{"id":1198,"date":"2013-05-16T18:03:47","date_gmt":"2013-05-16T08:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=1198"},"modified":"2013-06-27T11:41:19","modified_gmt":"2013-06-27T01:41:19","slug":"slam-dunk-for-otter-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=1198","title":{"rendered":"Slam dunk for otter health!"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Sea<\/a>Training animals in zoos is not just about enrichment \u2013 although that is certainly a worthy aim. Increasingly, trainers are working with veterinarians to condition animals for medical examinations and even therapy.\r\n\r\nThe benefits are obvious \u2013 being able to undergo diagnostic tests and treatments without the need for sedation and general anaesthesia minimises the potential for iatrogenic harm and builds a bond between the patient and veterinary team. But staff at Oregon Zoo in the United States discovered another benefit when their efforts to assist an aging otter went viral in a public relations coup.\r\n\r\nThe patient, a 15 year old male neutered southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis<\/i>), was admitted for a routine veterinary examination last year. Eddie has lived at the zoo since he was abandoned off the California coast as a pup. According to zoo experts, he would not have survived otherwise.\r\n\r\nLife in the wild is tough for many otters. Southern sea otters are fully protected mammals under several state laws, having been designated as a threatened species in 1977. Once hunted for their pelts, an unknown number are now inadvertently killed through entanglement in fishing nets. Others become caught in crab and lobster cages. Gunshot wounds account for a small percentage of human-related mortality.\r\n\r\nAccording to the published literature, sea otters are especially vulnerable to oil contamination, with oil spills from ships travelling along the California coast the primary threat to this species. Studies of stranded sea otters have revealed residues of chemicals including dichlorodiphenyltrichloro-ethane (DDT) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). There is a documented association between elevated concentrations of some chemicals, such as PCBs, and evidence of infectious disease, suggesting that chemical contaminants are a major driver of mortality. Lack of food and safe habitat likely also play a role.\r\n\r\nCommon afflictions of wild sea otters \u2013 as determined by necropsy studies of beach-cast carcases \u2013 include protozoal encephalitis (especially related to Toxoplasma gondii<\/i>), shark attack and cardiac disease. Interestingly, otters killed by sharks or heart disease were more likely to have Toxoplasma<\/i>-related encephalitis.\r\n\r\nEddie the Otter boasted a medical history that was largely unremarkable, with the exception of several tooth extractions secondary to tooth fractures, and chronic left corneal oedema. At fifteen, Eddie is considered geriatric \u2013 the average lifespan of a captive sea otter is 15 to 20 years.\r\n\r\nAccording to veterinarian Mitch Finnegan, Eddie had been on contraceptives (delorelin) that suppressed his testosterone since March 2007, until he was surgically castrated in May 2012.\r\n\r\nAs patients, otters can be challenging.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt depends on the otter,\u201d Finnegan said. \u201cSome otters, like Eddie, can be aggressive and bit when provoked. They have amazingly strong bites.\r\n\r\nOn the other hand, otters are highly trainable critters.\r\n\r\n\u201cGenerally all of our interactions with the otters are facilitated through the trainers. We try to avoid anaesthetising these animals any more than we need to do when we do have them anaesthetised we usually give them full exams including bloodwork, urinalysis, radiographs and sometimes ultrasound \u2013 depending on how anaesthesia is going.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnaesthesia also provides an opportunity to administer routine treatments.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn some areas they require heartworm prevention,\u201d Finnegan said. \u201cWe do not do it here due to low risk. Internal parasites are typically not a big concern in captive environments. Our otters are not on regular vaccines, but some otters [at other institutions] are vaccinated for rabies, feline panleucopaenia and\/or canine distemper, depending on the perceived risk.\u201d\r\n\r\nEddie\u2019s last full examination was performed when he was anaesthetised for castration. At the time Finnegan used a combination of fentanyl and midazolam.\r\n\r\n\u201cNothing remarkable was found at the time except for very subtle signs of degenerative joint disease,\u201d Finnegan said.\r\n\r\nMild degenerative changes were present in Eddie\u2019s stifles, elbows and hips, despite a lack of clinical signs of arthritis.\r\n\r\nRepeat radiographs were taken months later \u2013 this time using operant conditioning \u2013 to monitor progression of the disease. Keepers did not report overt signs of arthritis at the time.\r\n\r\n\u201cMany of our animals do not show overt signs of disease, including osteoarthritis, until it is very severe,\u201d Finnegan said. \u201cTreating an asymptomatic animal may seem like a stretch but we thought that if we could appreciate changes on radiographs that he was probably having some degree of pain from the joints, whether he showed it to us or not.\u201d\r\n\r\nEddie was started on a conservative dose of meloxicam and misoprostol.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe talked to the keepers in general terms about keeping him active and challenged without making it too hard core \u2013 that is, back off if he seems sore after working him.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThey took the ball and ran with it,\u201d Finnegan said.\r\n\r\nIn fact, keepers used a variety of activities \u2013 many ball related \u2013 to keep Eddie engaged and active.\r\n\r\nLead sea otter keeper Jenny DeGroot had to develop activities that exercised all of Eddie\u2019s joints \u2013 including his elbows. There aren\u2019t many natural opportunities for sea otters to work their elbow joints as they don\u2019t use their front limbs to swim. According to DeGroot, they swim by moving their hindlegs and flipper.\r\n\r\nBut sea otters are incredibly dextrous critters. They use rocks to open clam shells. DeGroot had to develop activities that could employ this dexterity to provide some physiotherapy for Eddie\u2019s elbows.\r\n\r\nHe had already been trained to retrieve an object and bring it to the keeper\u2019s hand on cue \u2013 an activity he enjoyed. At some point, trainers developed the idea that being able to pick up and throw the ball would help Eddie move his elbows in just the right way.\r\n\r\nKeepers began by raising their hands in higher increments to encourage Eddie to reach up out of the water.\r\n\r\n\u201cOnce he had that motion down, they added in a hoop,\u201d DeGroot said. \u201cAs keepers held a under under the hoop, Eddie learned to bring the ball up over the hoop to deliver it to the keeper\u2019s hand. Eventually, we took away the hand, and let Eddie drop the ball through the hoop, pairing this behaviour with a verbal cue.\u201d\r\n\r\nEssentially, the basketball behaviour was trained by asking Eddie to retrieve the ball and bring it to the keeper \u2013 just incorporating the hoop into the process. Incredibly, it took just a week for Eddie to learn the new trick.\r\n\r\nOf course there had to be a reward \u2013 aside from verbal praise, something otters respond very positively to, there were delectable seafood items like prawns, clams, fish and squid on offer.\r\n\r\nThe behaviour is not performed for the public but occurs behind the scene\u2019s during Eddie\u2019s private physiotherapy sessions. DeGroot says that Eddie has excellent aim, barely missing \u2013 but trying again when he does.\r\n\r\nAccording to Finnegan, the credit for Eddie\u2019s improvement goes to the trainers.\r\n\r\n\u201cThey are amazing trainers and very dedicated to doing what is best for all of their animals,\u201d Finnegan said. \u201cThey are thoughtful and proactive and jump in to projects like this with great enthusiasm. If it was not for their efforts our ability to provide medical care for their animals would be extremely limited.\u201d\r\n\r\nEddie remains comfortable and continues to shoot hoops. He will turn 16 later this year.\r\n\r\nA video of Eddie performing his basketball exercises, together with an interview of trainer Jenny DeGroot, can be viewed online at www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cJTRCtwf_X0<\/a><\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAnne Fawcett<\/strong>\r\n\r\nPicture: Oregon Zoo\r\n\r\nReferences\r\n\r\nEstes JA et al.<\/i> (2003) Causes of mortality in California sea otters during periods of population growth and decline. Marine Mammal Science<\/em> 19(1):198-216.\r\n\r\nKreuder C et al<\/i>. (2003) Patterns of mortality in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis<\/i>) from 1998-2001. Journal of Wildlife Diseases<\/em> 39(3):495-509.\r\n\r\nKreuder C et al<\/i>. (2005) Evaluation of cardiac lesions and risk factors associated with myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis<\/i>). American Journal of Veterinary Research<\/em> 66:289-299.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Training animals in zoos is not just about enrichment \u2013 although that is certainly a worthy aim. Increasingly, trainers are working with veterinarians to condition animals for medical examinations and even therapy. The benefits are obvious \u2013 being able to undergo diagnostic tests and treatments without the need for sedation and general anaesthesia minimises the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1024,1029,1032,1797,1033,596,1028,1031,1030,1027,397,128],"class_list":["post-1198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clinical-zoo","tag-april-2013","tag-arthritis","tag-basketball","tag-clinical-zoo","tag-eddie-the-otter","tag-endangered-species","tag-enrichment","tag-hoop","tag-joints","tag-otter","tag-training","tag-zoo"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":29,"name":"Clinical Zoo","slug":"clinical-zoo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":29,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":13,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":29,"category_count":13,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Clinical Zoo","category_nicename":"clinical-zoo","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"Training animals in zoos is not just about enrichment \u2013 although that is certainly a worthy aim. Increasingly, trainers are working with veterinarians to condition animals for medical examinations and even therapy. The benefits are obvious \u2013 being able to undergo diagnostic tests and treatments without the need for sedation and general anaesthesia minimises the potential for iatrogenic harm and..","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"29":{"name":"Clinical Zoo","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=29"}},"tags_names":{"1024":{"name":"April 2013","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=april-2013"},"1029":{"name":"arthritis","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=arthritis"},"1032":{"name":"basketball","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=basketball"},"1797":{"name":"Clinical Zoo","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=clinical-zoo"},"1033":{"name":"Eddie the Otter","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=eddie-the-otter"},"596":{"name":"endangered species","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=endangered-species"},"1028":{"name":"enrichment","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=enrichment"},"1031":{"name":"hoop","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=hoop"},"1030":{"name":"joints","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=joints"},"1027":{"name":"otter","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=otter"},"397":{"name":"training","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=training"},"128":{"name":"Zoo","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=zoo"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1198"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1362,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198\/revisions\/1362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}