Thank you all for caring about how Krissy is coping.
I went in to the care centre today and I moved Krissy from the ICU room, to an outdoor run. Krissy is sharing a run with a joey that has been named Teddy (yep really, and no I didn't name him lol).
This collage shows you a little through 6 images.
1. Krissy in the ICU room before I started (you can see the right eye looks inflamed).
2. The outdoor run once I had prepared it. You can see there is a log structure, and the white 'pots' at 3 of the corners made from PVC pipes. The tree branches are put into the pots with water to simulate them being in a group of small trees. These branches are changed daily, some are recycled as possible.
3. I placed Krissy in a small cage to carry him from the room to the run as you absolutely cannot cuddle and carry a wild koala anywhere. I am very pleased to say that Krissy is one little wildfire, and picking him up to put him in this cage involved a lot of him screeching and wriggling and attempts to scratch and bite. you can see I have gloves on, and I used a very thick towel to pick him up by the arms. Sorry couldn't take a photo whilst doing that manoeuvre in a small room with a stressed koala :)
Once in the run (and I shut the door and then then it is easy - open the cage and out he came.
4. He quickly climbed to the top of the highest perch, which is always good to see a wild koala do.
5. Is actually the bottom right image, I then brought his room mate in, and as I went to open his cage, there was a bang behind my head as Krissy leapt to the cage wire. That young fella wants out in no uncertain terms!
6. Because he was up high in the corner on the wire we took one more quick photo and left the run to allow them to settle. It is important not to stress them any more than happens with basic care being done.
Krissy's bloodwork shows some improvements, and they did not find any blood in his abdomen, (which would indicate serious internal organ injury) so he has had the IV port removed and we now just treat the eye until next week and will review his bloodwork again and have the chlamydia results back.
I work in there both Sat and Sun each weekend, so I will do his eye treatments then and be able to give more updates on Saturday. Thanks again, if you got this far reading his update!
I’m glad he is out of intensive care! He sounds like 2.4 kg of determination! I hope he will get better each day! And oh, how I hope he tests negative for chlamydia. His right eye does look a bit inflamed. :( Fingers tightly crossed in my corner of the world!
Thank you so much for all that information KG. I wish Krissy didn’t have to be there but it’s very interesting to know what’s happening to him in the koala hospital.
I've obviously missed something. I didn't know Krissy had a problem which required ICU. Chlamydia??? Sore eyes? Internal damage? Has he been fighting. What ever it is, I wish him well and congratulations to you for your efforts on behalf of your precious Koalas.
j
Thank you so much for this update and while Krissy is not yet out of the woods as it were, he is obviously making good progress. He's certainly got a lot of folk all round the world rooting for him... way to go Krissy.
@365karly1 VERY carefully! :) seriously, it's a matter of practiced skill - approaching from behind with the treatment setup on a gloved finger and being accurate through practice, and being willing to take a scratching as a result.
@jesika2 yes this all happened really fast! We will have chlamydia results back next week, but there has been trauma involved. If only the koalas could talk, we will never know just what happened, but probably adult males who were attempting to breed with his mum while he was still with her a couple of weeks ago.
Don't get to concerned about ICU, it is not like a human ICU, it is just a small room with low perches where they can be more easily monitored, contained, kept quiet and treated :)
TYFY visual documentary of Chrissy's progress. I appreciate you relating how you've been occupied with Chrissy...and hope/expect that you derive comfort by being close to him and seeing his progress. Looking forward to continued positive news.
j
Don't get to concerned about ICU, it is not like a human ICU, it is just a small room with low perches where they can be more easily monitored, contained, kept quiet and treated :)
A great collage & lets hope all goes well.