Carolina Raptor Center Rehab Blog

Patient #15766, sharped shinned hawk, found Charlotte

This patient arrived this morning from a veterinary clinic is Charlotte.  She was diagnosed with spinal trauma/leg paralysis, as well as having a Capillaria infection.

Capillaria spp. is a nematode that inhabits the oral cavity, crop, and intestines.  Clinical signs can be nonexistent, or they can include anorexia and weight loss, which is normally secondary to necrotic lesions in the mouth and the digestive tract.  Capillaria is very common in birds of prey, although we rarely see the clinical signs of it in the mouth.  This specific patient, #15766, had white, creamy/cheesy debris on right side of tongue and also in a deep grove on the upper right side along edge of beak. The lesions consist of inflammation and ulceration of the mucosal surface caused by the parasite. We swabbed the lesions and cytology showed a massive amount of capillaria eggs. These infections are treated with a five day course of fenbendazole. 

Capillaria eggs seen in an oral swab from patient #15766

This is the first patient to receive the antifungal medication, voriconazole, that we were able to purchase because of the successful Power2Give campaign.  Thank you for helping save this bird!

Patient #15724, found in Wake County NC

This juvenile red-tailed hawk came to us with no major problems other than being slightly anemic and having some mild bruising.  After about a week,we rechecked his blood and discovered his WBC level had increased significantly since intake.  This implies infection.  Today, we performed an endoscopy.  While checking his left abdominal\thoracic airsacs, we saw white, globoid lesions immediately upon entry near the cranial pole of the kidney.  The lungs were okay but the air sacs were diffusely milky and hypervascular with many small lesions spread around.  These are classic clinical sign used to diagnosis an aspergillosis infection, so we immediately started him on voriconazole. 

Thank you for contributing to the campaign which allowed us to purchase this medication!

As you can see from the photos, the eye looks great.  There is no swelling and the suture line is dry. The lesion between his eyes is just a dry, dark scab and it looks like it will pop off soon.  Most of the lesions on his feet are dry scabs but there are still several active, bloody wounds.  His PCV is up.  Overall, his health is definitely improving.

We moved him outside to a small rehab cage last week.  He was alert and up on a high perch, but he stopped eating.  Today we brought him back inside for observation, and are hoping that he will start to eat again.

Tomorrow will mark ONE WEEK since our good friend and Rehab Fellow, Liz Aulette-Root, left us to move to Mexico.  We just wanted to tell the world (well, the small world that follows the CRC Rehab Blog) what an amazing job she did.  First, I want to apologize to Liz for hijacking her pretty photo.  Second, I want to apologize to Liz for the story that I am about to tell.

Liz started as a volunteer in 2009.  I remember her well.  She was quiet, but it was more than evident (by her face) that she was grossed out by the process of food preparation.  Although, this isn’t abnormal for a new volunteer.  How natural is it to cut a rat in half?  Not so much.  But then, at the start of her first full shift, she asked if she was allowed to wear a face mask.  Like, a surgical mask.  It was scented.  This was a first.  Never had a volunteer worn a surgical mask to prep food.  She stood out, but she didn’t care.  People stared, but she didn’t care.  She powered through it.  She wanted the rehabilitation experience.  She wanted to learn and be involved.  Well, it worked.  She quickly became an essential member of our team and a fearless grabber.  The face mask was removed. 

Liz transitioned into an intern and then moved to a fellowship position. She gradually took over more and more responsibilities until she was running shifts by herself.  She excelled in all areas of raptor rehabilitation, including communicating with the public, teaching new volunteers, and of course, the medicine.  After working with her for over two years, we can say, without a doubt that she truly has a gift with animals.  We will miss her (and already do), but feel lucky to have had her as part of our team.  We are excited for her new adventure!  Thanks for everything, Liz!

Golden eagle, Patient #15695, has been with us for 4 days now.  He is eating very well and is fairly calm.  We plan on getting another blood sample tomorrow.  If his PCV is above 30, then we will plan surgery as soon as possible. 

This is only the 6th golden eagle (including one that was captive hatched at CRC and released) that has been admitted to CRC Rehab.  So, that’s 6 out of 15,699 birds. 

In 2011, CRC rehab admitted 834 birds total.  Of those, 174 were orphaned raptors.   Our release rate was approximately 65-70%.

2011 Admissions by Species:

18 American kestrels

17 bald eagles

168 barred owls

27 black vultures

17 barn owls

22 broad-winged hawks

79 Cooper’s hawks

57 Eastern screech owls

1 great blue heron

66 great horned owls

2 merlins

1 northern harrier

16 osprey

1 peregrine falcon

163 red-shouldered hawks

140 red-tailed hawks

10 sharp-shinned hawks

27 turkey vultures

Thank you…to the individuals that found and rescued the injured birds.   Thank you…to our volunteers that are the backbone of CRC.   Thank you…to the donors that help make CRC successful.  Thank you…to all of the people that support us because they love raptors as much as we do. We look forward to great things in 2012!