A blood transfusion for a porcupine? That’s one prickly situation | 24CA News
An Edmonton vet final month efficiently carried out a uncommon blood transfusion, giving an ailing porcupine a brand new lease on life.
Dr. Darren Mandrusiak works on the Harvest Pointe Animal Hospital, an unique pet hospital within the southeast of town, and volunteers with WildNorth, an animal rescue and rehabilitation group.
“The porcupine actually had a really severe infestation of bloodsucking lice, to the point where it had lost enough blood that it was quite ill,” he instructed CBC’s Edmonton AM.
At the time, WildNorth had two porcupines in its care.
The first, smaller animal, was being handled for parasites that had induced anemia and respiratory an infection. It wasn’t consuming, and was very torpid.
The second, a lot bigger, porcupine had been introduced in after being attacked by a canine. It had recovered from extreme accidents and was wholesome, sturdy and feisty.
The vet and his staff thought of a number of remedies for the sick porcupine however none of them helped.
“That was when we decided the only other option we have is to try a blood transfusion to see if we can get its red blood cells up,” Mandrusiak stated.
The purpose was to get the sick animal transferring and consuming once more.
“We decided because the healthy porcupine was actually so much bigger than the little porcupine that needed the blood transfusion that the risk would be minimal to the donor,” Mandrusiak stated.
But having by no means achieved a blood transfusion on a wild animal earlier than, Mandrusiak was nervous. And the staff did not know if the donor can be a match for the porcupine.
Blood transfusions are fairly widespread for canines and cats. Most emergency veterinary hospitals and critical-care services have entry to the Canadian animal blood financial institution.
There is not any blood financial institution for wild animals, Mandrusiak stated, so contemporary blood needs to be collected from a donor. It was a coincidence that two porcupines have been receiving care on the similar facility, he stated.
“We didn’t know we were going to be able to get enough blood. We didn’t know that we were going to be able to keep the porcupine quiet enough to keep an IV catheter inside the whole time,” he stated.
He and his staff labored swiftly to sedate the donor animal and have been in a position to acquire about 80 millilitres of blood. They carried out the transfusion on March 2.
Carly Lynch, the director of WildNorth’s rehab centre, stated the shelter typically sees porcupines coming in, however has not beforehand not been concerned in a porcupine blood transfusion.
“I know a lot of people would think it’s just a porcupine, why bother?” she stated.
“She was suffering. It’s about compassionate care for those individuals and not necessarily only dealing with endangered or listed species.”
Edmonton AM6:48How the celebrities aligned for a porcupine in a prickly scenario
An Edmonton vet has carried out a uncommon and profitable blood transfusion on a sick porcupine. The animal discovered itself in a prickly scenario — however is now on the mend. To inform us what occurred, we’re joined by the vet who carried out the process. Daren Mandrusiak is from the Harvest Pointe Animal Hospital on Ellerslie Road.
Porcupines are native to Edmonton’s ecosystem and subsequent to the beaver are the second largest rodent species in North America.
As tree pruners, they eat bark and parasites off of timber and in addition are an necessary prey animal for others.
The donor porcupine was launched into the wild on March 27.
The smaller porcupine is therapeutic at WildNorth’s rehab centre, gaining weight and consuming an entire buffet of fruit and veggies, Lynch stated.
Mandrusiak and his staff are at present writing concerning the process for publication in a wildlife veterinary medication journal.
