A Week With ...
Lisa Argilla and the team at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital Lisa Stuart, BVSc (dist),
PGCertSc.
I was privileged to be awarded the 2020 Dechra/CAV “A Week With …” opportunity and chose to spend my week with the amazing team at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital. Since early in my career, I have been lucky enough to be involved in assessment, treatment and referral for rehabilitation of New Zealand native birds. Mostly, it has been kereru who are notorious for window strike injuries. Wanting to update my knowledge and learn from experts in this area was the reason I applied for this award. Founded by Dr Lisa Argilla, the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital opened its doors in January 2018 on the grounds of the Otago Polytechnic, School of Veterinary Nursing. It is only able to exist through phenomenal fundraising efforts headed by Jordana Whyte, who manages the Wildlife Hospital Trust, and local community support. The core team of Dr Lisa Argilla, veterinarian Dr Lizzie Thomas, senior veterinary wildlife nurse Gina Martelli and veterinary technician Emily Brewer, were supported by volunteers, Department of Conservation rangers, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust rangers and Penguin Place conservation reserve volunteers during the time I spent with them. Planning my visit for 16–20 November 2021 meant I arrived right in the thick of hoiho (yellow eyed penguin) chick season. Intensive monitoring of wild nests by rangers allows early identification of chicks failing to thrive
Contact: lisas@vetsouth.co.nz
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The author taking the opportunity to get to know Uri the kākāpō, a patient at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, who was recovering from cloacitis.
Photo courtesy of the author
and they are then brought to the Wildlife Hospital for assessment and treatment, with the goal being to return the chicks to their original nests. It was an eyeopening experience to see the level of detail and effort put into the chick monitoring. All chicks are weighed daily, their food is calculated based on body weight and percentage of weight gain/ loss calculated. Depending on their age,
the daily number and quantity of feeds of fish slurry given via oesophageal tube are adjusted. In the 2020 season the team was also dealing with a number of chicks coming in with stomatitis lesions, on which information was being gathered for further research. Any chicks which died or were euthanised had a post-mortem examination and samples collected for this research.
Companion Quarterly: Official Newsletter of the Companion Animal Veterinarians Branch of the NZVA | Volume 33 No 1 | March 2022
