Rural Animal Care

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Rural Animal Care Helping to make veterinary care accessible to many needy animals in our rural area, just outside Harare, Zimbabwe.

We are just animal lovers trying to make a difference....one animal at a time! We always need help...be it a donation in cash or kind (old bedding, kennels, food and water bowls, collars and leads, etc) OR your time...we would SO appreciate any assistance you could give us. Most of the animal shelters are in a desperate situation and we are mindful of this and help when and where we can. One way w

e help is to rehome shelter babes in good homes, where we can keep an eye on them. Contact
April - 0712 448 766
[email protected]

Rural Animal Care has launched our GoFundme campaign with a target of $150 000 AUD. All donations help us to continue ou...
15/04/2025

Rural Animal Care has launched our GoFundme campaign with a target of $150 000 AUD. All donations help us to continue our work in the rural areas of Zimbabwe, bringing veterinary care to these poor animals.

Visit our refurbished website to learn more about our story and goals:

Website - https://ruralanimalcare.com/

GoFundme - https://gofund.me/8e5d10e0

If you can't donate PLEASE SHARE! Thank you from all of us at RAC!

Rural Animal Care provide essential veterinary care to rural animals through vaccinations, spaying, ambulance services, rehabilitation, and education.

Kruger M FA BrownChasing a Foreign Body After a lengthy stay with us many years ago (recovering from a necrotic bont tic...
30/03/2025

Kruger M
FA Brown
Chasing a Foreign Body

After a lengthy stay with us many years ago (recovering from a necrotic bont tick bite) Kruger M’s very dear to us and we were really distressed to hear that, once again, she was in pain, this time with a hole in her side. No-one knows how she got it, but when Tawanda took her to the vet, they realised that it was very deep, put her on a drip and admitted her for treatment and further investigation - only to discover that she had a foreign body migrating under her skin, in much the same way that bits of shrapnel often migrate in the limbs of wounded soldiers, sometimes many years after the original injury.
Poor Krugie needed surgery to remove it before she could come back to us for rehab, which broke my heart because I absolutely adore her and couldn’t bear the thought of having to let her go again. Having said that, we know she loves her owner - thank God, because when the very old Gogo she’d lived with, died, she voted with her feet, trailing behind the kindly young woman who’d befriended her - and the photo of her gazing adoringly up at Mrs M when T takes her home says it all - after which she happily curled up in her kennel, which we’d delivered to her new home when we discovered she’d moved house!! Every one of the hundreds of animals we take in every year has its own story, but this one was particularly hard for me. This job isn’t something we crazy animal people choose – it finds us, and even though it hurts like hell, we can’t refuse it because it’s more important than we are, and every night of agonizing is worth it when we can help ease the pain of a suffering dog or make things a little easier for some of the other vulnerable little critters around us.

28/03/2025
Rings C FA Bl/TWhelping Complications & Singleton Puppy Syndrome We seldom post distressing cases because fortunately, t...
09/03/2025

Rings C
FA Bl/T
Whelping Complications & Singleton Puppy Syndrome

We seldom post distressing cases because fortunately, they’re fewer and further apart than our happy endings but, given that the tragic outcome of this story was almost inevitable and the info behind it is both interesting and helpful, I decided to include this one. Fielding a call from an anxious owner whose pregnant bitch, Rings, looked as if she’d been on the verge of giving birth for over 24 hours, we wasted no time in getting there, after which Tawanda headed straight for the vet with her, arriving just as dusk was falling. The vets were busy, but when they saw her discharge and raging temperature, the urgency of the situation was obvious and she was immediately prepped for an emergency C Section. Poor girlie. Anaesthetized and finally out of pain, all the vet could do was remove the putrid body of a large single pup (which would have been a breach birth) clean her up and complete her hysterectomy, after which she remained in high care - only to succumb, a few days later, to the septicaemia they’d been trying so hard to get her through.
When Tawanda said the vet had told him it was a classic case of Singleton Puppy Syndrome, I did the usual and looked it up to try and make sense of it. As we all know, dogs usually give birth to multiple pups but occasionally, when only one develops, it’s called a Singleton, and the condition (referred to as Singleton Puppy Syndrome) not only presents extra challenges for the mother and pup, but can often be fatal to both. Altho more likely to be seen in toy breeds like Chihuahuas, it’s uncommon, has no single cause and can be the result of genes, hormones, age (very young or old mothers) infections or poor health and nutrition and, to make matters worse, it’s hardly surprising that it’s very often missed altogether.
Apparently, labour is initiated by the pups, only starting when they produce enough stress hormone to kick it into gear, but when there’s only one pup, with ample space and food, it doesn’t produce enough of this hormone to trigger it, which is a real problem because
the placenta's only viable for a certain amount of time, after which it will fail and if the pup isn't born, it will die in utero. When this happens, if the mother dog doesn’t deliver the dead pup, she’s in danger of becoming seriously ill and ending up with a ruptured uterus and, without an emergency caesarian to remove it, she will inevitably die too, which is what happened to Rings, despite all our best efforts.
Having said that, there’s a bizarre twist to this story because very occasionally, when a singleton pup dies, the mother’s immune system sees it as a foreign body and, in an attempt to shield the mother from infection, encases it in a calciferous substance that mummifies it – creating something called a lithopedion, or ‘stone baby’ – a name that comes from the Ancient Greek for ‘litho’, meaning stone, and ‘pedion’, baby. What’s more, apparently this rare phenomenon is not unique to dogs but can also occur in humans, with 300 known cases of lithopedion fetuses recorded in the history of medical literature, most of which went undetected for decades, only to be found when the women carrying them happened to be X-rayed for other conditions.
Poor Rings, I wish we’d been able to save her, but hopefully her story will make it easier for the rest of us to prevent this happening again on our watch.

RIP Rings ❤

Cookie C FA (Tan Pitbull)   Prolapse (Vaginal Hyperplasia) & SpayCookie had only been with her new owner for a week and ...
04/03/2025

Cookie C
FA (Tan Pitbull)
Prolapse (Vaginal Hyperplasia) & Spay

Cookie had only been with her new owner for a week and a half when Kelvin called us for help, and when Tawanda heard that she’d been given to him after she’d had a vaginal prolapse, he guessed that her previous owner either couldn’t afford to take her to a vet, or wasn’t prepared to do so. Having said that, she’s a lucky girl because Kelvin clearly cares about her and when he realized that sterilization was the only way to ensure that she wouldn’t have another prolapse, he was more than happy to have Cookie spayed while she was undergoing treatment for it at the vet. Although it should have been seen to earlier, no infection or necrosis had set in and it was interesting to learn that the larger breeds are more prone to prolapse than most and as it can be passed onto offspring, it’s not advisable to breed a dog that’s had one - altho that’s purely academic because we don’t believe in breeding at the best of times!! Anyway, back to Cookie - all went well, and before long she was back with us for rehab, wearing an oversized buster collar to make sure her stitches remained intact. Although she wasn’t aggressive, we had some difficult dogs in the kennels and having had a recent incident with a beautiful pit who didn’t appreciate being hassled by a couple of rambunctious youngsters, we decided to err on the side of caution and put her in an adjoining kennel on her own - something she protested vigorously – as we well know, given that the kennels are at the bottom of the garden and sound travels, and I have to say that we were probably as relieved as she was when she was finally able to go back to her new life with Kelvin!!

03/03/2025

Please keep sharing our gofundme link or dm us for local donation details...
the work RAC is doing is SO necessary, these poor people and their animals, have nowhere else to turn 😥

Tsiga D FA Brown Dog Bite Wounds3 days after Tsiga was attacked by a pair of dogs, her owner got our number from someone...
24/02/2025

Tsiga D
FA Brown
Dog Bite Wounds

3 days after Tsiga was attacked by a pair of dogs, her owner got our number from someone and phoned for help, explaining that she’d been bitten by dogs and was vomiting blood. Collecting her from her home in Caledonia, Tawanda took her straight into the vet, where it was a relief to learn that there was no internal damage and the blood she was regurgitating was actually blood that she’d swallowed when she was trying to wash the gaping bite wounds on her lower abdomen. Having said that, they were already infected by this stage and once they’d been properly cleaned and sutured, it was a few days before Tsiga would be discharged into our care, staying in rehab with us until she’d finished her meds, her stitches were out and her wound was healing well. Needless to say, her owners were delighted to have her back, safe and sound, along with a sheaf of animal care leaflets, bag of dog food (to ease the transition back to her usual diet) and a piece of (recently donated – thank you!!) carpet which Tawanda put in the corner of their veranda for her. This would normally be accompanied by a bale of straw, which goes underneath it to make it more comfortable, but as her owners didn’t much like the idea of it going everywhere, T popped back with a little blanket for her a few days later - none of which mattered to Tsiga, who was only too pleased to be home again!!

Storm G MA (Brown) Snake BiteStorm’s owner woke to find him with a hugely swollen, hairless cheek and, knowing how many ...
15/02/2025

Storm G MA (Brown)
Snake Bite

Storm’s owner woke to find him with a hugely swollen, hairless cheek and, knowing how many snakes there are in their area, guessed he’d been bitten by one and phoned for help. As Tawanda and I were already out on a doggy mission, I phoned home and organized for someone to take the poor boy to the vet, where he was admitted, and when the swelling had finally subsided and he was able to go home with his meds, we took him back to Mrs G, who was very relieved to see him. However, appearances can be deceptive and 3 weeks after his bite, he had to be re-admitted when a nasty looking hole broke open under his chin, where a chunk of necrotic skin had just come away. His wound management wasn’t a quick fix but the vets were wonderful and, after 3 weeks of intensive care, a very lucky, battle-scarred boy was finally discharged, and this time for good!! Unfortunately, with it being the rainy season, T couldn’t drive him home because the road was impassible but, undeterred, Storm’s owner waited patiently for him on the side of the road and I’m happy to report that he’s once again bounding around in the bush – although we’re really hoping that he’ll be a little less inclined to investigate every rustle in the undergrowth in future!!

Machinda P MA (Brown & White)  Hot Spot (aka Pyodermatitis) Machinda (whose Shona name translates roughly to ‘One Close ...
13/02/2025

Machinda P MA (Brown & White) Hot Spot (aka Pyodermatitis)

Machinda (whose Shona name translates roughly to ‘One Close to the Chief’) had a painful hot spot on the back of his neck and it looked as if it must have become infected because he’d gone off his food and was obviously unwell. According to Dr Google (no wonder the medics can’t bear him!!) these can be caused by stress, boredom, fleas and allergies, with itchy skin driving animals to distraction as they scratch their skin until it breaks – a situation exacerbated by warm, wet weather when moisture can be trapped in their coats, especially if they’re matted. In fact, it was only when the vet had shaved Machinda’s fur and cleaned the crusty, oozing wounds around his head that the full extent of his problem was revealed and it’s just as well that he was treated because without the correct oral and topical meds for his infection, it would probably have spread to the blood stream, causing serious internal complications which could very easily have been fatal. Having said that, he was treated and, to the delight of his owner, it wasn’t long before he was a happy, healthy little dog again!!

We’re Still Here - Saving lives and easing the suffering of animals as we support their owners and continue to show them...
10/02/2025

We’re Still Here - Saving lives and easing the suffering of animals as we support their owners and continue to show them a new way of relating to, and interacting with, their furry family members. It’s never good news when I fall off the edge of the world but, like The Show – The Dogs Must (and do) Go On!! – and the best way I can demonstrate that is by posting some of the stories of the dogs that have been filling our every waking moment in the last month or so. The world’s not the easiest place for anyone at the moment but I hope and pray that this year will be better for all of us - two, three and four-legged – wherever they may be!!

Spider Kolopo MA (Black & Tan) – Oesophageal Cancer

Having reached the age of 10 (which is pretty old, by rural standards) Spider K had virtually stopped eating and, not only had he lost weight, but he was also getting weaker by the day, which is why his owner brought him to us. Suspecting a Spirocerca lupi infection (a really nasty parasitic infection that can be a silent killer in dogs) he was admitted at the vet, where he was given a barium meal to facilitate the examination of his gastro-intestinal tract and, sadly, when the X-rays showed a large cancerous tumour in his oesophagus, the vets were left with no alternative but to put him to sleep. I don’t actually know if it was caused by Spirocerca, but it’s certainly a possibility, given that their larvae migrate to the oesophagus wall, where they form nodules which eventually cause difficulty with swallowing and cancer. His owner was devastated and, while he doesn’t have any other dogs, we would normally have had to dose any others with a suitable de-wormer and advise their owners to dispose of their f***s properly.
Nb. If you Google Virbac - a South African veterinary pharmaceutical company - it has an interesting little article showing the lifecycle of Spirocerca lupi, which has the dung beetle as its primary host, and several other unlikely critters (like birds, chickens, frogs, lizards and rats) as secondary hosts.

RIP Spider ❤

Please share 🙏
29/01/2025

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There are millions of dogs in Zimbabwe and, in a failing economy where a lar… Lee John needs your support for RURAL DOGS IN ZIMBABWE URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP!!

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