Joey’s Pet of the Week – The tale of the sick Wallaby

By Scott Lackenby | Dated January 21, 2016

Hey gang! How are you all? What’s been happening with you all? It’s been pretty busy here, which is good for me because it means there are a lot of people to talk to and lots of animals for me to annoy, I mean help….

We’ve had another new member to the GVH family. No, it’s not another baby, but another Nurse! I’ll do a proper big welcome soon, but in the mean time, welcome to Nurse Janie! Nurse Janie used to work at Taronga Zoo and has lots of exciting stories. Be sure to say hello if you see her around.

Did you see the post about the cute little stray bunny we have in? Isn’t she adorable?!? As you know, I love bunnies, so I petitioned to have her stay on as my new furry bestie but I got out voted. I really don’t think she’ll find a better home than here with me as the new clinic bunny, but the Nurses reckon they’ll find her a great new family. I guess we’ll see who was right.

My star this week is a sweet little Wallaby joey that was found in a bad way in a garden in Gordon. The little bubba had very little hair and weighed 467gms. He was covered in bruises, was dehydrated and was cold and clammy to touch. He really wasn’t in a good way.

Normally we would give sick and injured wildlife like this guy an anti biotic injection, but given how sick this little guy was, we were very concerned that the anti biotic injection would actually do him more harm then good. What he needed was to be warmed up and started on a milk substitute especially designed for Wallaby’s. We could certainly help to warm him up but we don’t have the right milk replacement, so we called our good friends at Sydney Wildlife and they sent a carer to come and collect him to rehabilitate him.

Given his poor health and his age, it was sadly a guarded prognosis for this little guy. We haven’t had an update yet, so we are hoping that no news is good news. I’ll keep you posted though.

I kow I have mentioned it before, but this is a good time to remind you about what to do if you find injured wildlife, and lets face it, there won’t be many of you out there who haven’t. Whether you find a cute baby Wallaby or a feisty Blue Tongue lizard, it’s always important that you are handling a WILD animal. A wild animal who is sick/injured and scared. This makes them especially dangerous which can lead to nasty bites and scratches. Be sure to protect yourself. Wear gloves or use thick towels to pick up the injured animal. Have a box ready to put it into. Something you can close is best. Cat carry boxes are great for this. If it’s after hours or you can’t get it to a Vet straight away, keep in mind that the 24hour Vets like our good friends at Northside emergency Veterinary Service and SASH take in wildlife, keep them in the box in a dark and quiet place until you can get them to a Vet. And it goes without saying, never pick up a snake if you aren’t 10000% sure that it isn’t venomous. Both WIRES and Sydney Wildlife have trained snake handlers that will come and collect snakes, so give them a call. The number for WIRES is 1300 094 737 and Sydney Wildlife can be contacted on 9413 4300.

Well, better go. Enjoy the rest of your week and I’ll catch you all again soon. Meows for now, love Joey xoxo