Hedgehog X-Ray

Have a nice x-ray of a hedgehog. Thought l would share it here. You can see the spines along the side of the hoglet like a halo.

Hoggie came in collapsed, the vet x-rayed to check for anything obvious. Nothing was earth shakingly showing and he made it through his problem and went to wildlife rehab, many don't. They get poisoned, hit by cars and sliced up by strimmers.
Worse case l saw was a hedgehog that had 2 long red stalks with black tops on sticking out of a hollow cavity. We think a tractor pulling a hedge cutter that was working the area had cut the top of his head off and scooped much of his brain out. We all leapt for the pentobarb unable to believe that what we were seeing was still alive. The soggy noises as it tried to breath and the waving stalks that were his eyes confirmed it was.

A Bird in the Hand.

I am at a small surgery for August weekdays, no nights and weekends and a lovely group of staff. Well no nights and weekends unless l get a call in like l did last weekend to my old job.
This practice is one of those places where if l go on the motorway it is a big circular trip. No traffic lights but at certain times long tailbacks. Option 2 is straight across a couple of towns with traffic lights but half the distance. I have yet to decide on the best route.

We had a dove in a couple of days ago it had been found collapsed but did try and fly so the decision was made to try and treat it. Yesterday it had a fly round the room till it met the glass on the door then slid down it. The vet decided that it was well enough to be let go, any longer would not do it any good.
A couple of hours later when we had some spare time l took it over the road and threw it towards some bushes to let it live or die as nature would decide. He flew off landed near a bush and walked under to get his breath back.

The aux and l were having a chuckle about it coming back across the road and demanding room and board or something to drink, l got up to get something from the waiting room and stopped dead…. A pigeon was crossing the last steps to the pavement, jumping onto it and walking towards the door. I took a few seconds to realise it was a different species and bird just initially they looked similar. The bird made short work of a bread crust by the door and flew off.

That got the aux. and l reminiscing and she was telling me about a blackbird they had rescued at one of the branch practices she had worked at.
It was very poorly and they carefully nursed it for about 5 days when it was able to fly. She took it to some bushes near the practice, threw it up into the air….. and it exploded in a puff of feathers as the magpie that was nesting in the trees took it out, landed on it and ripped it to bits.
She said he jaw just hung open they did not realise the magpies were there. She wanted to kill the bloody bird for what it had done and also felt very guilty for the end of the poor blackbird. There was nothing she could do except stare in disbelief.

Roe Deer RTA

I am on a set of nights. Actually so far it has been pleasantly easy, unlike my last several sets of nights. However that can change with the weather.

Friday morning brought a new police call out a deer (size unknown) had been hit by a car, could we attend. I rang the driver. He arrived back about 6:30 with a roe deer in the travel cage in his estate car and parked inside the building. This was lucky as normally the van would park outside.

I helped him start to lift it out when it woke up fully. Although roe deer are not large when you factor in the fact it was scared silly and fight or flight was in full flow and it had a double branched antler so was fully adult and not a baby it was a handful.
While the driver was trying to stop it hurtling off and hitting a wall or us l tried to wrap the towel tight around it’s eyes while holding hard down on the antlers which were long and had a double spike, to try and stop them slashing upwards into the driver who was bent over, trying to control it and myself trying to keep a hold of the towel so l could wrap it. After a short hard struggle it gave up and stood still the towel nicely blocking sight.

“Iso” l said and he agreed. Isolation was in the same area as the car so easier than anywhere else. We dragged and pushed it to iso and had just got in when it went off again.
I had the horns but we also had a slippery floor that was wet to contend with. We all started to slide downwards. I jammed my foot into the drain hole as l did not want the deer to stick a leg into it. And that seemed to slow us down. I saw the drivers head snap back and thought l heard a hollow “pock” noise so l pushed harder down on the antlers. Again after a few minutes we got control shoved the deer into the walk in and l looked at the driver.

He was holding his nose and wiping blood off it. An antler had slammed into the bridge of his nose, another mm and it would have been in his eye. Thankfully he just had a nasty bruise on the way. It was also lucky the car was parked inside Had we been outside and the deer got away from us it would have been a danger to traffic as well as being confused and lost. Having said that trying to catch it in the building would not have been fun, assuming it had not slammed into a wall and killed itself.

The deer had a sore head from meeting the car but there was no obvious damage. Well apart from the cut on the drivers face and scrapes on the deer’s head and it was released later in the day where he was found.

A relaxed Roe Deer, defiantly not our one.

Swan Song

A hissing double armful of feathers and glaring eyes owned by the Mute Swan was carried in by the collections driver. “Where do you want him, isolation?” Usually we put wildlife down there as it is quiet and away from the bustle.

“Did he look injured or what” l asked.

“Dunno” was the helpful reply. “He seems happy enough he landed in a ladies garden. A group of idiots was giving me a load of mouth so l made sure that his head, hissing and glaring at them over the gate, was the first thing they saw when l went out. After that all l heard was **** **** that thing has rabies and they legged it” This last comment of his was delivered with an evil smirk.

To be fair swans can be daunting, they are big, hissy birds, especially when they stand up tall and flap their wings. They are not a bird to handle unless you are confident. If you do need to move them a short distance hold their necks, just below their heads they are generally fine, you can aim them in a direction by turning their head and push them gently on their bodies. Sometimes have to get hold of their body/wings with the other arm as they may get upset and wing you. If they do peck or clobber you with their wings then it can hurt.
For longer moves they need carrying. RSPCA and RSPB have fancy swan bags with zips and handles, us poor folks have to make do with arms only. As swans get heavier and you release their neck hold to get a double armful of slipping body and kicking feet they twist round and depending on their mood, glare into your eyes or peck you where ever they know it will hurt you most.

I gave the swan a quick once over, there was nothing obvious. And thankfully no swan feather mites, well I’m told that is what they are. Grey, about the size of peas that have been on steroids and they stalk well slide with a bolshie strut on their multiple legs in and out around the feathers, usually around where your arm would go and daring you to grab the swan.

The vet grunted from the desk where he was writing up notes “Put him on the floor here in prep we can see how he’s walking”

Once placed on the floor the swan drew himself up, flapped his wings to settle his feathers and disrupt dust and paperwork which all went flying around in the wind, then he hissed at us, shook his head at the state of the place. Never mind that he caused it with wing wind, and went for a walk.

Dog ward door was closed so he peeked into the laundry room, and withdrew fast, good move there was a tottering pile of blankets in there ready to fall on him.
Small furries ward (rabbit, ferret, guinea pigs, birds etc) and combined bedding storage had a close inspection, luckily no patients in. He was about to climb onto bedding that was being folded so I quickly shoopered him out. Swans have big gloopy faeces that splat and l did not want clean bedding messed up. The look the auxiliary gave me warned l would be in a worse state than the bedding.
Swanny hissed at me but followed the direction l was turning his head and shoving his bum and walked out the door and back towards the sink in medical prep. I was about to take him down to iso. when he settled down, stuck his head under his wing and went to sleep.

This stumped me swans never do this they stalk about, hiss, shit, and if you annoy them peck or wallop you with their wings. I looked round for some ideas and the consensus was he is quiet and well behaved leave him be, let’s see what happens. So l got him some food and water which he ignored and we carried on with work.

He was very comfy, ignored all the patients that passed him, looking in amazement at the strange headless feathery thing “thing”. We had to climb over him to get to the sink and all he did was sleep or open an eye and then snooze again, unreal. Finally after about 4 hours l had to shift him, I needed to wash a cat, it had some gunk on it and Swanny was just too much in the way.

I tried to push him backwards a bit but he got annoyed and went for a walk, back to small furries and settled down between the bedding store and kennels by the 2nd door. I stuck a warning note for no entry so he did not get squashed and we left him.
Apparently he was finally moved and placed into a walk in kennel in dog ward at about 7am just before day shift all started to trip in.

He was released at a suitable swan take off pond later in the day and flew off, quite happy after a good nights sleep.



What did you wake me up for?

A Snake in the Hand

I thought it about time l put up some stories of my life as a kid growing up in Rhodesia. Snakes tended to appear unexpectedly in life in Africa and then slide out again.

One day helping my Mum and the gardener move paving slabs l noticed a tiger snake curled up on a slab. I casually said, “Look mum a tiger snake”

“Don’t be silly” said my Mum not looking.

“Yiiiiyeeeeeeeeeee” the scream from the gardener was followed by a crash as he threw away the slab and went into a sprint that an Olympic runner would do justice to.

The noise made my Mum turn round, she headed off in the other direction.

I did what any sensible child would do under the circumstances. I grabbed the snake around the head. He had enough of humans and was about to slide off in the 3rd direction. African Tiger snakes are lovely golden snake with black stripes on goign across the body, they are back fanged and not particular poisonous, this was an adult roughly 2 foot long.

I asked Mum, who was casting dark looks at me and telling me to put it down "NOW", to find a box and punch some holes in the lid.
As l refused to let go the snake she was in a dilemma so took the easy way out and got me a box. I took it round to Mark for his snake collection.

Mark l knew from my class at school used to have a huge snake collection and lived just down the road. I would visit him with Jane, one of my 2 best friends who lived opposite him. Marks parents thought he had a few non poisonous snakes.
The reality was that he had about 40 snakes, some safe, some semi poisonous and moving all the way up to highly venomous like puff adders, various cobras and similar.

He had been known to have one of his semi poisonous snakes give him a bite so he was feeling ill and could miss tests. I guess the moral of the story is that parents should really learn a bit more about kid’s hobbies. Nowadays problems from the internet are easy to deal with, at least that can be solved by pulling a plug.

Jaguars and Kids

When people go on holiday with kids they often leave them in children’s clubs. They feel safe in the knowledge that the kids will receive the best care with sensible chaperones. The safe feeling should never be believed.

I was at Tenerife zoo doing a general check around before l started feeding. There was a children’s holiday club group having a look round with their minder. I had seen them having an ohh and ahh but largely ignored them.

Until l was walking back towards the big cats, one kid was holding onto the jaguar’s enclosure wire. The second was walking towards the wire and the third was being lifted over the barrier by the minder. The rest were asking to be next [over the barrier]

I froze for a fraction of a second in disbelief. Life went into slow motion. Luckily the jaguars were also disbelieving, but one was crouched and thinking about an attack, l saw his body position change in readiness, the two other were wheeling about ready to sprint, they had a child each if they wanted.
I bellowed to get those **** kids the hell out of there, NOW NOW they stared at me and backed off scared. The Jaguar’s settled back a fraction confused at the sudden clamour and my run and shouting.
The cretin in charge pulled the one child she was lifting over back and l grabbed the other one and hauled it out somehow. The third half climbed out when l hauled it the rest of the way.

l was incandescent with rage. I could not believe that anyone could be so stupid. The kids had almost been shredded and killed. The jaguars would have been destroyed; the zoo would have been in huge trouble.
The cretin said well they could not see clearly you have those stupid barriers there.
I think l went from incandescent to out of earth orbit. She got such a ripping off from me she just stood and stared in shock. She really had no idea until l let loose just how close things came to exploding into death. To her they were cute big cats.
I followed it up by booting her and the kids out of the zoo. Paco spoke to her bosses and she came back to apologise. Paco allowed her and future kids back but she had learnt her lesson.

I still shudder at how close it came to a real disaster. So if you go on holiday and use a holiday club, just be warned.

Marmoset in a Mask

Well Sunday started off quiet but then went a bit silly. I was getting paranoid about reception picking on me! Every time l answered the phone they were putting people onto me for advice on whelping bitches. After 4 of these calls l refused to answer the phone again. I used the excuse l was busy with inpatients. I was but l just ignored the phone and let others answer it. Suddenly a sheet of paper was thrust into my hand with the comment J…(the vet) says you can sort this.

I should have dropped the paper and said no, go see someone else l am to busy, but l glanced at it. “You are kidding me” l asked the receptionist who was grinning at me.
“Nope have fun” she said her revenge complete at my not answering the phone and making her come down to prep, l was hooked and reeled in and she disappeared.
***Advice wanted for marmoset having difficulty giving birth, please ring back.***
I rang the owner and it turned out that the marmoset had been pushing since at least 12 midday. I explained we had to see it as soon as possible.
In dogs and cats we usually say if they have been pushing non stop for 20 to 30minutes we need to see them. I did not hold out much hope for the little marmoset’s baby/s. It had been pushing pretty much non stop for about 7 hours.

A quick peruse on the internet for some info to thrust under the vet’s nose on drugs and doses and a look in the exotics book for more useful on drugs and caesareans in marmosets. While l was checking things out the senior night vet had come on duty. The Jr. vet decided he was clocking off and disappeared into the blizzard that was blowing outside.

The marmoset finally turned up and the vet came through asking me to mask her down. She was impossible to examine otherwise. I decided to have one go at getting her in the induction chamber if it did not work her owner could do her. I did not fancy chasing a marmoset around the room, or getting bitten.
It would have been ok if her bed had not been super glued to the bed box she was in, and l did not realise it. As l pulled it all out with her in the middle the blanket whizzed back downwards, her head popped out and chomped my finger while she used a few choice phases. I just sucked and washed a bleeding finger.

The chomp on my finger meant l proceeded with plan 2. I felt if l did not the bite would turn into a crazy romp trying to catch a marmoset in the op prep area and l was not keen on that. I took her through and asked her owner to pop her into the induction chamber.
Fancy name for a largish Tupperware box with 2 small pipe in. You connect the anaesthetic gas to the one pipe and the other the tube to remove used gas. Little animals drop off for a "snooze" without holding them and stressing and upsetting them more, or getting bitten, risk them escaping etc.
It also doubles in it’s other life as an oxygen “tent” for rats, hamsters, birds and other small animals.

Once she was asleep l grabbed a passing auxiliary and we took Millie, * (*not her real name) into the x-ray room. I had not weighed her as the postal scales were bust, did a guestimate on weight and settings for the x-ray machine. The picture came out really well of 2 babies that were not going anywhere without a caesarian.

Back to prep room. The vet came through to place an ET tube in her to breath through during the operation but he had not operated on a marmoset before and could not visualise her throat layout so she was to stay masked for her operation.

It took some time to get her clipped up and cleaned and placed comfy under her mask with head and body supports to stop her rolling sideways.
The mask had to be supported as l did not want it falling off or damaging the tiny marmoset and it was not self supporting. It was quite a big mask with a tight rubber seal and small hole that Millie’s head fitted in. I also needed to make sure that the auxiliary's hand was not going to cramp as she had to hold the mask upright during the op.
I needed to be free to sort the babies, pass any equipment the vet may need, monitor and adjust the anaesthetic gas, check Millie’s stats as best l could around the vet and his incision. Not easy as my stethoscope head seemed to be bigger than Millie. Ok maybe an exaggeration but it is still large when dealing with a tiny animal having an operation.

It went very well from a technical point of view, a standard caesarian of which we have a lot. Unfortunately the babies were as expected dead. One was flattened, probably from the movement and straining the other l did start to work on but it was quickly apparent that it was also dead.

The vet went a bit cross eyed at the very thin suture material he had to use to “zip Millie up”. Like the ferret the sutures were hidden under the skin so that she can not pick at them, followed by a layer of glue.

Post op I gave the op area a clean, there was another caesarean, this time a dog lined up. The guinea pig that had been due to have a caesarean died on the way into us. That was someone else’s job, home beckoned. When I left for home at 22:00 Millie was back in her kennel and had snuggled deeper into her house. Recovering and confused about what had happened and despite pain relief still sore on her abdomen.

Animals do not equate pregnancy with emotions like people do. They need to sniff, lick, hear, feel and see the young before they realise what is happening. They do not have the same feelings that humans do if they loose them as Millie did. It is not a baby growing inside them just a fat belly.
They also do not get the emotional problems that some women do either if they can not have babies. This is different to phantom pregnancy’s l am talking about attempts to conceive hence spaying (ovariohysterectomy) is not the trauma for animals it can be in women. In fact it stops the phantom pregnancies and (generally) the risk of mammary tumours or pyo’s.
The problems come with animals because people ascribe human feelings to animals instead of looking at what they are and understanding, or trying to understand the species specific animal feelings.

Post Op Recovery Still on Oxygen (blue tube)

Wildlife Vet Work

Working with wildlife can be challenging and this video explains some of the pitfalls.

A Croc in the Hand

New year made me think of when l was at Tenerife Sur zoo and new enclosures. Paco who owns the zoo decided to build a couple of new crocodile ponds, one for the 7 or so Nile crocs only about 3 to 4ft long at that point.

It was a lovely area and he worked bloody hard on the landscaping and habitat. When he had finally completed the building and the move l was sitting with Marco who owned the reptilarium within the zoo grounds. We were sprawled out having a coffee looking at the crocs.
“Crocs climb well” l said looking at the new home.
“Yes” mumbled Marco
Did you not sort of mention it to Paco, l tried but he told me to bug off, he knew that and that it was too nice an enclosure for them to try and get out from” l said
“Well l tried to warn him but he told me similar” replied Marco.

We slurped our coffees watching the crocs having a “new house explore”. They approached the low fence, about 2 or 3 ft high mesh, very different from the solid brick and concrete 4 or 5ft high wall of their old home.
“What’s the betting they climb out soon as they get to the fence” l asked Marco.
Marco’s English was not too good (he was Italian) but he got the gist of what l asked and said that he was not going to loose money by saying they wouldn’t climb out.

Croc one got to the fence and set up it like a monkey up a tree, 4 more followed in quick succession. We sat and drank our coffees, trying to decide how far they would get before Paco discovered them. It was a very quiet day no public were in the zoo. It was a Friday which is a big change over day for holidaymakers, hence the lack of concern on our part.
The escapees set off with different ideas. A couple headed for the main entrance to do some sightseeing around the area, one went back towards his old home and a couple sunbathed on the warm concrete pathway.

The ones heading for the exit were spotted by Paco who was doing the gate that day. He came out of there like a scalded cat and was off like a weasel on steroids to catch them. We sat and drank our coffees and munching on some peanuts l found in my pocket.
As fast as Paco got one miscreant rounded up and back in the new house area and went to grab another one of the others made a break up the wire climbing to freedom. By now all crocs were at some stage of being repatriated, climbing out or walking nonchalantly around the zoo. We pointed out helpfully where the escapees were and had a very entertaining half hour trying to guess who would head in what direction. In the end Paco "dumped" them all back into theor old housing unit till he arranged and carried out a redesign and rebuilt the surrounding mesh.

He marched up to us and asked what the hell we were doing just sitting watching him, why hadn’t we come and told him and helped him. Marco told him that we had warned him some weeks before about what would happen and as he had told us to piss off and do something useful we felt it was our duty to not interfere.

You did not have to speak Spanish to understand what he said to us before he stormed off back to the gate. We finished our coffees and ambled back to work. We had work to do and no time like some to go and play with crocodiles all morning.

A Squirrel in the Hand.......

What a day yesterday, l barely had time to dump my junk, bag, dog bed and accompanying dog when l was tapped on the shoulder by a receptionist and asked to go help the lady with the squirrel loose in the car. I tried to think of something clever to say but it was to thin air, the receptionist had gone.

I fetched a towel and tried to look like catching squirrels loose in cars was an everyday occurrence. It turned out that the couple had seen the car in front hit the squirrel, it was knocked unconscious. They stopped and put the squirrel in a box, but it escaped when it recovered.

The car was a small Peugeot type 2 door. I struggle to tell the difference between a lorry and a mini so that’s the best l can id it. The important thing was lack of internal move area. I politely booted the husband out the car so l had room to move and tried to grab the squirrel without getting bitten.

I played move the seats several times while contorting into amazing shapes trying to reach the creature. Somersaults are possible in a tiny space.
The car owner l pushed out the car decided to help at one point. He opened the door, knelt and leant in. I did not realise and happened to whizz the seat forward for a different angle of grab as the squirrel had again moved, and walloped the car owner in the head. He backed out rubbing his head with a sheepish look when l muttered about escapes and slammed the door.

Then the squirrel played dirty and headed for the air conditioning duct and dashboard. I froze, what no one needed happening was it becoming an integral piece of the car, an injured cat had done that to me before.
The squirrel wriggled to go upwards and l grabbed. Got the body slid to the tail and held about 2 inches of de-gloved tail in my fingers, a matching length of naked spine pointed out of the end of the squirrels tail.
Thankfully back under the seats went the squirrel, l again grabbed clear air. Then l got lucky, he did a U turn and headed into my towel, and was trapped.

We had been one of those catch 22 situations. It had obviously recovered and I could have told them to go back to where they found it open the doors and chase it out before l tried to catch it. It is illegal to release a grey squirrel when caught but it was not caught, it was still loose. But if it had headed under the drivers feet mid drive and they had crashed, then it could have turned a bit sticky.
Now l had it we could put it to sleep or treat it but it could not be released, ever. If we chose this course we needed to find a rescue group willing to re-home it.

The decision was If someone was found that would re-home it, the vet would remove the half of the tail. A home was found and the young couple were willing to transport it over. Assuming there was no lasting damage from the car crash, chase and anaesthetic.

The fun l had trying to grab it in the kennel in the morning, confirmed it had recovered, and l waved it a thankful goodbye.