Diary of Nicolas the Christmas badger 2007/2008
Background.
Badger:
Boar
RTA area:
Manuden Essex
Date found:
Wednesday 19th Dec 2007 23.00 GMT
Age:
10 months (approx)
Weight:
8.3 kilos
Injuries:
Fractures to fibulas both rear legs (RTA)
Bite wounds to rear leg knee joints (Badger fight)
Bruised and swollen tongue (from RTA)
Massive bite wound below upper right shoulder (Badger fight)
Vet:
Mercer & Hughes S/Walden
Action:
Veterinary surgeon removed dead tissue from the wound and pulled remaining skin together and stitched same, leaving an area of the wound open to allow for drainage.
After care:
Course of Antibiotic injection given in the rump x 3 periods of 24hrs plus Metcam pain killer in the food (period: follow manufactures recommendations) Flea infestation treated with a dose of Frontline Combo. Date 20th December 07. Consulted Pauline Kidner of Secret World prior to the use on badgers. Ok to use on Badger cubs & adults.
Keep in small carrying cage to restrict movement to aid recovery of fractures of femur.
Soft bedding (not straw) the latter to prevent wound being contaminated.
Keep badger warm. To aid recovery.IR Heat lamp (follow manufactures recommendation for positioning)
Recovery location:
Animal Rescue Charity Foxdells Sanctuary, Foxdells Lane, Rye Street, Bishop's
Stortford Herts, CM23 2JG Tel: 01279 501547
Progress:
Badger for the two days Thurs/Fri sleeping at the back of the cage. Covering its eyes with front paws
Sat 22nd some food eaten Grapes, boiled egg, peanuts, did not touch the dog food.
Sunday 23rd all food left out was eaten.
Bedding soaking wet, badger laying on same. Removed top half of cage to remove bedding and body waste, Badger became very active at this point and tried to climb out of cage.
Lifted badger had a couple of bites to the glove. Managed to check the wound, looked well. Put in new bedding, closed up the cage, the latter was a little difficult to do, badger wanted to get out. It settled down sniffed my gloves made no attempt to bite. Prepared some food, as soon as I put it down it started to feed even whilst my hand was still holding the food container. The scent on the glove was his own and this is the reason it did not have a go.
Monday 24th Dec badger transferred into the larger cage with dry fresh bedding and more room to move around.
Vets notified today of the progress.
Very pleased with the badgers recovery so far
Tuesday 25th Dec Christmas day badger was not disturbed by me this morning he is in deep sleep. He finished all the food I left for it during the night so he has a full stomach.
Wed 26th Dec badger eating fair amount of food now and leaving plenty of body waste for me to clear up After tidying it's cage I attempted to have a look at the wound, it decided to turn its rump towards me, and dumped another pile of poo as if to say "that's what I think of you" ha. At least he is eating well and is taking in the painkiller put in the food. Unable at this stage to get a good look at the wound area he is a bit un-cooperative. Good sign.
Thur 27th Dec badger eaten well again .Laying at the back of the cage looking at me, no attempt made to move during clearing out the cage of wet paper and body waste. He covered it's eye's with front paws and went back to sleep. He looked comfortable.
Food prepared: Boiled eggs, grapes, sultanas & currents, jam & peanut butter sandwiches, peanuts, dog meat, water.
New IR Heater Lamp taken to Andy in advance so he can get the recovery pen ready that has a metal mesh run attached. The latter will help assess how well the badgers back legs have healed up.
Fri 28th Dec all food eaten. Plenty of body waste & wet paper /bedding. Badger remained at the back of the cage as good as gold and watched me clean out and replace bedding. Covered with a thermal blanket
Sat 29th Dec all food eaten, again plenty to clear up. Badger allowed me to look at the back wound, looks good. Tomorrow Sun will be the last day giving Metcam.
Placed an order today over the internet 2 x Dull Emitters 250 watt & 2 X plug in Dimmer. Supplier: Wells Poultry Housing, The Bungalow, Twynicynghordy, Brynmawr, Gwent.NP23 4JA Tel: 01495 313838
www.chicken-house.co.uk
Sun 30th Dec all food eaten, Pile of body waste. Reduced amount of wet paper today. Badger remained asleep whilst I changed the paper and put the food in the cage. Today is the final day of giving the Metcam, It has now been 10 days Followed manufactures instructions.
Spoke to Pauline Kidner about her experience with badgers that have had fractures and the time taken for healing. She suggested that towards the end of January the badger should be x-rayed again to check the Femur's have healed and the wound on the back. Until then keep the badgers movement restricted.
Mon 31st Dec All food eaten. Badger pushed away all the bedding that I positioned the night before and was sleeping on the plastic floor of cage. Soiled paper lots of body waste. Changed bedding. leaned in to get the badger to move over so I could spread the bedding, badgers reaction was to back up towards me and dump a pile of waste for me to clear up the badger kept an eye towards the cage opening and given the chance it would have tried to get out. Closed up the cage door, badger ventured towards same, he was a little wobbly on his front legs, and it looked like he was not putting all it's weight on the left front leg I will observe it on my next visit
.
Tues 1st Jan 2008 badger asleep, all food apart from strawberries had been eaten. Cleaned up mess food and water put in cage. As the badger was comfortable I decided to leave him alone and check his front leg when an opportunity presented itself.
Wed 2nd Jan badger asleep all food eaten. Bedding all spread out. And lying amongst the body waste. Badger moved out of the way whilst fresh bedding positioned. Had an opportunity to observe the left front leg, he is not putting any weight on it. Contacted Sarah at our local vet and asked if an x-ray could be arranged of the leg. She phoned back later to say an appointment has been made to attend Stansted practise 10.30 GMT tomorrow Thursday
I returned later today to remove some of the badger’s food just in case having a full stomach under sedation caused a problem.
Thurs 3rd arrived at the vets, I removed lid of cage and placed sacking over the badgers head whilst vet sedated him. I was told I would be contacted later to come back and pick the badger up. I received a call about 15min later, I had just arrived back home, the vet said the badger had a fracture in that front leg, and said the fracture was not there when first examined. And wondered how this could have happened. It was surmised that the injury may have occurred in the captive cage trying to get out. I asked if the leg could have a splint fitted,
The latter was carried out. Received a call 30min later to pick the badger up. On arrival the vet said that if the badger cannot deal with the splint during the next couple of days, it would be better to put the badger to sleep. I was not happy to hear that, especially as the badger is eating well and the fight wound on its back had healed well. I contacted Pauline Kidner and explained the situation; she suggested that the vet have a word with their vet to talk about the badgers injuries. I will talk to the vet on Friday morning. I decided to bring the badger back to my home and keep it in the utility room for observation.
The evening did not go by without some unplanned activity. The badger decided to get rid of the splint. It hobbled out of its bed, Note: the badger now has three fractured legs what it was about to do amazed me. It turned over all the news paper and bedding on the floor. It noticed a gap between the stair gate that I was using to keep it in the room. The gap between the gate and wall was no more than 5 inches (125mm,) it squeezed through into the kitchen. On my approach to it, now from the kitchen side of the utility room, it decided to go back the same way, now it found the door into the utility open, and headed up the passage and dropped a big pile of body waste (nervous reaction) at my front door (nice) then it decided to curl up and go to sleep. (Cheek of it) I cleared up its mess, woke it up and coaxed it back into the utility room. The badger finally settled exhausted on its bed for the rest of the night.
Now that's a determined badger that wants to live. You may wonder how the badger managed to get through such a small gap. The answer: If it can get its head through, the rest of the body will follow. Think of a mouse, they can squeeze through small gaps. .
Fri 4th Jan. Food untouched. Badger fast asleep and remained on its bed all day lifting its head when I disturbed it and then back to sleep. I put a call into the vets at Stansted and asked for the vet to phone me Received a call later this morning. I asked what the previous days x-ray showed. The latter showed a fracture of the Radius Ulna. I mentioned that the splint had come off; the vet said that to prevent further stress and suffering, the badger should be put to sleep I told her that I had discussed with Pauline Kidner about the splint and that as a suggestion from Pauline would the vets be prepared to fit a metal splint secured by bolts, no was the reply. I had anticipated this and earlier made plans with Pauline to take the badger to her. I informed the vet that in that case I will take it to Pauline, this was agreed.
I contacted Pauline who arranged for her vets to carry out the work and to send up a driver Saturday morning 5th Jan, Will depart at 06.00 hrs ETA 09.00 hrs.
Sat 5th Jan. Badger had not eaten much but he did leave a pile of mess this morning and wet paper. Driver from Secret World arrived `10.46 hrs. Asked him how many miles coming up, he said "220, or 440 round trip.
The transfer into the transport cage ran smoothly. Pauline e-mailed me to day to say badger had arrived and was now resting up in a pen with heat lamp, and food.
Sun 6th Jan Pauline sent e-mail back thanking me for the badger’s history and will pass details on to the vet tomorrow Monday. She said he did not eat his supper last night but then he had a very disturbed day yesterday and I'm sure he's got quite a bit of weight to support him after his suppers with you! Just going to get another pen ready as we have another RTA badger coming today- the vet's going to be busy tomorrow!
Tues 8th Jan. Pauline e-mailed me with the following: Badger went into vets yesterday for a good look over. He was given a general anaesthetic and x-rayed. Both fibulas are broken but femur and tibia ok on both legs. Old fracture of toe on right hand back leg. Radius and Ulna broken in front left leg and there are two vets that will operate on him on Wednesday to plate the fracture. He returned Monday afternoon and curled up under the heat lamp and has remained inactive. All food given last night was eaten. I'll let you know after the operation on Wednesday as to how it all goes.
Wed 9th Jan. Pauline contacted me just as I was leaving for a badger group meeting to tell me the sad news that the badger had to be put to sleep. The two vets operating on the leg were hoping to repair the broken bone by fixing a plate secured by bolts the two halves of the broken bones had slipped along side each other, the muscle had shrunk, and pieces of broken bone were found in the joint. The vets were unable to repair the leg and a decision was made to put it to sleep I found it very difficult to talk about this sad loss at our badger meeting last night, and I am still choked up typing this sad news. What we have to remember is, badgers use their powerful front legs to dig setts and find food, without their use, the badger will find it hard to survive. Pauline will be sending me a copy of the vets report.
Thur /Fri 10th/11th Jan. I have informed the staff at the animal rescue charity and staffs at the Welcome Co-op. at Hatfield Heath Essex All were saddened by this news. I received a donation of £150 from an interested friend Mike Yiannakou for our group. A letter of appreciation was sent to him via e-mail today.
Pauline msg
Thur 10th Jan I was so sorry to give you the bad news especially as you were going to a meeting and would have loads of people wanting to know. I have attached Colin's report for your to see. As I said both he and Dominic struggled for over two hours trying to get the bones into a position that they could plate. We were all so very sorry - he was such a lovely badger and like all of them, bear pain and injury without any fuss
Vets report
I am sorry we had to euthanase the badger which we tried to operate on yesterday and I thought I would just explain why this was the case as unfortunately the injury was not possible to repair and so we were left with no alternative.
On xray we confirmed bilateral fractures of both fibulas and interestingly an unrelated, old broken toe which had healed on the right hind foot. The main concern was of course the fracture of radius and ulna of the Left Foreleg. Radiographs showed a midshaft fracture of both bones with the ulna having a 1cm full thickness fragment sheared off the proximal
(Elbow side) segment. The ends of the bones had overridden quite considerably due to muscle contracture following the break and in addition there was a considerable amount of inflammation and fibrous scar tissue forming at the fracture site. During the course of the operation it became obvious that we would be unable to re-appose the ends of the bone or be able to fix them together in a way which would have allowed adequate use of the leg. I hope it will reassure all of the people involved in the rescue of this badger to know that we did all that we could to try to repair the fracture and that Dominic and myself spent a considerable time attempting to re-align the bones before admitting defeat . Unfortunately in the circumstances we had no alternative but to euthanase this badger peacefully whilst still under the anaesthetic. I would also make the comment that although the post accident muscle contracture made things much harder; I believe this particular fracture would have been
Exceedingly difficult to repair even if attempted Kind regards Colin Cheetham
Derek Barry
Field Officer
Uttlesford Badger Group
