Exotics 4 Flashcards
Post-op care and follow up for tooth root abscesses
- Repeat poloxamer gel 1 week
- Repeat intraoral exam
○ Conscious at 2 weeks
○ Sedated at 4 weeks
○ Determines treatment interval
○ Helps confirm prognosis - Long term palliation
○ Burring 4-12 weeks
○ Antibiotics as needed
○ Pulse therapy
○ Pain relief as needed
○ Teach owners to palpate and monitor - Repeat imaging
What are the 8 steps to go through when get given a orphaned marsupial
1) provide temporary pouch - place against your body - secure and warm
2) get history
3) determine species - marsupials (only 1 opening) and mammals
4) determine the age
5) determine the sex
6) clinical examination
7) assess prognosis
8) place with joey raiser
what is important history to get when given an orphaned marsupial
Geographic origin - want to re-release
○ Orphaning event
§ Injuries from a fall, beside the road - injuries from that
§ Brought in from the cat - microtrauma from the cat
○ Details of care given to date
How to tell ringtail possum, brush-tail, eastern grey kangaroo, red kangaroo and swab wallabies
Ringtail - always have white tip on tail and bear looking face
Brush-tail - black coloured tail and dog looking face
Eastern grey - always grey
Red - males red and females grey but always have white marking on face to distinguish from easter
swap - black points on face and ears
How and why to determine age of orphaned marsupial with ringtail as example
○ Different stages of development the mothers provide different care so need to provide that
§ Also need different nutrition at the age
○ To determine age need to do certain measurements to find the age factor
Ringtail
Age factor 1 -> when would leave the pouch
- Equivalent to in humans - BIRTH
- So If below this like taking care of a premature baby - DEGREE OF FRAGILITY
How to determine the sex of a marsupial
○ Examine the ventral abdomen cranial to cloaca
§ Males have scrotum while females have shallow pouch
§ Also male marsupials do not have nipples
Clinical examination of orphaned marsupial what need to assess for and common injuries
○ Assess general condition, hydration status, body temperature, attitude
§ NORMALLY -> should want to get away from you back into pouch -> if not depression and lethargy
§ Always assume dehydrated, hypothermic
○ Examine for problems related to the orphaning event
§ Trauma -> fractures common
□ Tibia in kangaroo joeys -> due to position in the pouch common to have triade fractures - fracture in both limbs and tail
Assessing prognosis of orphaned marsupial joey how to determine and when should only be raised if
○ Does the joey have a good chance of survival
§ Consider age factor
□ any joey age fracture less than 0.4 has poor chance of survival, constantly on teat, dependent on mother for warmth
§ Consider circumstance prior to arrival
§ Consider injuries
○ A joey should only be raised if it is:
§ A suitable candidate for future release OR
§ Assured of a place in a captive population - RARE - only used if endangered species
Placing a orphaned marsupial with a raiser who can you contact/give to
○ Anyone working in vet clinic CAN do this but highly specialised job
○ Australian wildlife hospital, Healesville sanctuary
○ Wildlife victoria
○ Wildlife recuse and information network
Artifical rearing of an orphaned marsupial what is important
- Stimulate as closely as possible the animals natural development to optimise chance of normal health, growth, social assimilation
- THEREFORE need to understand the environment, diet and social contact of the animal in the natural situation
Physical development what are the 5 main stages wtihin neonate marsupials
- When born, born in tiny embryonic stage (weigh 0.1-1g) from very short gestation (from 12-46 days)
○ At this stage -> crawled from cloaca in fur, into pouch and onto teat
§ Hairless, Well-developed forelimbs to climb, completely ectothermic, eyelids fused, lips fused expect for part that is attached to teat, low haemoglobin adapted to low O2 environment - As grow -> ears start to increase, start to get whiskers,
- Pigmentation, beginning of fur growth, mouth will fully open
- Full covering of fur - CAN NOW LEAVE THE POUCH
- Thicker fur -> endothermic can maintain own body temperature
in terms of artificially rearing orphaned marsupial what is involved in providing a good pouch environment
- Temperature very similar to that of the mother
○ 35-37 degrees - slower metabolic rate and lower temperature than mammals - Moist within and variable number of teats - teats grow as the animal does
○ Kangaroo have 4 teats -> Almost never see twinning in kangaroo - DO NOT LET KANGAROO SHARE POUCH
○ Bandicoots - generally 2-3 per pouch -> important to know so can share pouches
when marsupials leave the pouch what do possums and wombats do (important so know when artificially rear)
- Possums
○ When leave the pouch start to ride on back at night-time
§ Generally always give birth to 3 and only raise 2 (one drops off cannot fit on back)
○ Still milk dependent during the day while in pouch BUT at night finding out what to eat - Wombats
○ All milk until leaves burrow where follow adults outside burrow
○ Common issue -> allowing wombats to run around house before would leave burrow -> hypoglycaemia
when marsupials leave the pouch what do kangaroos and koalas do (important so know when artificially rear)
- Kangaroos
○ Age factor 0.7 will leave the pouch
§ Will be in and out of pouch -> learning what to eat -> sticking head out to eat grass
○ Will just stick head into the pouch at the end, then start grazing besides mum - Koalas
○ Baby koala leaves at age factor 0.6 and will ride on the belly
§ Before leave for the first time -> eat pap (special liquid faeces) -> to fornicate the gut
○ As get older transition onto the back
Marsupial milk composition why change, what phases and what occurs with protein, fat and carbohydrate and how important when artificially rearing
○ Changes quick dramatically
§ Ectothermic phase -> decrease requirement for energy
§ Endothermic phase -> increase requirement for energy
○ Protein -> Starts at 3% goes up to 7-10%
○ Fats -> increases also, increase density than cow milk -> 1.5-10%
§ Net effect -> HUGE INCREASE OF ENERGY
□ From 2000kJ/L -> 4500kJ/L
○ Carbohydrates -> major sugar is galactose, also have lactose but low concentration and doesn’t vary much
§ Gradually increases until age factor 0.6 -> at this point get gut ready to fermenate grass
□ Loss galactose digesting bacteria from gut
□ THEREFORE if we were to continue giving high sugar to kangaroos at this point will be undigested, remain in stomach - as osmotically resulting in diarrhoea