The Placencia Humane Society, and Dr Floyd Bennet, hosted a successful May clinic at the Community Center in Placencia.  Maddy was there to greet everyone, get the paperwork going and answer any questions as the pets and there owners began to arrive.  And arrive they did!  For those of you who just have to know, here's some of what we did;
Cat Neuters - 3, Cat Spay - 5, Dog Spay - 2, Teeth Cleaning - 3, Rabies - 27, 6/1 shots - 24, 4/1 – 9 shots

Special guest of PHS this month, 6 feral cats were spay/neutered, bringing the total to 73 cats since the start of the Feral Cat Program last October.  The donations made to this program are utilized for this service. It is nice to get this program back on track after suffering a setback last month when Pat Rarrick, the head of the program resigned unexpectedly.  Her services as the Clinic Coordinator and head of the Feral Cat Program will be sorely missed.  Special thanks to Debbie Coston and Shannon Romero for their help in trapping and delivering this month’s felines.

It's the members and volunteers who are PHS.  Some help at clinics, others help with donations of their time or materials.  A call was recently put out for pillows, sheets and towels.  The sheets and towels are used at the clinics for every imaginable purpose.  The pillows will become stuffing in the new Dog Pillows (Coming soon!).  Special thanks to the Blue Crab, Toucan Lulu and Graham Berrie for answering that call.  And remember, PHS can always use more.  Drop them off at clinic or contact a PHS for pickup.  A special thanks to Jodie and Erin for the kennel they donated.

Every month there will be a clinic special for current members of PHS.  This month it was 1/2 price Heart Guard Plus.  Many of you took advantage of the special and 14 new or renewed memberships were purchased so that they could take advantage too. Other membership benefits include; complementary pet pedicure at monthly clinics, free Tropic Air emergency pet transportation to Belize City for veterinary care (some restrictions apply), and email updates for PHS info and events, adoption email updates.  So if you're not a member, maybe it's time you joined?

Everyone has been talking about how bad the fleas are lately.  I noticed many of the clinic patients were there for skin issues and "sore spots", or just because of fleas.  Hot spots on dogs and cats are usually self inflicted sores that are red, wet and painful.  Dogs and cats will start scratching because of fleas, bug bites, or allergies and open the skin to bacteria, which grows, spreads and a hot spot develops  These spots can become very large and grow quite quickly.

Remember, pets with hot spots have another condition that started the itching to begin with.  The original problem needs to be dealt with.  If fleas are the culprit then a flea preventative needs to be started.  Something like Front line or similar products might work. After treating the cause, the hot spot itself should be addressed.  An effective "home remedy" would be to mix 1/3 Listerine, 1/3 coconut oil and 1/3 water in a spray bottle.  Spray on affected area.  In a severe case, infection is a serious danger and veterinarian should be consulted. 

A special thanks to all the clinic volunteers and especially our Junior Volunteers, Evelyn and Kimberly from Seine Bight.  Thank you Robert’s Grove for you generously hosting Dr. Bennet this month.
If you need to contact PHS please call:
Pam Thomas 629-3599 (surgery scheduling etc)
Shannon Romero 600-2473 (rescues and adoptions)