weeks in December, Frank performing some skilled DIY, including lowering the operating table and mending the dog kennels (and a lot more), and Satoka for helping with the cats and dogs.

To Anita who came to help for a few weeks over Christmas and New Year.

To Sheila and Joy for their continued help.

To Kenneth and Janice for kindly donating two fly zappers for the stable blocks, pictured here up and zapping!

To all of you who take the time to come and visit us at ACE and make room in your luggage for dressings, bandages, and medical equipment; and for all who make such generous donations. We are so grateful and could not do our work without your support.

Finally, to Becky Parkes, a final year vet student from the Royal Veterinary College, who came and worked for 3 weeks in December and was an enormous help on the veterinary side. Prior to coming she had planned to run 100k to raise money for ACE, but with two races to go she injured her foot. So after running 80k (in 7 races including a half marathon), she has raised £270, but is hoping to reach her target of £500 by running a further two races; the Hotelympia 10k on 28th February, and the Clapham Common 10k on 7 March. Thank you so much to Becky and good luck with your upcoming finals.

If you would like to support Becky in her target to raise £500 for us, please go to www.justgiving.com/beckys10ks

Donkey with Theileria

2010-01-07T00:39:00.008+02:00

One morning a very sad, sick little donkey was brought into ACE by its owner. It had an extremely high temperature and heart rate, and could barely walk. We set to work to try and establish what was wrong. We did all the lab tests that we could with the basic equipment that we have available, as well as a blood smear, but could not diagnose a specific disease.

With the guidance of our supervising Vet, Dr Vic Epstein, we took some Paired Serum samples with the intent of sending these to a local laboratory for serological testing. The cost of which is a huge amount out of our daily budget, but this was so important. Not only to try and save this Donkey's life, but also help us better understand the many diseases and conditions that are affecting the working animals of Luxor.

At this time we were very lucky to have volunteering with us at ACE, Dr Jenny Fogg. She managed to get in contact with the VLA (Veterinary Laboratories Agency) who agreed to test the samples for us at no charge, so Jenny took the samples back to the UK with her the following day, when her time volunteering with us was due to end anyhow.

While we were waiting on the results, we did all that we could by administering supportive treatments, to keep this poor little Donkey, stable and relatively comfortable.

The results couldn't have come through fast enough for us watching and trying to help this poor donkey, but finally they came through, and the result was positive for Theileria Equi. This is a tick transmitted disease which is characterised by a fever, anemia (decreased red blood cell count), jaundice, respiratory signs, reddish urine and weight loss. If gone untreated this disease can be fatal.

However, as soon as we had the vital diagnosis we were able to treat this immediately with a drug called Imidocarb. This drug is (one of many) which is almost impossible to obtain in Egypt, so this little Donkey was very lucky that we had some in stock, brought over to us from the UK.

We are pleased to report that this once very sick donkey, is now fully recovered, and is back home in very good health. If only he knew the efforts gone to! Not only by all our Vets, but also by our supporters - who help finance the hospital which gave him the best chance of recovery. If he did realise, we are sure he would be very gratetful!

We, the ACE Vets, would like to take this opportunity to give a BIG THANK YOU to:
Dr Vic Epstein - For all his hard work, support and tutoring over the past months.
Dr Jenny Fogg - For giving up her time to help us here at ACE.
Plus of course all our supporters who make it possible for this essential work to continue.

We are also very pleased to have Kim back with us here in Luxor, looking in much better health and trying to catch up on all that needs doing from her time off in the UK for the operation and recuperation. WELCOME BACK KIM!

Kim is progressing well.

2009-11-07T15:49:00.013+02:00

Yes those ears have heard correctly! Kim is recovering well!

HEY ... Rita ... did you hear that ....?

Huh? What's that?.. I was asleep on the best settee ...

Much to her husband and Rita's delight (to name a few!) all is going really well with Kim's recovery. Most of the complications with the medications have been sorted out, and she is beginning to feel like a new woman! So hopefully, she will soon have clearance from her Doctors to continue her recuperation in Luxor.

Despite Kim's illness she has constantly been liaising with people in Luxor, and has been keeping up with all her emails here in the UK, there is just no stopping her!

Kim would also like to pass on her huge thanks to everyone for all their get well wishes, cards and help from ACE supporters to those who have been helping keeping things going at the Luxor centre during her absence.

We can't wait for her to return, but NOT until she is fully recovered! Everyone is missing her heaps but I am sure no one as much as her ever supportive husband Ayman, and Rita her loving and loyal dog!

Success of Shop in Rustington

2009-10-19T22:18:00.010+02:00

Kim would like to say a huge thank you to all the amazing volunteers who gave up their valuable time to help at the ACE shop, with a special big thank-you going to Dave and Carol (pictured above) who not only had the excellent idea of a temporary ACE shop but also worked tirelessly most days in the shop to help ensure its success.

The money raised in these 2 weeks will be going directly to the animals of Luxor. This money will nearly cover a whole months running costs, that’s hundreds of animals!

So thank you again to all our supporters, it is times like these that we realise how lucky we are to have such a wonderful group of volunteers helping us in our work. Without you we just couldn't do what we do out in Egypt. THANK YOU.

Also a brief update on Kim, she has had a few complications, which has meant even more appointments with various specialists, to ensure they get her medication right, but on the whole she is recovering remarkably quickly. She hopes to return to Luxor as soon as the Doctors will allow!

Kim wants to say a HUGE THANK YOU to her wonderful husband Ayman, and we all join her in this. A thank you, not only for taking care of ACE in her absence (alongside his normal work), but for staying in Egypt to do this while she was so ill in the UK especially when he so desperately wanted to be with her!!!

FELIX is sponsored, and has a teaching career ahead!!

2009-09-23T14:31:00.015+02:00

Colin visited Luxor in August with his wife, Kate, and one of his daughters, Rebecca; they were recommended to visit ACE by restaurateur Laura from the Jewel of the Nile Restaurant. One of our local ongoing businesses who support ACE and our work.

The following day they visited the hospital and met with Julie Clarke, one of our volunteers who showed them round ACE explaining about our work .

Colin says:
"One of the 1^st donkeys we met was Felix; he was so pleased to have our company and trotted round the buildings and outside with us throughout our visit. He stole the hearts of our family and our cameras were clicking constantly. Julie Clarke explained the work of ACE and its education programme with school children and she explained the benefits of giving them hands-on experience with looking after and understanding how to care for their animals. The facilities at ACE looked superb and we were impressed with the dedication of the staff and volunteers and were pleased to see the results of their work and education, watching the locals bring in their donkeys and horses for proper care and attention."

Their other daughter, Jessica was left in the UK as she suffers from a very severe form of ME/CFS and has been hospitalised and bed-bound for three years. It had been her wish that this year her family had a good holiday and went somewhere far away and hot – they certainly found that in Luxor!

"Through our local church friends Jessica had a donkey sponsored in her name from the Donkey Sanctuary in the UK. When Julie Clarke told us of her dream to continue to look after Felix and use him to educate the children we decided that we wanted to help and offered to sponsor Felix on behalf of Jessica and Rebecca.

On our return home Rebecca was so keen to show her sister pictures and video of Felix and a photo of him is in prominent place in her hospital room... We think Felix may have been teething as he wanted to cool his mouth on the chilled drink can!

We are looking forward to seeing Felix growing up and hearing about his adventures!"

Everyone at ACE would like to say a very big thank you to the whole family for this very generous donation, and fantastic opportunity to help us educate the children in Luxor who visit us for education on animal care and welfare. The majority of families have at least one donkey as a part of every day life, so it is particularly important to educate them on handling, maintenance and care with donkeys. We look forward to telling everyone about Felix in his work in the education room!

Felix sends special donkey kisses to Colin, Kate, Rebecca and Jessica!

More thank you's….

2009-09-03T00:10:00.001+02:00

To Jenny Fogg, a vet from the UK who came out to help ACE for a whole month. She worked incredibly hard and we are very grateful for her dedication! She is pictured below with Felix…

…As is Jo, who came to help us at ACE for a week!!!A big thank you to you both!!!

And some exciting Felix news will be coming very soon!!!!

All things great and small!

2009-08-26T23:33:00.002+02:00

Not only have our vets being diagnosing and treating the obvious, but they’ve also been busy looking for the not so obvious… This usually involves using a microscope to diagnose various diseases. Our vets are very keen to develop their skills, and try and learn as much clinical pathology as possible with the limited resources we have.

Pictured below is a demodex mite. This mite sits under the skin in the hair follicle and causes hair loss as well as being itchy! Luckily once a diagnosis is made by finding the mite under a microscope, treatment can commence!!

Pictured above is a demodex (the odd looking creature in the centre!!!)

We also perform blood smears on a lot of our equine patients. Blood borne disease are very common in Egypt, so anything with a fever has a smear performed which is then examined under the microscope. Pictured below is a blood smear which shows the presence of Babesia, a parasite that causes fever, lethargy and weight loss. The parasite is the small dots within the large blobs (the red blood cells).

Pictured below are all our Egyptian vets, David, Assma and Hannah, sitting in the lab looking at slides under the microscope!

LiveJournal Tags: Demodex,microscope,animal care in Egypt,ACE,vet,disease,slides

Get Well Soon Kim

2009-08-26T19:01:00.001+02:00

We just wanted to let you all know, that Kim, Manager of ACE Luxor, has recently been diagnosed with a rare tumour of the heart and has had to return to the UK to have open heart surgery. Needless to say that this has been an extremely worrying time for her family and friends, including all of us here at ACE, her second family. However we are pleased to report that the operation a couple of weeks ago, was successful. She is recovering very well with her family here in the UK. All check ups are showing good progress and she hopes to return to Egypt, and to carry on with ACE as soon as the Doctors will allow her, albeit, we hope, at a slightly slower pace!

We also of course wanted to wish her the very best in her recovery, and hope she is looking after herself and not worrying about ACE too much!

Kim pictured dematting a cat at ACE.

Finally a message from Kim, for those who may wish to send her get well cards or flowers, she would rather, as is her way, that people spend the cost of a card as a donation to ACE. There will never be any changing her, and her selfless ways, and we wouldn't want to!

I am sure I speak for everyone when I say... "GET WELL SOON - ACE is missing you very much and we all cant wait for your return!!"

Rita, her dog out in Egypt, eagerly awaiting her return!

Thanks!

2009-08-20T19:59:00.007+03:00

To Nia Joelle – Weinzwig, who is a 3rd year student at the University of Edinburgh. She has been busy helping us with all the cats and dogs as well as helping the vets with all the inpatients!!! Her favourite job though has been looking after Felix (our baby orphan donkey). She has been up in the night feeding him and also busy running around exercising him!!!

We are very grateful for all her help, and also all the donations she organised and brought over with her.

Felix….

2009-08-13T00:43:00.002+03:00

Here is a video of Nia, a volunteer vet student who has been at ACE for 6 weeks, playing with Felix!!!!

She has also had many endless sleepless nights feeding him!!! I think she is trying to find ways of bringing him back to the UK!

Introducing Felix….

2009-08-08T00:01:00.002+03:00

Pictured above, with Rita and Sol is our new arrival, Felix. His mum died shortly after his birth. The owners tried to feed him but they were struggling to feed him as well as their family. They were concerned how weak he was so they brought him to ACE and asked us to care for him. He settled in well and is proving to be a cheeky little monkey! Our volunteer vet student, Nia, has been up most nights to give him his feeds – a small donkey needs food little and often!!!

He spends his day in the front garden with Rita and Sol and then in the evenings he is stabled.

Spike Injuries

2009-07-29T23:52:00.012+03:00

Pictured below is a case we unfortunately see very commonly here at ACE - spike injuries. We have had 4 this week!!!
This donkey came in very lame and the owner didnt have much information regarding the history of the case. He was lame for a few day with no progress and nothing to be found on x-rays. There was a mild swelling of the tendon sheath which after a few days we could feel something within the swelling, so under sterile conditions we opened a small piece of skin over the 'hard bit' and out popped a spike (pictures below!!!) After this the donkey improved overnight and was sent home a week later back to its owner!

Joey’s story

2009-07-17T22:11:00.003+03:00

You may remember a few months ago we posted a blog on the rubbish tip donkeys (See Behind every donkey is a story, April 09). Pictured below is the wound caused by his repeated beating.

Despite coming in to have the wound flushed and dressed at the hospital, the donkey was just not improving. His wound was healing very slowly, he was getting weaker and more emaciated due to lack of food, too much work and inadequate rest. He is pictures below in our outpatients clinic having a much needed rest whilst his friend is getting his wound attended to.

Each time he came in he just looked sadder and sadder so we made the tough decision to rescue him from his owners care. One of our volunteers bought him, on the proviso with the money they buy a new donkey, which they will bring in to us from the start so we can monitor his condition, and hopefully intervene with any problems that occur before they are too late. Joey, as he was named, was admitted to the hospital. He was covered in lice (which is why he has such a poor coat) and was extremely weak. His wound was very painful and discharging a lot of pus, as a result of an abscess that had formed.

These are pictures of Joey when he first arrived at ACE. He is covered in lice and certainly doesn't appreciate the shower Julie is giving to wash off his de-lousing shampoo!!!!

Within a few weeks of food and rest Joey was looking very bright and happy and ready for a new life. Sadly he is a very small donkey, as his growth was stunted by poor nutrition so we had to find him a home where he would not be worked. Luckily, we knew of somebody that has a farm and who were willing to have him and only work him on the rare occasion, which we were happy with. He’s now settled at his new home and is having a great time. We have been to visit a few times and are very happy with his progress!

He is pictured below at his new home.

Rescued Puppy

2009-07-07T21:00:00.005+03:00

This little guy was found by Julie, one of the ACE volunteers whilst she was taking our dogs, Rita and Sol for a walk. He was in a canal just outside ACE and was struggling to get out. With the help of one of our stable boys we managed to get him out. He was very happy to be rescued and wouldn't stop wagging his tail!!! Sadly he had a skin condition which made him itchy and bald as result of him rubbing all his hair. He was also very thin but apart from that he was in good health so we took him under our wing!!!

He is still with us and we are hoping he will find a home soon, as he’s such a great character! He is pictured below, with Julie who rescued him.

Ourevoir to Zofia

2009-07-06T15:07:00.014+03:00

We have recently had to say a sad Ourevoir to Zofia Lisowski. Zofia graduated Liverpool Veterinary University in July 2008 and made a decision to spend 8 weeks with us before embarking further into her career. Before her initial 8 weeks with us were up, she decided to stay three months, before those three months were up, she had decided to return to us for another five months, after spending a bit of time back in her real world, with her family and boyfriend who were possibly wondering if we had kidnapped her permanently!

On her very first day, not all our in-patients showed their appreciation and welcome to our new volunteer vet with kisses, her first patient decided to show her at speed and with great force, both of the undersides of his hind hooves!

In Zof's own words she describes her first few days in the following way: "Initially, my eyes were out on stalks. I was seeing wounds so horrific, animals coming in to ACE so sick, as they'd been left for a few days, more broken limbs than I'd seen in a lifetime - and all this in my first few days! ... I felt at a loss as to what to do and being a new graduate, I started to feel a bit daunted by what was presented in front of me" But she rolled up her sleeves and got stuck in, in every possible aspect.

By the time she had left us, without the comfort of all that a UK veterinary practice provides, she had confidently, proficiently, and successfully been conducting surgery's such as: A sinus flap surgery on a donkey with a huge sinus abscess, a shoulder joint flush, both of which were firsts, not only for Zofia, but for ACE too! Plus skin grafts and numerous other procedures.

In between this, her amazing amazing organisation skills came to the fore, and she was helping us to improve and implement procedures within the office, as well as within the veterinary practices, and procedures (very tidy) of recording and notes on in-patients. Zofia was not content to work all day, so she spent nights organising equipment for sterilisation!

She made a number of great friends amongst the humans and patients. I know that 'Jed' will always be in her heart. He was a donkey brought in for euthanasia by his owners, due to a sore on his back that just would not heal. Zofia decided that she wasn't going to give up on him and so Zofia did her first skin graft which was a great success. 'Jed' now lives with one of our staff and regularly brings food to ACE for our inpatients.

We all wish her the very best in her career, and have no doubt that she will not only go on to be an incredibly successful equine veterinarian, but we also hope she will remain a regular visitor to us, here at ACE. She has left a lasting impression with us and I know ACE has with her, (the skin staples have now been removed and all has healed well!)

I have searched for words to describe and portray my thanks to Zof, in all that she has done for ACE, the animals, and for me, but I cannot find them, or at least words that will do justice for all she has done for us through some quite testing of times. A mere "huge thank you" just doesn't do her contributions and support justice. But THANK YOU Zof, a life long friend to ACE and to me. X

Zofia, stopping for a quick cuddle with 'Jed' on one of his visits to ACE.

Thank you Rosalie

2009-07-04T23:15:00.004+03:00

This time to Rosalie, who has been with us for 6 weeks, to help care for our cats and dogs and also assist in the equine hospital. She has been a tremendous help to all our volunteers and vets and also to the animals. She now returns to Holland to complete her final year in Animal Husbandry. We wish her all the best for the future!

She is pictured below with one of our long term inpatients. He had severe burns after a stable fire and Rosalie has helped nurse him back to health by showering him three times a day and putting on his cream... oh and giving him the odd carrot now and then too!!

Update

2009-06-26T19:49:00.006+03:00

The donkey in the previous post has now received skin grafts - this is when we take some small circular patches of skin form the neck and place them onto the wound. This encourages new skin growth and accelerates healing time. All the 'dots' in the pictures are the new pieces of skin that we have implanted in the wound.

All his stable mates are envious of his impressive bandage!!! Although he's a little camera shy and refused to smile at the camera for us ... or maybe it was the food in his stable!

Saddle sore

2009-06-21T17:46:00.006+03:00

Apologies for not writing for a while, but I have had a few days off on the Red Sea coast in Hurghada.

Whilst I was away this donkey came in with very 'odd ' skin. Just in the area where the harness sits. At first we couldn't understand what was wrong with the skin, and then a large part (as seen in the photo) started to slough off, and eventually came away, leaving a large open wound as seen in the picture. We concluded that the harness was putting so much pressure on the back of this poor donkey that it occluded the blood supply, causing the skin to die (pressure necrosis).

Treatment from now on is wound management, and we are hoping to do some skin grafts on the wound in the later stages of healing.

A poor old horse….

2009-06-10T12:14:00.002+03:00

Luckily seeing a thin horse these days is becoming a much rarer sight, compared to when ACE first started, so we were all shocked when we saw this poor 25 year old mare walk through the gates. She was so tired, thin and lame and was in desperate need of a good rest. She’s covered in lumps and bumps all over from previous injuries and there is evidence of firing on all her limbs, indicating she has been lame in the past too. We admitted her for a few days just to give her 5 days at the hospital for ‘time off’. She is pictured below ambling around at ACE making the most of her holiday!!!

Technorati Tags: thin,horse,animal care,Egypt,lame

Thank you

2009-06-02T10:08:00.008+03:00

...to Alex Malbon, a vet who works in the UK, who came out for a week to visit ACE and to help us out!! We wish she could have stayed for longer!!

She is pictured below, helping Assma inject some antibiotics into the vein of this foal who had an infected joint.

...and also thank you to Stockley Trading and their customers in Littlehampton for their continued support and providing us with a constant supply of cost price vet wrap!!!

Thank you from all at ACE especially the donkeys!!!

Brief update....

2009-05-26T09:05:00.002+03:00

Just to keep you all informed our horse with the injury to his skull is doing really well. He is bright and happy and loves his carrots!!The wound is doing ok, we had some complications with it due to more of the blood supply being damaged than first anticipated. He has also had severe nerve damage to his upper eyelid so will never be able to move his upper eyelid - this should lead to no harm as the eye underneath is fine.
Pictures to follow soon.