How to care for extremely abused, neglected, emaciated, ill, injured animals. This article is from 2007 but Facebook got rid of Notes so I'm reposting it here. It's very important.
We've all heard the story about someone who rescues an emaciated, dehydrated, abused, neglected injured dog that was tied to a stake for years, left in a kennel all alone or found roaming the street homeless. They take the animal to the vet for medical care, then to the groomers, bring it home, give it lots of food, toys, love, attention, exercise, take photos...and it dies in a couple of days if not in a day. I'm writing this article to hopefully prevent those unfortunate deaths.
I have found with very ill, injured, emaciated, dehydrated, neglected wildlife, pets or farm animals, you have to take things very slow in the beginning or you can overwhelm their system and they will die quickly. This is what we do with extremely emaciated, dehydrated, ill and injured wildlife. The same applies to all animals and humans as well. They suffer from refeeding syndrome and die. Don't proceed to the next step until you have done the previous steps. If you feed a cold, dehydrated animal, it will die. *Always talk to your veterinarian and follow his/her advice.
1. TREAT LIFE THREATENING INJURIES. Treat life threatening injuries such as blood loss, temporarily set and wrap a bad break, treat severe burns, wounds, give antibiotics for infections... During this initial period keep the animal in a quiet, safe area away from other animals, loud noise, lots of light or activity. We keep wildlife in crates of course. Sometimes we will put blind folds on animals or cover their ears to reduce stimuli which can stress them.
2. GET ANIMAL WARM/COOLED. Get the animal warm if it's cold, cool it if it is too hot. If the animal is very cold (hot), slowly and gradually warm (cool) them. If you do it too fast, they will die. We all have the desire to instantly care for all the needs of an animal as fast as we can but that will overwhelm the animal causing their death.
3. HYDRATE. Get them hydrated. If they are extremely dehydrated, do it gradually. We use warm Pedialyte or Gatorade. Don't give the full recommended amount of fluids if they are extremely dehydrated. They won't be able to absorb, process it. The most effective way to get fluids in them is orally. If they are unconscious, very weak, have difficulty breathing, swallowing we tube them. Fluids are absorbed more readily with less energy via the stomach than subq. If that is not possible, then subq with lactated ringers if the animal is small or IV with proper fluids if they are larger and you are capable of doing this.
4. EMERGENCY EXTERNAL PARASITES. Treat external parasite if you can do it easily with Advantage, Frontline when you start hydrating. Don't use harsh sprays or give them a bath if they are weak, dehydrated or extremely emaciated. Fleas and ticks must be killed so they will stop draining the animal. Maggots are generally not life threatening as they eat dead flesh but we remove them and give Capstar. Remove fly eggs so they don't hatch into maggots then into flies.
5. SLOWLY START FEEDING. After you have treated life threatening injuries, warmed/cooled, hydrated, treated some external parasites, slowly and gradually introduce small amounts of slightly watered down bland food. Do not give the suggested serving amount. If they have not eaten in a while, they won't have the energy, gut flora necessary to digest and process the food and die from refeeding syndrome. If you give them an average sized meal, they won't have the ability to process it and could die. Give smaller portions mixed with water more frequently. I suggest giving 1/3 to 1/2 a normal serving based on current weight, not ideal weight. Yes, we want them to gain weight but that comes after they are stabilized. You can safely increase size of meals later. If they get diarrhea, stop the food, hydrate only, give probiotics until diarrhea stops. You may be tempted to give Nutrical which is generally okay but it's high in fat and can give them diarrhea so be careful. It's best to add it later to increase calories.
6. ANIMAL IS STABILIZED. It generally takes 24-72 hours to fully stabilize a very emaciated, dehydrated...animal. Time to treat other symptoms. After animal has a normal temperature, is fully hydrated, has eaten a few meals, made nice poops, nice colored urine, it's time to treat other symptoms. Treat them in order of importance. Continue to keep the animal in a quiet environment away from other animals and activity. If the animal seems stressed or gets very tired, taper back the activity.
7. GROOMING. A severely matted dog will need to have mats trimmed out. If dog is fearful of electric shears, carefully and gently use scissors. If dog needs to be sedated, wait until the dog is fully stabilized. Do not perform non-emergency surgery or sedate an animal that is not stabilized. After removing the mats bathe the animal. If it's a dog that is not stressed by being bathed in the tub, that is fine. If it's a wild animal, we just wipe it down gently. Trim the nails if they are severely overgrown and negatively affecting the animal. Do not cut the quick. Just do an emergency trim for now.
8. PARASITES. Some external parasites can be treated with grooming. You can now use stronger products if needed for ring worm, mange, mites, ticks, lice, fleas...This is when you would give baths or use dips. Treating internal parasites is a little trickier. If you suspect the animal has a huge load of internal parasites such as round worms, you have to be careful. If you kill them all at once, they could cause a blockage. Consult your veterinarian. We care for raccoons and skunks which can have massive amounts of worms which look like a cup of spaghetti when they exit. Some baby pet skunks get blocked with dead round worms. When tape worms let go of the gut wall, it causes cramping and pain. Monitor the animal to make sure they are not straining or prolapsing its rectum. Your vet may suggest a laxative to help eliminate the worms. If the animal was severely malnourished, most gut worms would have already died from starvation. If you are treating coccidia..., the treatment is not stressful.
9. TREAT NON-EMERGENCY SYMPTOMS. Wild squirrels can have overgrown teeth. I would trim the overgrown incisor teeth (which are like our finger nails with no nerves) after getting the animal stable unless a tooth is almost in their eye then quickly trim that. If they need dental surgery, I would wait until fully stabilized so they can survive the surgery. Now you can vaccinate, clean ears... I would not spay or neuter until animal is healthy. Now it is safe to give the animal anesthesia. Do no give the animal anesthesia until it is fully stabilized or you will kill it. One can do a blood test to see if the animal is healthy enough for anesthesia.
10. ANIMAL IS HEALTHY. If the animal is a wild animal, we put them in an outdoor enclosure protected from elements with proper food and water. If this is a non-wild or non-feral pet, you can now slowly interact with them more. It's now safe to spay or neuter. You can brush them, hand feed them, show them toys, slowly give them more room to walk around, eventually walking them a little on a leash in a room then in a yard. Now you can start with training with positive reinforcement. Eventually introduce them to other people, animals and maybe lower energy children. If they seem stressed, winded or tired, scale back the activity especially with older animals. You need to slowly build up play, walk time and activities with other animals and humans.
The stabilization process should take 24 to 72 hours to get them basically stabilized if they are merely emaciated, dehydrated and cold. It should then take a week to two weeks to get them fully stabilized and basically healthy. This of course depends upon other injuries and illnesses besides age.
We all love animals and want to instantly treat all their symptoms and give them lots of love, food and attention. We need to restrain ourselves for the good of the animal. I've seen so many with good hearts take neglected, malnourished animals out of the shelter, shower them with lots of treatment, love, food, treats...and the animal dies within a day or two. I'm writing this article to prevent that.
*Take the animal to a veterinarian. Follow the veterinarian's advice. I'm not a veterinarian. Every animal is different.
Mary Cummins of
Animal Advocates is a
wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the
California Department of Fish and Game and the
USDA.
Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.
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