Posted on 03/30/2010 6:03:04 PM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD – When the call came in, Capt. Curt Degeyter knew he had to act fast. A seven-month-old male tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was acting sluggish and experiencing tremors; by all signs he was getting worse. No one at the zoo could determine the problem and if something wasn’t done soon, the tiger might die.
Upon hearing of the animal’s plight March 24, Degeyter, a doctor of veterinary medicine assigned to 1st Armored Division, U.S. Division - Center, quickly made his own calls to other U.S. Army veterinarians to help formulate a plan of action.
When Degeyter received the call, he said he remembered thinking, "I am a doctor specializing in equine [horse family] medicine. I have never evaluated a tiger."
Degeyter said he found the idea of getting into a cage interesting yet unnerving, but decided it was something he had to do.
Before he could go out and evaluate the tiger, however, he had to conduct some research. He poured over manuals, journals and various web sites to find the correct dosage for sedating a young tiger.
"A horse weighs quite a bit more than a tiger cub," he said.
He also knew that there were other veterinary specialists around Victory Base Complex whom he could ask for help, so after making some calls, he found a vet who specializes in working with cats – house cats.
Maj. Matt Takara, commander, 51st Medical Detachment Veterinary Medicine, 248th Medical Det. Veterinary Services, answered the call.
Takara said he jumped at the chance to work with the large cat. He had worked with house cats on several occasions but this would be something completely different.
Upon arriving at the zoo, Takara and Degeyter joined several Iraqi zoo employees standing by to lend a hand. Together, the group took time to evaluate all necessary equipment and discuss the current status of the cub.
Degeyter suspected the tiger cub was suffering from a nutrient deficiency, meaning he was not getting the vitamins he needed to stay healthy.
"The zoo started to feed the cub avian vitamins and they saw an improvement," said Degeyter. "The avian vitamins are for birds, of course, but due to the unavailability of other vitamins, the zoo staff had to improvise."
He told the zoo staff to continue this treatment until lab results returned and a clearer diagnosis could be established.
The plan to obtain those results, Degeyter said, was to sedate the animal, draw blood and send a sample to North Carolina State University, a school that has a past relationship with the zoo. Another sample would be tested at VBC.
Together, the zoo workers and the U.S. veterinarians safely tranquilized the tiger cub and prepped him for a blood draw by shaving a small spot on the inside of his leg. The needle entered and blood was drawn and packaged for the long trip back to the United States.
Once the procedure was complete, Takara conducted a head-to-tail inspection of the cub, which included looking inside the tiger's mouth while carefully avoiding the sleeping cat's large teeth.
"I looked at the teeth and gum color, its boney structure, felt its belly, and checked the legs," said Takara. "It is just getting your hands on the entire cat [to] see if you can find anything abnormal."
When finished, they left the tiger to catnap and recover from the experience. He will continue to receive vitamins while awaiting his test results and is expected to make a full recovery.
7 mo old tiger cub in Iraq — close enough for a kittyping?
Aww . . . the only thing that would’ve made this story more fitting would be if Capt. Degeyter was assigned to a unit with a history of cavalry operations.
Kittyping. And add me to the list ‘cause I don’t think I’m on it.
Poor baby. Hope he’ll be OK.
That sums it up.
Thanks for posting!! My daughter wants to be an equine vet, she loves cats, and we all went to the San Fran Zoo last Friday and saw the big tiger there pacing back and forth in his cage. I wouldn’t want to get into that cage with the kitty, either. What a wonderful story. Our Armed Forces members never know what they will be called on to do!
Ayup.
That’s wonderful SandRat. Thanks.
See Post #5?
This is my favorite kind of Kitty Ping.
Glad you liked.
Thanks for the heads-up! Kieri, you’re added.
oh yeah....
see post #15
Hungry kittehs!
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