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Little Rog

It’s not everyday of the week that I am presented with an injured goose, but part of being a vet here in rural Somerset means that we are constantly presented with new, interesting and slightly obscurer animals than your average. On a Friday afternoon, Little Rog, a 4 year old female Goose was rushed into Wells Vets with a large wound to the back of her neck. Her owner had found her that afternoon caught up in some fencing and her struggling efforts to free herself had mostly likely caused the injuries she was presenting with.

We quickly decided that Little Rog needed some pain relief and sedation to allow me to properly assess the extent of her injuries. After a quick chat and pep talk from Martin and Greg, I felt ready to proceed with anaesthetising a goose! Nurse Nat and I carefully administered an intra muscular injection of an opiate based pain relief which also can contribute to mild sedation. We then supplied Little Rog with some oxygen via a mask for a few minutes before slowly adding in some anaesthetic inhalant gas which sent her into a light sleep.

Nat was busy maintain Little Rog under anaesthesia, whilst I cleaned, flushed and explored the wound to the back of her neck, discovering a couple of smaller wounds in the surrounding area in the process along with some superficial damage her beak and a small injury close to her right eye. Luckily for Little Rog the wounds appear to be only skin deep and the underlying muscles and soft tissues were seemingly unaffected! Nat prepped the wound and I prepped myself for surgical repair meaning that the site was as sterile as possible before we applied some local anaesthetic to the area to make the process more comfortable and reduce the need for deep anesthesia.

As the neck wounds were only skin deep, I was able to place a series of stitches using a dissolvable material to bring the two skin edges together. For the injuries on her beak we simply bathed them in some warm, dilute anti-septic to remove any surface contamination. Both these measures, along with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories meant that we could help assist the normal, natural healing processes that the body goes through when exposed to injury. Inflammatory mediators, although helpful in the very early immediate stage, will delay healing long term, as will an infected wound bed.

Thankfully due to the quick action of Little Rog’s owners and the veterinary attention she received, she is recovering very well. Not my average Friday afternoon but certainly a rewarding one!