Small & large pets

Last year a pregnant Ringtail possum was brought to Adelaide Animal Hospital. She had only three legs but was otherwise in good health. We passed her over to Nicola, a fauna rescue carer, who took care of the possum throughout her pregnancy. After some care at the hospital, the mother possum is now reclining with her babies (who are nearly as big as her). A kind vet has decided to adopt all four of the possums and intend to have them desexed.

Kluet is a very special patient; he is a 13 year old orangutan who lives at the Adelaide Zoo. 13 years is still adolescence for these primates, but even at this young age the boys are already very interested in girls. One evening last November, while playing roughly with his girlfriend, Kluet fell awkwardly and broke his arm. The keepers found a very unhappy Kluet when they came in early in the morning - he was clearly in a lot of pain. The veterinarians on duty knew immediately that he was likely to need surgery and called in Dr Warren Foreman to assist. Warren was out riding his bike at the time (Saturday morning) so it was a quick trip back to the hospital to collect all the necessary equipment and head to the zoo.

Don Perignon is a 6 week old Alpaca who presented to us late one Sunday night. Don Perignon had been attended to by his regular vet, after getting something stuck in his oesophagus.

This little ring tailed possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) was found on the grounds of Pembroke School in Adelaide back in March. The students handed her to the teachers who in turn brought her into our hospital. She weighed all of 40grams! Beth Foreman took on the task of her management and here she is 4 weeks later thriving, healthy & weighing over 100grams.