BIOL*3680 Final Exam

Leave a baby wild animal alone or reunite if…

• Appears bright/healthy with no obvious signs of injury or illness

• Older juveniles are able to walk, hop, or fly a little

• Nest or den is close

• Parents are in the area and vocalizing

• The safety of the animal is not at risk (e.g. dogs or cats in the area that are not restrained and pose a threat to the wild animal)

Four tenants of stabilization

• Minimize Stress

• Thermoregulation

• Provide fluid therapy

• Manage pain

Minimize Stress (5)

• Observe animal quietly, take note of its mentation

• Keep the head covered

• Minimize sight and sound

• Do not place predator and prey in the same area

• Keep wild animals away from domestic animals

Normal temperature of birds, mammals, reptiles

• Birds

  • 41.4 ± 1.2C

• Mammals

  • 36-39.5

• Reptiles

  • Lower

How to disinfect a surface?

• Remove organic matter using soap and water

• Spray a disinfectant

  • Leave for 10 minutes or recommended time

• Rinse thoroughly

• Allow area to completely dry

Record keeping

• Keep medical records, admittance forms and other logs

• Admission information is mandatory

Types of restraint

• Physical (hands)

• Chemical (medication)

• Mechanical (cages or crates)

Considerations for restraint

• Ensure safety + comfort of animal

• Consider weather + climate

• Know anatomy of the animal

• Prevent drying using ophthalmic ointment during chemical restraint

• Have veterinary personnel available

• Provide sedated animals with dark, quiet environment to recover

• Avoid damaging birds’ feathers

Hand capture

Small mammals, birds, primates <5kg, megavertebrates

Cages or crates

• All animal sizes but especially medium-large

• Dangerous species or individuals

• Primates >5kg

Catch-poles

• Small to medium size mammals

• Moderately dangerous species

Nets

• Small-medium mammals

Chemical restraint

• All animal sizes, especially large

• Dangerous or non-manageable species

• Large ungulates and herbivores

Restraint concerns

• Stress

• Environmental impacts

• Thermoregulatory concerns

Fractures of the wing (4 types and their signs hccr)

• Humeral (wing completely drooped)

• Coracoid (wing held horizontally)

• Carpal (wing appears backwards)

• Radial (wing less drooped than humeral)

Guidelines for physical examination

• Use a systematic approach (do not rush to obvious injury)

• Have appropriate restraint methods available

• Do not perform a physical examination in an unsecured room where an animal could escape

• Consistency is important (be able to recognize “normal”)

• Be thorough but efficient (keep head covered, do not take more than a few minutes)

• Stop and euthanize the animal if an injury is found that would deem the animal unreleasable

When would a suspected spinal trauma be unreleasable?

• No deep pain response

Steps for the physical examination

• Calculate heart rate by listening to the heart for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4

  • In mammals: b/w 7th and 9th rib

  • In birds: over the back, on the side or over its sternum

• Calculate respiratory rate by observing rise and fall of the chest for 15 seconds

• Look in its eyes, mouth, nose and ears

• Note any external parasites

• Take note of the mentation

• Take temperature

Mentation

• Bright, Alert, Responsive (BAR)

• Quiet, Alert, Responsive (QAR)

• Obtuned (not very responsive, somewhat aware)

• Stupor (unconscious but responds to stimuli)

• Comatose

Body condition score

• Score out of 0-5 for mammals

• Keel score of 0-3 for birds

Monitoring

• When the animal was admitted, you would have made a problem list

• Note what to watch for based on the problem list or species

• Note any subsequent injury/illness on the problem list

• Assess the animal on a regular basis

Assessment (monitoring)

• Look for changes to the initial intake or from “normal”

• Have a systematic approach

• Reassess the problem list

7 things to check during assessment (monitoring)

• Check wounds

• Are splints/wraps in place?

• Are there new wounds, breathing concerns, pododermatitis? How’s waterproofing?

• Look at colour, odour, abnormal smell or swelling

• Check hydration

  • Pull up skin over eyelid in birds or pinch skin between shoulder blades in mammals, should go back to normal within a second

• Can the animal urinate?

• Check nutrition (are they eating, how much? what are they eating? are they eating yet losing weight?)

RER

• Resting Energy Requirement in kcal

• K x (body weight in kg) + 70

MER

• Maintenance energy requirement in kcal

• RER x 1.5

Adjustments to MER (starvation, trauma, sepsis, burns, moulting, growing)

• Starvation 0.5 — 0.7 x MER

• Trauma 1.0 — 1.2 x MER

• Sepsis 1.2 — 1.5 x MER

• Burns 1.5 — 2.0 x MER

• Moulting 1.5 — 2.0 x MER

• Growing 2.0 x MER

Tail guards

• Help protect vital flight feathers

• Needed if a bird is not perching well or if it is in a small enclosure to restrict movement due to a fracture

How to do a body wrap on a bird (3 considerations)

• Body wraps are temporary because the patagial cannot be restricted for a long time

• Unwrap vet wrap and roll it back up loosely

• Don’t pass the keel and don’t go too low as you wrap

What does fracture healing time depend on?

• How good the stabilization and maintenance was

• Infection present

• Age of animal

• Type of animal (birds heal quicker than mammals > turtles)

• Health status of animal

How to do a figure-of-eight wrap

• Use for any fracture distal from the elbow

• Immobile the joint above and below

• Make sure primary feathers don’t come up (overflexing the carpal joint)

Stabilizing a fracture with a splint

• Immobilize the joint above and below

• Use stirrups to stop bandages from slipping off

• Make sure limb is in a natural position

• Place an outer layer to keep dirt out

• Check bandage twice a day

Splints in young mammals

• Zed splint

  • Babies

  • Paperclip along femur

• L splint

  • Young animals

Clinical signs of below 5% dehydration

Not usually detectable

Clinical signs of 5-7% dehydration

• Some loss of skin elasticity

• Tenting of dorsal surface of toe/foot; between shoulder

• Loss of roundness of eyes

• Tacky or stringy mucous membranes

• Skin doesn’t slide smoothly over back, keel

Clinical signs of 10-12% dehydration

• Tented skin stays in place

• Dry mucous membranes

• Coolness to extremities

• Depressed, may be flat

• Rapid heart rate

Fluid replacement formula

Maintenance + Pathological loss + Fluid deficit

How to administer fluids? (3 considerations)

• No more than 5% of body weight at a time

• Not too much fluid in one spot

• Use appropriately sized needle

Needle sizes

• <120g = 27ga

• 120-500 = 25ga

• 500g-1kg = 22 or 23ga

• 1kg-2kg = 20 or 22ga

• >2kg = 18ga

Routes of fluid administration

• Oral (used in stable patients, risk of aspiration)

• Subcutaneous (most commonly used, can puncture air sacs in birds)

• Intravenous/Intraosseous (must be done by vet)

• Peritoneal (not commonly done in turtles)

• Intramuscular (not used for rehydration)

When not to administer subcutaneous fluids to birds?

• Subcutaneous emphysema

• Subcutaneous air sacs

Common isotonic crystalloid fluids

• PlasmaLyte A

• Normosol-R

• Lactated Ringers Solution

• 0.9% Sodium chloride

Subcutaneous fluid administration location

• Birds

  • Side of inguinal fold

• Mammals

  • Between the shoulder blades

• Insert needle bevel up

Maintenance rates

• Birds: 50 ml/kg/day

• Reptiles: 10-30 ml/kg/day

• Baby mammals: 70-100 mk/kg/day (higher end in rabbits, lower end in other mammals)

• Adult mammals: 50-90 ml/kg/day

Fluid replacement equation

• Total volume required

  • Maintenance (mL) = Weight (kg) x maintenance rate

  • Deficit (mL) = Weight (g) x % dehydrated

  • Pathological loss

• If it exceeds 5% of body weight, then give 75% of deficit on day 1 and 25% on day 2

Five tenets of head trauma

• Appropriate thermoregulation

  • Keep temperature “low normal”

• Provide oxygen therapy

  • Do not provide too much oxygen for turtles

  • Use 100% oxygen or oxygen concentrators

• Provide anti-inflammatory medication such as meloxicam

  • Never administer corticosteroids

• Elevate the head 30 degrees if animal is unconscious

• Provide fluid therapy but do not overload the animal with fluids

Types of parasite migration

• Mucosal (in stomach, abomasum or intestine)

• Tracheal (through GI tract)

• Somatic (blood system)

Parasite persistence in the environment

• Thin-walled eggs are easier to kill with warm soap and water and/or bleach

• Eggs with thicker walls and sticky coating require very high heat (ex. Baylisascaris)

Parasite host types

• Intermediate

  • Immature stages or asexual replication occurs

• Paratenic

  • Does not develop but serves for transport

• Definitive or Final

  • Reproduction occurs

Ectoparasites + their common hosts (5)

• Myiasis (maggots)

  • All animals

• Bot flies

  • In lagomorphs

• Lice

  • Common in birds

• Ticks

  • All animals

• Mites

  • Causes mange in animals, species-specific

Treatment of ectoparasites

• Prescribe topical, injectable and/or oral medications indicated for the ectoparasite

• Ovitrol is commonly used in rehabilitation centers

Coccidia

• Common in many wild animals admitted to rehabilitation centres

• Can lead to diarrhea and/or failure to gain weight

• Toltrazuril is the treatment of choice

Cryptosporidium

• Often causes watery diarrhea

• Thin wall and is small in size

Sarcocytis neurona

• Definitive host is the opossum

Neospora spp

• Known to cause morality and anecdotally paralysis

• Treatment induces doxycycline and trimethoprim sulfa-type drugs

Giardia

• Beaver fever

• Watery, mucoid and foul-smelling diarrhea

• Not easy to see on a fecal flotation

Trichomonas

• Commonly seen in pigeons via crop swab

• Treated with metronidazole

Flukes

• Eggs are oval, operculate, yellow-to-golden brown and can be quite large

• Hard to detect on flotation as they do not always float

• Treated with fenbendazole

Cestodes

• Tapeworms

• Most concerning tapeworm is found in canids because they can form cysts in non-definitive hosts

• Eggs can be infective once shedded

Raccoon roundworm (appearance + treatment)

• Thick protein coat and a dark centre

• Treatment is usually with fenbendazole, pyrantel, selamectin, ivermectin

• Once clinical signs appear as a result of VLM, euthanasia is recommended

Strongylid/Stronglye-type nematodes

• Hookworms and lungworms

• Thin-shelled and smooth-walled eggs

• Parelaphostrongylus tenuis is the meningeal worm found in moose, elk and deer

• Treatment is with fenbendazole or ivermectin

Syngamus trachea

• Gape worm in birds

• Causes coughing, gaping and/or gasping

• May cause exercise intolerance and/or stretching out neck to get air

Strongyloides spp

• Threadworms

• Treated with fenbendazole and/or ivermectin

• Smooth, oval shell with plugs on each end

Capillaria spp.

• Found in birds

• Bipolar plugs, smooth oval shell

• Treated with fenbendazole except in pigeons

Oxyurids

• Pinworms

• Adult worms are seen around the anus

• Often seen in porcupines

Acanthocephala

• Found in the intestines of waterfowl

How to perform a fecal flotation?

• Take fecal material, add fecasol, agitate and loosen material. Add more fecasol to create meniscus

• Wait seven minutes

• Eggs will float to the top and stick to cover slip

• Look at cover slip under microscope

Crop Swabs

• Insert a moistened cotton-tipped applicator and swab the crop

• Rub cotton swab on slide and add a drop fo saline

• Look quickly before it dries

What are some considerations we must think about for wildlife in our care?

• Illness/injury acquired in our care (iatrogenic issues)

• Appropriate husbandry, nutrition, enrichment

• Stress of the animal while in captivity

• Skill & resources available (financial and human resources)

• Pain / medical management (unless orphaned, most have some degree of trauma, dehydration, etc.)

• Does the animal have a good chance to be released?

Brambell Commission’s Five Freedoms

• Freedom from hunger and thirst

• Freedom from discomfort

• Freedom from pain, injury or disease

• Freedom to express normal behaviour

• Freedom from fear and distress

Aspergillosis

• Fungal infection that occurs with poor/low ventilation, high humidity, high stress and/or immunocompromisation

• Grows in air sacs of birds

• Can be prevented with itraconazole

Aspiration Pneumonia

• Occurs as a result of neonate mammals being handfed

• Prevented by feeding baby on its stomach on a 45 degree angle with its head elevated

Carpal, keel, and other injuries

• Due to poor husbandry

• Know the species for which you are caring and provide them with appropriate care

  • Water available for water animals

  • Net-bottom caging

  • Carpal bumpers

  • Tail guard

  • Towels with no strings or loose fibres

  • Appropriate substrate

Types of wounds + descriptions

• Abrasions

  • Epithelium scraped off

• Incisions

  • No jagged edges, cut clean

• Lacerations

  • Jagged, irregular edges

• Contusions

  • Bruises, green in birds

• Punctures

  • Very high risk of infection and internal damage

• Avulsions

  • Tear tissue from part of the body

Healing process

• Stage 1

  • Inflammation and debridement

• Stage 2

  • Repair and proliferation

  • Granulation tissue forms (bright red and fleshy if healthy)

  • Epithelization occurs

• Stage 3

  • Maturation, slow process

How to treat a wound (4)

• Gently debride necrotic tissue

• Clean the wound with saline, isotonic fluids or dilute soap

• Apply three layers of bandaging

  • Non-adhesive to absorb exudate

  • Wrap to hold in place

  • Protective layer

• Clean wound once a day or every 2-3 days if not dirty

Types of wound closure

• Primary

  • Suture within golden period of 6 hours

• Delayed primary

  • Wait before closing to allow for infected wounds to be cleaned

• Second intention

  • Most often used in wildlife rehab, usually the best course of action

Factors to consider with regards to how to close or allow wounds to heal

• Time elapsed since injury (do not suture if >6-8 hours)

• Degree of contamination (clean and treat without suturing if contaminated)

• Degree of tissue damage (do not suture damaged tissue)

• Completeness of debridement (do not suture undebrided wounds)

• Blood supply

• Tension and dead space (risks sutures breaking down)

• Wound location

• Animal health

Topical therapeutics (5)

• Antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, anesthetics, moisturizers

• Hydrogels absorb fluid from the wound, prevents pressure and debrides through rehydration

Bandage layers

• Primary contact

  • Low, non-adherent

• Secondary layer

  • Provides a cushion, moves bacteria away from the wound bed, immobilizes the wound

• Tertiary layer

  • Protective layer

  • Protects wound, keeps other layers in place, provides some water resistance

  • When wrapping a leg wound, leave toes exposed in mammals to monitor swelling

Systemic antibiotics often used (2)

• Beta-lactams

  • Do not give orally to rodents or lagomorphs

• Sulfonamides for rodents and lagomorphs

How long to use antibiotics for a wound?

• Until granulation bed is formed in a wound

• If gastrointestinal signs are present, change antibiotics

Complications in wound healing

• Infection

• Myiasis

• Self-mutilation from boredom, improper bandaging or discomfort when managing wounds

• Scarring

• Loss of function

Considerations when feeding young animals (6)

• Never feed baby mammals on their back

• Disinfect all feeding tubes and syringes

• Follow instructions when mixing formula and let it sit for 4 hours

• Babies need to be warm and the gut should be moving before feeding

• Stimulate baby mammals to urinate and defecate

• Weigh baby before every feeding but after stimulating

Sample feeding schedule

• Initial feeding: warm Pedialyte only 100% for 2-3 feedings

• 75% Pedialyte, 25% formula for 2-3 feeding

• 50% Pedialyte, 50% formula for 2-3 feedings

• 25% Pedialyte, 75% formula for 2-3 feedings

• 100% formula

Gavage feeding

• Placing a tube down its esophagus

• Choose an appropriate size feeding tube and lube the tube

• Food should be prepared, mixed and allowed to sit about 4 hours in advance

• Do not exceed 5% of body weight

Gavage feeding steps

• Warm the solution/food

• Measure length of tube needed to reach the crop and mark

• Lubricate the tube

• Prime/charge the tube by putting some gavage solution in

• Extend animal’s head upward and insert the tube

• Slowly dispense gavage solution

• Pinch tub and withdraw, let head come back to a normal position

How can you minimize refeeding syndrome? (4)

• Choose nutrition options that contain potassium, phosphorus and magnesium

• Provide high fat, low carbohydrate based nutrition that is introduced slowly

• Monitor PCV and TP daily

• Supplement electrolytes if required

How would you provide nutrition to an emaciated wild animal?

• Understand the body condition of the animal

• Obtain a fecal analysis to know if the emaciation is caused by parasites

  • Obtain a PCV, TP, blood smear and electrolyte analysis to indicate how the animal may do with its condition

• Provide stabilization

• Can provide vitamin b injections

• Provide an external heat source and oxygen

Release criteria

• Age

• Weight

• Physical fitness

• Disabilities

• Ability to reproduce

• Behavioural and social criteria

• Recovery from injury

• Feathers and waterproofing in birds

Principles of treating oiled wildlife

• What role do you play in an oil response?

• Do you have the resources, training, and permission to rehabilitate?

• What are the limits that must be placed on the number of animals on intake?

• Can the animal be successfully rehabilitated?

Process to remove oil (1, 2+1, 3+1, 4)

• Admit the animal

• Assess the animal and stabilize

  • Eye care, remove oil from nares and oil cavity

• Wash, rinse and dry

  • 40-41 C water, use only Dawn detergent, flush eyes regularly with saline to prevent infection,

• Rehabilitate and release

Imping

• Using prosthetic feathers from a donor cadaver of the same species and life stage

• Cannot imp all primary feathers, do not imp more than 1-2 feathers

Housing considerations (6)

• Make sure towels do not have strings or loose fibres that can cause entrapment

• Do not house birds in wire cages where they can injure their feathers or hit their head

• Only use paper tape or vet wrap to stabilize bird wings

• House animals on appropriate substrate

• Ensure bars/wires are not made of a toxic metal

• Ensure animal cannot get its teeth around the bars of the cage

Steps for Completing a Case

• Assumptions

• Intake + Stabilization (with record-keeping) + Welfare Considerations

• Physical Examination

• Case-Appropriate Treatment (fluid therapy, fracture/wound/trauma management, parasitology, feeding if emaciated)

• Monitoring

• Feeding and Housing Considerations

• Release (release criteria) or Euthanasia

Initial Nutrition Support

• Within 24-48 hours of adequate hydration

• Supplement with thiamine and other B vitamins

• Introduce small amounts of easily digestible food (3-5% of body weight) divided into 3 to 4 feedings per day

• Begin with oral fluids on the first day followed by Pedialyte (glucose free) on the second day

• Provide easily digestible diet such as Carnivore Care, Hill’s A/D (alimentary diet, scrambled egg with shell in or salmon.

  • Avoid diets high in carbohydrates

• Provide 3% of body weight for birds, no more than 20% of RER for mammals

• If regurgitation occurs, discontinue feeding for 24 hours, and begin again with oral electrolytes in smaller volumes

Transition to Solid Food

• Once dehydration and electrolyte abnormalities have resolved

• Begin with 3-4 bite size pieces of skinned mice, quail with no feathers or bones, or boneless fish (for fish eating birds) soaked in warm water 3-4 times per day

  • Hand feed or force feed if bird is unwilling to eat on its own

• If the animal is passing feces normally, and there is no regurgitation or crop stasis (birds), continue to slowly increase amounts offered daily by 10-20% until 100% of RER is achieved over 5-7 days.

• Once the animal is eating a normal amount of food for its age and size, begin to offer whole prey in 7 to 10 days. Monitor for pellets (in raptors) and fecal output.

Refeeding Protocol (8 steps)

• Determine if refeeding protocol is required

• Collect initial diagnostic parameters

• Rehydrate and establish appropriate electrolytes

• Provide heat, oxygen and antibiotics

• Begin oral fluids once stable

• Introduce 20% of their RER divided into 4 – 6 meals

• Slowly increase RER by 10% a day

• Transition to natural diet for that species