My monitor lizard Manny had been suffering from compaction and despite numerous visits to the vet, nothing had been resolved. Eventually we were referred to the vets from Bristol Zoo, who once a week take referrals at HighCroft Veterinary Practice. In October 2012, Manny was successfully operated on and made a full recovery.
So I'd been looking for a work placement for quite a long time but work placements, and even regular voluntary placements in anything animal related are pretty impossible to come by. On a wim I called HighCroft Veterinary Practice Referrals Department and just asked the question. It had only been a few months since Manny's operation and I wasn't sure if they'd even remember me. Much to my surprise, especially considering I am a Zoology student and not a vet student, they said they'd be happy to have me.
My first day was with Head Bristol Zoo Vet; Dr Michelle Burrows. Our first consultation was an African Grey Parrot who had a severe feather-plucking problem...in fact, Michelle (who specialises in birds) said it was the worst case she had EVER seen. It was quite a complicated situation with the parrot essentially being pair-bonded to a woman and hating her husband, and after a separation, the parrot ended up being solely cared for by the husband. Naturally the parrot was extremely distressed and his situation became quite uncomfortable for him. The parrot itself had caused so much damage that even when trying to x-ray him, we could barely open his wings due to the amount of dry blood. There was also a horrendous smell coming from them where it was clearly infected. He had even managed to pluck the middle of his back. After testing him for various ornithological diseases and getting negative results, and getting normal x-rays, we had to treat the infection. Michelle prescribed some treatments and provided to direction with regards to improving his husbandry, and we all hoped for the best......I am extremely pleased to say that a couple of months later I did get to see the bird again and his condition was 100 times better and still improving!
Also that day there was an emergency call about a cockatiel that flew into a window. We did an emergency consult and took the bird in for x-rays and bloods. Luckily after a few tests it was determined the bird was in generally good health and able to be released back to his owners.
The next week I was with Dr Richard Saunders. A tortoise had been brought in after not having had the best start in life, with being owned by the same lady for about 80+ years I believe but being left to her own devices in the lady's garden. Due to never being hibernated properly, the tortoise had tried to dig itself into the ground but due to being so large and the ground being so hard, most of its shell was left exposed. Despite surviving every winter after decades of acclimatisation, due to the poor conditions, the tortoise's shell was extremely damaged. More worryingly however, she was dragging her back legs. The tortoise only made it into us as in a sense it had been inherited. The lady had died in her 90s and left her possessions to a friend. Her friend had then seen the poor condition of the tortoise and decided to bring it in to be checked out.
We discovered that the tortoise had a spinal abnormality due to the way her shell had grown and it had essentially cut off the lower part of her spine and paralyzed her back legs. Having lived with the condition for so long, she had seemed to adapt quite well to pulling herself along and Richard recommended putting some lego wheels on her back end to help her move around better. She was also given a treatment plan which consisted of mostly husbandry practices to ensure that her health improved and slowly her shell repaired itself.
Having never really been a fan of veterinary work but wanting to gain more experience in the world of exotics, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed being at Highcroft. It was really interesting to see different species and everyone was so friendly.
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