Caroline County Bald Eagle

PATIENT:  Bald Eagle, #10-2153 LOCATION OF RESCUE:   Caroline County CAUSE OF INJURY:   Struck by vehicle -- perhaps twice? ADMISSION DATE:  October 29 PROGNOSIS:  Euthanized December 3 On October 28, a truck driver in Caroline County hit a juvenile Bald Eagle after the bird walked out onto Route 207 in Milford.  The driver contacted Carolina County Animal Control.  Deputy M.E. Bullock rescued the eagle from the median and took it to Hanover Green Veterinary Clinic in Mechanicsville.  Wildlife rehabilitator Barbara Slatcher picked up the eagle from the clinic and took it to fellow rehabilitator Debbie Pupa for stabilization and overnight care.    Debbi  found that the eagle had an open fracture of its right humerus – the bone had penetrated the eagle’s skin, greatly increasing the risk of infection.  Debbi cleaned the wound, treated the bird for maggots, and wrapped the bird's wing for stabilization.  On the morning of October 29, Bill Pupa [Debbi's husband] drove the eagle to the Wildlife Center's clinic in Waynesboro. The eagle was assigned patient number #10-2153 and is the 19th Bald Eagle admitted for treatment thus far in 2010. Dr. Kelly Flaminio examined the Bald Eagle and found that the bird is in poor condition.  Because of the extensive maggot infestation, Dr. Kelly believes that the eagle was likely injured earlier in the week -- perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday.   The eagle’s wing has two large puncture wounds in its wing from the broken bone – one in the front, and a fresher wound in the back.  Perhaps the eagle had been struck by a vehicle earlier in the week [wound #1] and then suffered a second wound when it was struck by the truck on October 28. Dr. Kelly anesthetized the bird, flushed and cleaned its wounds, and stabilized the fracture.  The eagle has received pain medications, antibiotics, and fluids and was housed in the Center’s critical-care chamber.   On Saturday, October 30 Dr. Miranda Sadar and Dr. Kelly operated on the bird.  During the 75-minute surgery, the fracture was aligned and pinned.  The wound on the dorsal [back] side of the wing was sutured; the front wound was bandaged. On October 31 the eagle was standing; Dr. Miranda rated the eagle's condition as "better than expected."  The bird was offered food and ate on its own. On November 1 the eagle was anesthetized again.  The wound on the ventral [front] side of the wing was cleaned and sutured.  Another round of radiographs were taken, revealing good post-surgery alignment of the pinned fracture.  However, questions still remain about the viability of the bird's humerus.  The eagle's eyes were also examined; there were no apparent problems.

November 9 update

The Bald Eagle is generally bright and alert and has been eating well.  A blood test revealed a high white blood-cell count; the eagle will be given an additional antibiotic.  A new round of radiographs has been scheduled for early in the week of November 15 to evaluate the fracture in the bird's humerus.

November 19 update

On Monday, November 15, Wildlife Center veteriarians took another set of radiographs to evaluate how well the fractured humerus is healing.  Radiographs revealed a callus forming nicely over the fracture site.  The external fixator (the part that is on the outside of the bird's wing) was removed to begin what the vets call the "dynamic destablization" process; that is, slowly removing the various pins and pieces that have anchored the broken bone in place.  This process usually occurs over a couple of weeks.  The next set of radiographs is scheduled for November 29; if the bone continues to heal well, the pin may be removed at this time.  Unfortunately, the eagle continues to have an elevated white blood cell count; additional antibiotics have been started.  With a continued high white blood cell count that has not yet responded to antibiotics, staff veterinarians suspect that the eagle may have aspergillosis (a fungal infection).  Additional bloodwork has been sent to a diagnostic lab for confirmation. 

November 29 update

More radiographswere taken on the morning of November 29; these showed that the Bald Eagle's fracture is continuing to heal.  With the formation of a callus over the fracture site, Drs. Kelly and Miranda decided to pull the pin that has been stabilizing the humerus for the past month.  The eagle will continue to be monitored over the next couple of days, but the veterinarians are hoping to move the bird into a small outdoor pen later in the week.  Results from the aspergillosis panel revealed that the eagle does not have a fungal infection.  A CBC (complete blood count) taken on November 22 showed a normal white blood cell count, meaning that the antibiotics finally cleared up the infection. 

December 1 update

Unfortunately, just two days after Bald Eagle #10-2153's pin was removed, complications occurred.  When Dr. Miranda and team grabbed the bird for this morning's treatment, they were startled to find the eagle's wing broken--again--in the same place.  They immediately anesthetizedthe bird to take radiographs.  Based on the appearance of the fracture during the exam and in radiographs, Dr. Miranda concluded that the eagle's fracture never healed.  While a callus did form (which was seen on earlier radiographs), it was only connected to one side of the fracture.    This raises a lot of questions.  At this point, the fracture should have healed--whether it was pinned or not.  The veterinary team will take this bird back to surgery on Friday, December 2 to see if the fracture can be repaired.  Dr. Miranda plans on "freshening" the ends of the bone to encourage them to knit together.  However, removing too much bone would be detrimental to the eagle; anything that would significantly reduce the length of the humerus could compromise the bird's ability to fly.

December 6 update

On December 3, Drs. Miranda and Kelly took this Bald Eagle to surgery to re-pin the fractured humerus that never healed.  Once they were able to visualize the fracture more clearly in surgery, they saw that the piece of bone that had not attached to the callus was dead.  While Dr. Miranda attempted to freshen up the fractured humerus by removing the dead segment, it soon became clear that she would have to remove a significant portion of the bone—nearly 35%.  With such a significant piece of the wing missing, this bird would never be able to fly again.  The vets decided to humanely euthanize the bird during surgery. The Center depends on the donations of caring individuals for the health care provided to this Bald Eagle  — and to about 2,500 wild animals in need each year.  Please help!

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