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My
friend Shirley recently received this little female wombat
into care after her friends found her on the side of a south
coast road.
Her
predicament, and the reasons for her rescue, were rather traumatic.
Shirley's friends saw a dead wombat on the side of the road
and stopped to check the wombats condition. The wombat was
a female, and her pouch looked used but there was no sign
of a joey. Maybe another motorist had already stopped, found
a joey and collected it?
On
the way back home again Shirley's friends decided to stop
for another check. Thank goodness they did, as a short distance
from the mums body, they found this tiny little wombat - she
weighed only 500 grams. She had grazes over much of her body,
her nose was bleeding and she was dehydrated - but she was
still alive!
Amazed
that such a tiny animal could live through such an ordeal,
they named her Hope.
Hope
was quickly transferred to Shirley, an experienced wombat
carer and Hope's intensive care was started.
The
first thing Shirley did was rehydrate Hope, and then she was
moved onto a milk replacer regime. Hope little body was also
rubbed down with lubrication to rehydrate her skin from the
outside as well.
Hope
was a very sick little girl. It was one week before she would
even open her eyes - her pain must have been pretty bad. Shirley
put her all into this little girl so that she could pull her
through the worst few days - nursing a critter this tiny and
so badly injured is hard work and often ends in tears.
Shirley's
dedicated paid off, but when Hope did eventually open her
eyes, Shirley noticed that she didn't open one eye very much
at all, and made a mental note to talk to her vet, Howard,
about it.
Howard
had been in Sydney for a few days and was directing Shirley
on Hope's medical care over the phone. When he arrived back
home Shirley quickly took Hope to Howard's surgery so that
he could perform a full assessment of Hope.
Howard
checked the eye that Shirley had been worried about and with
experienced hands gently probed under the eyelid and found
a small chunk of wood. No wonder she kept her eyes closed!
He
also found that she was suffering dermatitis. Native animals
can get stress related dermatitis, and Hope had been through
a very distressing time - it was no surprise that Hope's skin
had borne the brunt of her distress.
Hope
was started on a round of antibiotics and Shirley was allowed
to take her home. This little wombat isn't out of the woods.......
but
there's hope for this little girl yet.
Shirley's
update on Hope
After
writing the above story based on a quick email Shirley sent
me, I sent it to her for editing. Shirley returned the story
with new photos of Hope having an oatmeal bath to soothe her
skin and the following short update.....
Hope's
weight has gone from 500 grams to 635 grams in nine days.
She was being fed Biolac 100 G milk replacer, but I have now
changed to Biolac M150 as she is progressing well. I
am still feeding her every 3 and half hours. Her love of the
bottle has helped her survive!
She
has a bath every day with oatmeal in the water and oatmeal
soap. Her skin is starting to look better and the dermatitis
is not as bad, although she will have to be bathed for another
week at least.
Having a bath does not worry her at all as it is very soothing.
After her bath I then apply QV cream - that, she is not too
happy with and she has tried to bite me a couple of times
(what a hide!).
She has shown signs of being stressed when left alone so I
now carry her around every where, and also sleep with her
next to my heart. My husband, Peter, thinks I am spoiling
her! I've not had to do this with a wombat joey since the
2002 bushfires when I received a one kilo girl who had a burnt
back and feet. I feel that when they come into care after
a very traumatic few days they need a little extra T.L.C!
stay
tuned for more on Little Hope.....
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