Black Bear #14-0145

Admission Date: 
March 7, 2014
Location of Rescue: 
Madison County, VA
Cause of Admission / Condition: 
Thin; severe skin wound
Outcome: 
Died March 12, 2014
Patient Status: 
Patient Archive

On March 7, a landowner in Madison saw a small bear in his cow pasture – and realized that the bear was being attacked by cows. He intervened, and was able to safely contain the injured bear. The bear was transported to the Wildlife Center later that evening.

Dr. Kristin Britton, the Center’s veterinary intern, examined the bear when it arrived. The small yearling was quiet, very thin, dehydrated, and filthy. Dr. Kristin discovered a very large contaminated wound on the bear’s left side; the skin “degloving” [tearing of the skin] extended from the bear’s chest to its hind limb. Dr. Kristin also noted that the bear had a significant congenital deformity – the yearling’s lower jaw protruded quite significantly, giving the bear an underbite.

The veterinary team carefully cleaned the bear’s wound and packed it with sponges soaked in saline. This “wet to dry” bandage will continue to clean and debride the wound; the area remained too contaminated to be sutured closed safely. Several days of flushing and cleaning the wound will be necessary before the veterinary team can attempt to close the large wound.

The female bear’s condition is guarded to poor, due to the significant degloving wound. The bear was offered a highly digestible diet to slowly reintroduce food into her digestive system. The bear has been eating well over the past two days, despite her underbite. She currently weighs 8.13 kg.

The Center depends on the donations of caring individuals to provide veterinary care to wildlife and training in wildlife veterinary medicine. Please help!

Updates

March 13, 2014

On March 12 at approximately 11:30 am, Black Bear yearling #14-0145 was found deceased in her enclosure after undergoing her wound cleaning earlier in the morning.

During the previous day’s wound cleaning and bandage change, which is done under anesthesia due to the discomfort associated with manipulation of such a large wound, Dr. Rich noted crackle sounds in the yearling’s left lung. This suggests that the bear was suffering pneumonia, so the veterinary team placed the bear in an oxygen chamber to make breathing easier.

With this supplementation, the bear must have felt better because she ate all of the food she was offered and was a little feisty on the morning of March 12. Once again, the bear was placed under anesthesia for cleaning of the wound and bandage change. The crackles in the lungs were worse. Dr. Rich was discouraged that the bear’s wound continued to show signs of dying tissue and infection. At the end of the cleaning procedure, the bear regurgitated a large amount of liquid and some food. Despite fully cleaning the bear's mouth and airway, the bear aspirated the material; the necropsy revealed that the cause of death was aspiration of food. The necropsy also showed that the bear had severe bruising to the lungs, stomach, and left kidney. There was also bleeding in her chest.
 

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