Joel Alves, [11 May 2023 at 13:30:23]: Afternoon all. Any thoughts on a protocol for a +/- 4 week old giraffe with severe wounds that we need to treat and will likely take a bit of time? Chris Perkins, [11 May 2023 at 14:28:09]: What kind of wounds are we talking about? Luis Amaral, [11 May 2023 at 14:37:39]: O.3 ml BAM plus 30 ketamine. BAM recommended dosage is 0.1 ml per 10 kg. Reverse with naltrexone and atipamezole Joel Alves, [11 May 2023 at 15:19:47]: Thanks Luis! Chris, it looks like deep lacerations on the neck and upper chest area! Most likely leopard inflicted from the description and the area! Douw Grobler, [11 May 2023 at 16:23:26]: Hi Joel. I will be careful with BAM on a small giraffe. They do not like azaperone. I will support the B and the M part but will rather make your own BM mix up according to weight and add the ketamine as Luis Amaral suggest. Ryan Jeffery, [11 May 2023 at 16:27:00]: I darted a 1-week old giraffe 4 times at monthly intervals, using 1 mg thiafentanil and water. Once you have caught it, stabilise the breathing with Dopram and butorphanol. This worked well Joel Alves, [11 May 2023 at 16:28:03]: Awesome! Will suss out the area when they find it and give some feedback after. Thanks for all the tips! Joel Alves, [12 May 2023 at 12:09:28]: Just some feedback on the giraffe youngster. The wounds appeared more to be tick-bite abscesses upon inspection through binoculars, rather than deep lacerations, so I decided on straight opioid and immediate reversal for treatment. I used 1.5mg Thianil + Hyalase. It showed symptoms in 40s and we tackled it at 1m 35s. First indication the dose was a little strong! I gave it immediate reversal, but it still went apnoeic. It needed a few encouraging shoves on the diaphragm/rib-cage to stimulate respiration, but eventually kicked in nicely. In hindsight, 0.75-1mg would probably have been a better dose! 2cc 1.25” dart. To improve everyone’s weekend, here’s a video of an amateur hour moment, as I forgot the dart in the chaos of stabilising and nearly got myself a hoof tattoo pulling it out… With worse wounds, I would have tried Butorphanol + Dopram which was suggested by a few people. The terrible Sekelbos (Dichrostachys cinerea) and surrounding area also drove my decision for straight opioid and quick knock down!
