Key Facts

Animal Treated

Tiger

Animal Condition

Pneumonia

Specialist(s) Required

Internal Medicine
Zoo Animal

Kara the coughing tiger

Before Visiting the Specialist

Kara is a 13 year old tiger who was noted to have a cough by her keepers.

Kara’s Care

Although big cats would usually be the domain of zoo animal specialists, on this occasion Yvonne McGrotty, a specialist in small animal internal medicine was called upon for her expertise with bronchoscopy- after all a tiger is just a big cat! Under anesthesia, and under the careful eye of the zoo animal specialist, blood tests, a bronchoscopy (using a camera to examine the inside of the windpipe and lungs) and a lung wash were performed. The trachea (wind-pipe) and lungs were very inflamed and lots of mucus was present in the airways Cytological analysis and bacterial culture confirmed that Kara had a bacterial pneumonia and appropriate antibiotics were started.

Kara’s Progress

Kara recovered well from her anaesthetic and her cough has completely resolved with treatment. The welfare of this endangered species required a combination of specialties to achieve the best outcome and restore this magnificent creature to full health.

 

https://yourvetspecialist.org/vet/yvonne-mcgrotty/