Jordan is in the care centre and this is how he greeted me this morning when I went in to clean his ICU room and do his feeding. I did have to laugh - like yeah and bring me a beer while you are at it slave.
He looks far better than yesterday - https://youtu.be/TNkz8syTwsI
He was hit by a car 2 nights ago. Fortunately 2 drivers behind stopped and got him off the road and called it in and I took him in to our care centre.
He has had a full work up which I was able to attend and he thankfully had no serious injuries. BUT - he has a blood parasite that is carried by the non-native cattle tick introduced to Australia with livestock. This parasite destroys red blood cells, so he was shockingly anaemic. I hadn't seen Jordan for five weeks, and we are guessing he was too slow crossing that road as he would be feeling pretty rotten (apparently humans report this disease as feeling similar to malaria). Possibly that is why I haven't seen him - he has been hanging out in a smaller area due to not feeling well.
So the long story is that this car may have done him a favour as he may not have been around the next morning so I may not have seen him and known anything was wrong.
Feeling grateful that he has a chance now as he is on treatment for the parasite and lots of iron supplements to help boost his blood. He isn't out of the woods yet, but fingers crossed!
Oh, Poor Jordan...but, as you say he is not badly injured & you have discovered his anemia....i'm sure you were so pleased you would give him anything he wants. In the video I loved the way Jordan interacted with the lovely vet....she was so caring.
Poor Jordan - he looks half scared and half sorry for himself here... which is about par for the course given all that he's been through. Thank you for all that you do for these vulnerable creatures.
Oh - what a tale - he's so lucky to have someone stop and pick him up - and so lucky to be getting such good care. That's quite horrible info about the effects of ticks - it must be devastating to so many koalas - and it's probably not well known info either.
I don't know how I missed this- oohhhh poor Jordan but ohh good that the "bad" turned to "good" in that he's now getting what he needs health-wise. I'm glad I've seen the rest of the story before seeing this part- and hope he will continue to respond to his treatment and his blood count will go up.
March 1st, 2020
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.