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Wildlife First Aid
Last updated - Tuesday 30th December, 2008
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This is the Story of 'Bootie' Wombat
Sadly we lost Bootie It was 20th November 2008 and she finally, after a long battle with coccidia, had to be euthanased. It seems she was never meant for this world. To add to our shattered dreams for her, her little buddy Lance Mintern also died on 1st December. Our shelter is devastated. For the sake of the remaining 24 wombats at the shelter and countless other injured and orphaned native animals we continue to strive to make a difference!
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This is her story......................... |
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DAY ONE - Friday 11th July 2008 Late afternoon a call comes in from a local vet - a baby wombat has been found, alone, and injured. The Shelter collects it and makes an appointment at Healesville Sanctuary for the next day. This baby is very flat and a little unwell to say the very least. |
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It looks as though this baby girl may have been alone for a couple of weeks. She is weak, very thin and suffering from the classic injuries of another wombat attack - the back of her neck and rump are "pumbellated"! | |
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DAY TWO - Saturday 12th July Our baby doesn't move an inch overnight! She is a bit growly and would bite given half a chance. Given all this she is taking her bottle well! Later in the day the vets at Healesville Sanctuary assess the damage. She weighs in at 3.5kg Peeling away all the dead skin on her neck and rump they find new skin and hair already growing. They think the injuries are a week or more old. Debriding all the dead tissue and flushing out the deep bites, it all looks horrific - but - this isn't as bad as it could be. Mabel Wombat was far worse than this! She has a very deep cut on her back right foot which takes many stitches to close. Covering all the raw areas with a liberal amount of Silvazene Cream she is ready to come home. |
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DAY THREE - Sunday 13th July The day starts with a very grumpy little girl we have named "BOOTIE". The name comes from her little orange bandage on her foot and the fact that we think she will be shaking her bootie alot later on. She is feeling and looking a lot better. The raw areas on her neck and rump are less red and the antibiotic injections are proving easy to give under her skin. She is behaving impeccably. Bootie has got a little bit of a runny nose so we will check this with the vets on Thursday when we return to the Sanctuary to get her foot checked. |
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DAY FIVE - Tuesday 15th July
Today we had a look at her foot. Bootie managed to keep her little orange bandage in place, although it slipped, it didn't come off. The wound is looking good, no smell or weeping. Not long till we visit the Sanctuary. All is well. It took two of us to hold her and another one of us to wrap her foot back up in her new funky blue bandage. Bootie is loving her bottle although she still thinks she is a Grisly Bear!! |
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DAY SEVEN - Thursday 17th July
What a day! On the way to Healesville the Sanctuary contact us and divert us to a wombat rescue in Launching Place. On arrival there we find a female wombat stuck in a drain. The gentleman who phoned the Sanctuary helped us (two poor feeble women) to get her out of the drain. She has massive head injuries and sadly a dead baby in her pouch. We must assume it drowned as she was laid in a pool of water!! The poor mum is popped into our 4WD and off we go again, back on track. Aren't Healesville vets wonderful! They had planned a lunch out for themselves but due to us and another poor hit and run wombat arrival, they cancelled it! True dedication. So, our poor injured mum was euthanased. It seems she had been there for a day or two, she may have been there a lot longer had she not been spotted. Back to Bootie - She is looking great as you can see from the photos. Her foot needed another stitch. She has a small infection deep at the back of her throat, hence the runny nose. We just need to keep an eye on her. She will need checking again in a week. |
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DAY TWELVE - Tuesday 22nd July Back at the Sanctuary - the vets have restitched the side of Booties foot again and she is fitted with a new white bandage. Bootie is now feeling quite a bit better - she has been introduced to new friends, especially Lenny who has been in the same situation (see Newsletter page). There are two other little girls at the shelter who are the same age and weight as Bootie but it's Lenny who is interested and getting on really well with her. Today Bootie weighs 3.7kg |
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Monday 18th August Today we took Bootie to the Sanctuary for tests. She is not doing too well at the moment. Over the past few days she has developed severe diarrhoea. But, her back has healed wonderfully and the hair has regrown to a short stubble. Her scars are a bit nasty and lumpy, something to keep an eye on. Testing Bootie's poo doesn't reveal anything but symptoms suggest she may have coccidea. This is a nasty tummy bug and can be fatal so the vets dose her up with medicine and we keep our fingers crossed. She is brought back indoors and will receive one on one nursing.
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Tuesday 26th August Bootie has had a really bad week. We thought she may die a couple of times. She hasn't much interest in her bottle and it has been a real struggle to keep her fluids up. Encouragingly she is still eating grass and managing to have a wander about from time to time. Our visit to the Sanctuary today was a really stressful time. Again her poo revealed nothing. Something else must be going on! As Bootie is looking a little perkier today she has an anaesthetic and the vets investigate her scars a little further. The x-rays reveal some calcification in her lumps and bumps! Blood tests show that her kidneys are fine but this calcium in her scars is a real worry. The vets remove one lump to send away for pathology. We will have to wait for the results. During the procedure Bootie decides to stop breathing and the staff have to intubate! This happens a couple of times and causes us some heart attacks. The vets are terrific and finally Bootie awakes and later that day is actually pottering around the kitchen looking quite good! Are wombats tough or what?
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Friday 29th August Today Bootie is looking really happy. She is tearing around the kitchen like a normal little wombat. Still horrendously thin but taking her bottle and eating well. The long acting antibiotics she received on Tuesday must have done something good! Let's hope she continues like this and the pathology results don't show up anything nasty!
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Sunday 31st August We have had a little setback. Our girl isn't as happy today. Not overly interested in her bottle but will take it with a little encouragement. Life with Bootie is one long roller coaster of ups and downs.
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Thursday 4th September Look how Bootie's fur has regrown. She is back to the Sanctuary for a checkup and more blood tests. She popped the stitches on her shoulder from last week and so they have to be redone! You can see how her furn has regrown down her neck and rump. she still has a problem with those scars and the lab wants more blood to check what's going on! |
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Just waking up from her sleep, looking a little dozy with one of the vets. Bootie has gained weight and is now 4.22kg - its a long, slow process! |
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Saturday 11th October 2008 Just look at me now. Most of Booties fur has almost completely regrown and she has finally settled for a steady new boyfriend called Lance Mintern who is totally devoted to our little girl.
Those nasty scars on her neck seem to have diminished in size so hopefully there will not be a problem for her in the future regards the calcium build up we were all so worried about.
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Here we see Lance Mintern (left) and Bootie posing happily together.
Bootie is looking a lot happier and healtier than before - seen here (far right) in an earlier photo taken in July |
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