HEAD INJURY

20th.September 2003

A little Swamp wallaby was brought to me one late afternoon and I must admit I did not hold much hope for her after looking at the state of her injury.Mum had jumped from an embankment straight in the path of a car, and she was hit front on.

The joey was obviously feeling very poorly, her fists were clenched indicating pain, her eyes were half closed, her pupils dilated indicating concussion, she had damage to her tail, and one ear had been bleeding. She had also had blood coming from the nose, hard to tell if that was superficial, or from the head injury.

In this picture you can see the bruising on the side of her head, and the half closed eyes.

The fellow that hit Mum stopped immediately and retrieved the joey, and drove her straight to a vet, he did everything he could to make sure if she was to survive she would have the best chance. The vet checked her for broken bones of which she had none, all was intact, so the main worry would be the head injury. There is no way of telling if the animal will survive an injury like that, only time will tell.

I could only hope for the best. She could not keep warm, even in the humidicrib she felt cold to the touch, shock was certainly a major contributor to this. Feeding her proved a bit of an ordeal, she was not able to suck, her nasal passages were blocked probably by congealed blood, and she was unresponsive to say the least, her head was leaning to one side and she could not hold it up.But she could swallow, so I was able to get the nutrient in her and then wait.

The morning after receiving her, I went to the vet and had her injected with medication to help with the swelling of the brain, also pain relief that would work for 24 hours, this way she could sleep as much as possible with no or little pain.

She was fed every 3 hours for the first 3 days and nights, and finally she started to respond, she was now looking around, she seemed to have sight again,she could now hold her head straight, and she was able to stay warm, she no longer needed the humidicrib, just lots of insulation.

It is hard to put in to words the feeling of joy when one like this finally responds, every animal is so very different, not unlike people really, some have the most unbelievable will, and I am sure that is what gave this animal the strength to get through the first few days. Picture on the right is taken 4 days after coming in to care. Picture on the left 4 weeks after coming in.

20 December 2003

Bump is a very special animal to us. Her head injury resulted in some complications, as she grew it became apparent that she had trouble co ordinating her legs to move at the same time, resulting in a very unstable hopping motion, once again Bump proved to be a fighter, and she has overcome that particular handicap, she can hop just as well as any other swamp wallaby, and she is extremely fast. Her legs now have complete co ordination.

Her fore arms, still have a bit of adjusting to go at this stage, when she grabs something to eat, one arm holds it just fine, the other she has trouble co ordinating to meet at the same point. You can actually see the concentration on her face as she tries again and again to get that arm to do as she wants. I have absolutely no doubt that she will win her battle.

If this problem was genetic, we would not be able to release this animal, as she could carry on the genetic fault in the wild. But as we all are aware this is a result of her head injury when she was hit in her mothers pouch, and as such it is a problem that once solved by her, will be the end of the problem. She will be released with full strength in both legs and arms.

You can not release an animal unless it is in perfect condition to cope in the wild, that means it has to be fit, healthy, and have all faculties in order. It can not run back to Mum and complain about the neighbors kids, or dogs.

Bump have plenty of time yet before she is released, she is now eight months old, and will be released at about 16 months of age .Plenty of time to overcome her now small handicap.

21 March 2004

Bump is now able to do everything as well as any other swamp wallaby, she is seen here having a munch on some delicious native vine. Her arms now work in perfect unison.

21July 2004

Bump was released some time ago, she is still close by, venturing further each day it seems.She is able to fend for herself, and I must admit is is very special to see her doing so well, considering how she arrived.