Irrigant selection for treating trauma wounds on injured wildlife patients

Contaminated wounds are frequently encountered on injured wildlife patients. Left untreated, contaminated wounds may result in infection with ongoing complications. Wound irrigation is an essential part wound treatment and arguably the most effective means of preventing wound infection. Successful treatment depends on a number of factors but selecting the most appropriate irrigant for the type of wound, degree and type of contamination, species and patient status is up to the informed caregiver. This article discusses some of the pros and cons of common irrigants used in veterinary wound management and best practices for application.

Foil tape—a simple, versatile tool for turtle shell repair

The repair of shell fractures in turtles is often delayed due to the time, labor and resources involved in many current shell repair methods, resulting in increased stress, handling and recovery time for the patient. This article introduces a new repair technique using aluminium foil tape combined with cyanoacrylate glue, which allows quick, simple and long-lasting closure of fresh shell injuries. Strips of malleable but inelastic foil tape are cut to size and positioned across the fracture at critical junctures, then glued in place on either side of the wound and burnished down to conform to surface irregularities and insure consistent adhesion. This technique is non-invasive, requires no curing time and can be customized for a wide range of turtle sizes and injuries, either as a stand-alone method or a preliminary stabilization tool. In the author’s experience, it has proven to be consistently effective at reducing fractures and staying in place until removal, when it is easily peeled off with no residual damage. The speed, ease and endurance of the foil tape method may encourage more widespread repair of fresh shell fractures and, in so doing, optimize recovery time and results for chelonian patients.

Investigating the effect of habitat modification on chronic stress in deer mice: a preliminary study

Anthropogenic habitat modification can lead to chronic stress in wildlife. This can result in immunosuppression and higher disease prevalence. Chronically stressed individuals typically have elevated baseline GCs and decreased body condition. GCs are called FGMs when excreted in feces and can be used to noninvasively evaluate stress in free-ranging wildlife. In the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)–SNV system, SNV prevalence is higher in deer mice at peridomestic settings, which are human-modified habitats. This is problematic because SNV causes a fatal disease in humans, and thus the higher SNV prevalence may lead to higher risk of infection for humans. In our study, we hypothesized that SNV prevalence would be higher in deer mice at human-modified habitats due to chronic stress. To test our hypothesis, we compared two stress measures (i.e., baseline FGMs and body condition scores) in deer mice from one peridomestic and one sylvan grid over 2 months. Captured deer mice were tagged, weighed, sexed and sampled for feces and blood and were evaluated for reproductive status and body condition before release. Blood samples were analysed for SNV antibodies, and fecal samples were evaluated for FGMs. We found higher deer mouse numbers at the sylvan grid. There were no differences in baseline FGM levels between peridomestic and sylvan populations. However, peridomestic deer mice had overall lower body condition. Given the low SNV prevalence across both grids, we were unable to examine potential correlations between SNV prevalence and chronic stress. Regardless, we conclude that deer mice at human-modified habitats may not be chronically stressed, which may suggest that higher SNV prevalence at peridomestic settings may not be the result of chronic stress. Although we did find that peridomestic deer mice had lower body condition, this may not have been related to chronic stress because there were no differences in baseline FGMs. Longer studies with more site replication are needed to validate and expand on our findings. Our preliminary study adds to the existing body of knowledge that examines relationships between stress physiology and disease prevalence in human-modified environments.

Gross pathology of herons and egrets (family Ardeidae) at a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Northern California

Gross necropsies were performed on all herons and egrets (family Ardeidae) that died or were euthanized at a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Fairfield, California, over a six-week period in the summer of 2018 (n = 145). Of the animals necropsied, 108 (74.5%) were euthanized and 37 (25.5%) died. Common reasons for euthanasia were trauma (n = 24), MBD (n = 39) and non-specific signs such as hypothermia and obtundation that persisted in the face of medical and supportive care (n = 32). MBD was found both in birds at admission (n = 9) and later in care (n = 34), despite calcium supplementation to correct calcium:phosphorus ratios of foods. Feeder fish were suspected to be deficient in vitamin D, and supplementation successfully reduced the development of this problem during the care later in the season. Nematodes of the genus Eustrongylides were found in the coelomic cavities of 43 (30%) birds. High burdens were often accompanied by coelomitis and abscessation involving internal organs. Visceral gout (n = 10) and intestinal perforation (n = 4) were both strongly associated with the administration of meloxicam. These findings suggest meloxicam should be used with caution in these species. Other less common findings included septic arthritis, intestinal perforation and hepatomegaly. This study describes common gross pathological findings of herons and egrets in a wildlife rehabilitation centre in California and demonstrates the utility of gross necropsies in determining cause of death when more advanced post-mortem diagnostics are unavailable

Please, just take two more bites! How to monitor nutrition and encourage self-feeding in rehabilitation animals

One of the most important parts of rehabilitation is nutritional support and monitoring of patients during healing and growing. This paper discusses how to assemble and present diets to promote self-feeding in animals of all types, with a strong focus on birds. This paper also discusses how to monitor the nutritional status of patients, how to respond to nutritional issues and when to intervene with anorectic animals.