10/02/2025
A Wild Story.
Last year, a rescued lion cub estimated to be 2-3months old was presented to the clinic with a history of lethargy and anorexia. She was not in a good way, her stomach was distended and the abdominal xrays showed something pretty dense in her stomach that was causing an obstruction on the contrast xrays despite the diet of mince meat mixed with lactose free milk. Surgery was risky given the state that she was in and she was admitted on fluids and intensive treatment to try and stabilize her. Nothing was working and she continued to deteriorate and even started showing neurological signs with seizures and muscle tremors. The situation was dire, and with no other options, Dr. Moses was given consent to try the surgery in a desperate attempt to save her life. There was a strong chance she wasn't going to be strong enough to survive the anaethesia.
The little cub was prepped for surgery and a gastrotomy operation was performed. Dr. Moses removed an entire chewed up football from her stomach.
The patient made it out of surgery and continued to receive treatment and nutrition following the operation.
She turned around and started feeding and was later discharged with instructions to remove all toys such as footballs from her space!
She is now doing better and has started gaining some weight.
What a football story!
