EMPLEO Y MUJER

State of the art surgery room for procedures: Like humans, animals must have

health check-ups, and may require surgery from time to time. Sterile room with space for several doctors, techs, and large animals. One procedure you might see in here would be tumor removal from older animal. Viewing windows are for keepers and staff to observe.

staff is not only present for a procedure, but very involved in the general health of the collection. They work closely with the vets to keep our animals healthy.

Introduce Vet Staff: Staff is top-notch and the field is VERY competitive. Animals can’t talk, so our staff has to be focused, experienced, and attentive to properly care

for them. We are very proud of our Animal Health team. Go through each picture and give a brief bio of our staff.

 In addition to working around the clock at the Zoo, our staff also volunteers their time in the community. MedVet, OWC, teaching and mentoring OSU Vet

students, etc. These are busy people with a passion for animals. 2. Procedure/Treatment Room

The majority of work happens here – big room for the animal and roughly 20

people. (Takes a team.) Vet staff, students, interns, specialists, photographer, Zoo Administration, etc could be in room on any given day.

This room can accommodate animals up to 1,000 lbs. Larger animals are treated in their housing areas (elephants, moose pics). It is not unusual to look in this window and see an orang, tiger, gorilla, etc, on the table. (pictures)

Animals might be here for: Preventative/Wellness, Scheduled procedure, or

Emergency Care.

Scheduled Procedure: Examples include a bird beak trim (kookaburra pic),

armadillo nail trim, smaller animal teeth check-up (no sedation needed). One of our baby cheetahs needed breathing treatments and would come over every day.

procedure. Some of the tools used in preventative medicine are:

a. Vitals: blood pressure, listen to heart and lungs, check for bumps, lesions, physical abnormalities, etc.

b. Dental machine – oral health of the animals is just as important as it is for people. Vets perform a cleaning as well as check-up to make sure there are no abscesses, gum disease, etc.

c. Weight: Weight is a very important health indicator. If it is dramatically lower or higher, must check with keepers about changes in diet, appetite. Could be indicator of serious health issue.

 Large animals travel by van up to the hospital. Weight is attained on a large scale on the floor of the loading dock. Animal can be weighed in crate, then once animal is on table, weigh the crate only and subtract.

 Smaller animals (Tree Roo) can be placed on scale.

 Uncooperative/skittish animals (Caribbean Flamingo pic) can be weighed creatively – weigh keeper holding animal; then just keeper and subtract, etc.

d. Specialists: We have many animal AND HUMAN specialists who donate their time for the care of the animals. These include ophthalmologists,

cardiologists. This practice goes back to the beginnings of the Zoo. In fact, some of the first people our Zoo staff called with Colo was born were human

Watson does an ultrasound on Pongi the gorilla. He is an Internal Medicine specialist from MedVet. Also pictured are 2 students (khaki shirt, and blonde in purple scrubs). In this particular picture she is not pregnant; it is just a check-up.

Transition to next area:

After the initial exam, it may be determined that something is not right with the animal, and the only way to know more is to look closer. Ask guests: if you had a small child

who couldn’t tell you what’s wrong but is holding their arm and crying, what might be the next step to take? [May be determined in this room that we need to take

radiographs.]

1. Radiology

In 2008, our hospital received a state-of-the-art digital rad system. Detailed images captured digitally – instantly processed, evaluated, and stored.

Show table where rads are taken and pictures of animals on the table. Point out mask

shields, large green gloves, and the part of the room to the left where the tech sets up the shot. Then all without gear must clear area while xrays are taken, just like at dentist or doctor’s office. Can be tricky depending on the animal! Some are very squirmy.  Some are still under anaesthesia. Can you imagine a team of keepers lifting a 900 lb grizzly bear onto the table for an x-ray? It happens.

Show examples of x-rays, see if guest can tell what the problem is.

remove object? Need to make a cast? Inconclusive?

When animals are done being examined, vets/keepers discuss whether they can go back to their exhibit area or if they need to stay at hospital. We have holding areas for every sized animal.

2. ICU

 As name suggests, for animals who are in critical situations. Newborn penguins stayed here. (Cheetah picture).

 Incubation system regulates temp and humidity.

 Docs are on call around the clock. Keepers will come in, sometimes stay overnight to monitor animal. If anything changes, they call the vet. With the baby penguins, they needed to be fed six times a day! Keepers came in after hours for MONTHS for the 11pm feeding, and then were back at 7am for the next one. Dedication.

 Dr. Myers’ ball pythons are also in here – independent study/research encouraged.