Patient Update: August 23rd

Aug 29, 2018 Allagash

Patient Update: August 23rd

Seals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charles, Parker, Allagash, Magalloway, Nemasket, Moose-These six rehabilitated harbor seal pups (in order from the top: Charles, Parker, Allagash, Magalloway, Nemasket (left), Moose (right)) were released on August 16, 2018 at Scusset Beach just down the road from NMLC! We are pleased with their successful rehabilitation at our organization; each one of them were cleared of any health problems and reached the appropriate stages in weights and feedings to be cleared for release. We are very excited that these six pups were able to return home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Piscataqua “Cat”-Cat is still doing well, with no newly identified health problems. Due to this, we are very excited to announce that she has underwent a pre-release exam and has been approved for release! Currently, we are in the process of determining future release details, so stay tuned for those! In the meantime, she will continue to strengthen her muscles and gain weight, though she has reached the required weight for release at 23.0 kg (about 50.7 pounds)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Androscoggin “Andy”-Andy had a good week, with no newly identified health problems. Due to his current condition, we are very excited to announce that he underwent a pre-release exam and has been approved for release! Currently, we are in the process of determining future release details, so stay tuned for those! Until his release he will continue to strengthen the muscles necessary for long duration of exercise and he will continue to gain weight, though he meets the requirement for release at 23.0 kg (about 50.7 pounds)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sugar-Sugar is doing well, with no significant changes in her health. She is still battling a fairly large opacity on her eye and, though we have noticed that she is squinting less, we are starting her on a new eye treatment to improve the condition. Other than this, she is continuing to do well with eating on her own and is steadily gaining weight. She also loves swimming in her pool, as we rarely see her out of the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jones-Jones is doing well with no significant changes in his health. As of last week we have started him on a fourth treatment plan for his ear, as we have seen active discharge that indicates the ear drum is still ruptured. We will reevaluate his condition at a later date to determine if this treatment is successful. He is also being started on a new eye treatment, as the condition of his right eye has worsened. We are hoping that this treatment will begin to improve the condition of his eye. In regards to feeding, he is still doing very well with eating on his own and he has learned to compete for food with his pool mates. He thoroughly enjoys swimming throughout the day and is continually strengthening his muscles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicopee-Chicopee did well this past week, with no significant changes in her health. She has been very active lately and it constantly swimming around the Pod. In regards to feeding, she has reached an exciting new step in her rehabilitation—she is now mass feeding! We have noticed that she is a little picky when it comes to eating on her own but she is continuing to progress and eat very well on her own! Due to this, she will continue to gain weight in order to reach the requirement for release.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bear– Bear is doing well, with no significant changes in her health. We have seen active discharge from her ear, meaning that she is still battling her ruptured ear drum. Due to this, we are continuing with a fourth treatment plan. We are hoping that this treatment will start to heal the infection, and we will reevaluate her condition at a later date. We have noticed that the infection is causing some discomfort when it comes to feeding. This has made it more difficult for her to learn how to eat on her own. Nevertheless, we are very excited to announce that she is now eating on her own! She achieved this exciting step this past week and is doing well with it so far! We will continue to monitor her progress to ensure she perfects this feeding strategy. In addition she is continuing to gain weight and definitely enjoys swimming in her pool throughout the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pawcatuck “Tuck”-Tuck has been doing well this past week, and he has reached an exciting step in his rehabilitation—he has been moved into ST2, one the two largest pools we have in our facility! We are very excited that he has been moved into this pool and he is doing very well with it! It is here that he will begin to strengthen the muscles he needs to sustain longer durations of exercise. He still doing very well with mass feeding and he is learning how to compete for fish with his pool mates. In regards to his health, he is still not using his left flipper and radiographs were taken to determine the progression of his infection. It is also a possibility that he has developed pneumonia, so a radiograph was taken to determine if there is any progression of his condition. We will continue to monitor him closely to ensure the symptoms do not worsen.

 

Turtles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gunst and Bruiser-These two Kemp’s ridley turtles were released on August 21, 2018 at Craigville Beach in Barnstable, MA. Gunst (top) had been with us for almost 3 years, due to a bone infection he had as a result of cold-stunning. He underwent surgery and physical therapy while he was at NMLC. Bruiser (bottom) came in this past November due to trauma and cold-stunning. Both of these turtles were successfully rehabilitated at NMLC and we are very excited that they were able to return home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Etta-Etta has been tentatively scheduled for surgery at the New England Aquarium within the next week, but we are still waiting for confirmation. She will be undergoing surgery due to osteolytic lesions in her front left flipper as a result of cold-stunning.

 

Posted by Gabriella N. 

Gabriella is a second semester intern who recently graduated from Roger Williams University with a degree in Marine Biology.