FAUNA RESCUE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC.
THE SHORT LIFE OF A LITTLE JOEY CALLED NICKE
The 25th of January this year was a BIG day for me and my husband Chris, we were to become parents (for the first time) to 2 little joeys.
I drove out to Willaston (to Rhonda) to collect our little babies. They were both of the Red kangaroo family and absolutely adorable, one a little girl whom we named Trang (Chang) and the other a little boy we named Nicke, after my son in Sweden and his Vietnamese wife.
They had both been found in Oodnadatta and brought in by the Flying Doctor via Port Augusta.
Nicke would have been roughly about 4 months old and was very nervous and a bit frightened to start with. He was a very reluctant eater as well and would only drink about half of what he was suppose to have at each mealtime.
This lasted only for about 3 days and then suddenly his apetite was very good and the real bonding started to set in.
Both Nicke and Trang got a good bonding with our little dog Suzie as well. Suzie is only very small (Jack Russel X Maltese) and she and Nicke became very attached to one another.
Nicke's self-confidence was growing by the day and he never left any of his formula anymore. He enjoyed getting out of the pouch and jumping around a bit every so often.
We were delighted in the progress and the now very strong bonding with both Nicke and Trang.
The 2 of them were also very close, a bit of a lick and a bit of playing around, when they were out of their pouches.
Our whole life had changed with these beautiful little joeys and we felt like we were really part of a new wonderful life. Then came the change.
The 15th of February when toileting Nicke, we thought the colour of his faeces had changed. It looked to have a bit of pink in it, so we decided to keep a close eye on him.
Following day he lost his balance a little bit, but we were not sure if it was because he was tired, so we decided to put him back in the pouch and give him a rest and try him again a bit later. Once again he lost his balance and his faeces still had a bit of pink in them, so we decided that it was time to consult a Veterinary Surgeon which we did and got an appointment in the morning of the 19th February.
Apart from this, Nicke was fine, very good appetite and NO diarrhoea and cute and cuddly as usual.We saw Dr Rebeccah Stanton at Southern Animal Hospital in Morphett Vale and she did a very thorough examination of Nicke. Apart from being a bit off balance, Nicke also had a bit of a slow reaction to the light when examined. Rebeccah gave him an injection of IVOMEC - for worming and said that she wanted to see him again in 2 days time. Meanwhile she was going to contact another Veterinary Surgeon at the Adelaide Zoo (Dr Schultz).
18th of February, there is still no change in Nicke. Loss of balance and "funny" looking faeces, but no diarrhoea and he is still having a good appetite.
19th of February and we are back to see Dr Rebeccah Stanton again. Nicke's loss of balance has been getting a bit worse and Rebeccah says that so has his eyesight. At this stage Nicke is also sneezing a fair bit. Rebeccah decides to start him on ALAMYCIN injections which is a long acting antibiotic and to send some of his faeces for Laboratory tests.
At this stage there is fear of TOXOPLASMOSIS because of some of the neurological signs, and Chris and I are very worried about our beautiful little joey. At the same time, Nicke is still eating normally and there are no signs of diarrhoea so everything is very confusing.
Back to Southern Animal Hospital the following day and the lab. report has come back. Cysts - resembling EIMERIA SPP, which we are being told means COCCIDIOSIS. Rebeccah is as usual very comforting and gets in touch with Dr Ian Hough and we start Nicke on Baycox- every 2nd day for 3 treatments.
At this stage we are starting to give up hope, because as everybody said, there is very small chance of recovery if our joey has got coccidiosis. However, he is still eating and faeces are of normal consistency.
22nd of February and Nicke and we are once again back to see Rebeccah for a repeat injection of ALAMYCIN. Nicke is still about the same. He is not getting any better, but he is not getting any worse either so we start thinking that maybe there are some hope after all.
24th of February and Nicke is improving. His balance is getting better and we notice that he seems to be able to see again.
25th of February back again for a check up and Rebeccah confirms that he is indeed much better and has got normal reaction back in his eyes. We are jubilant, this is wonderful. However we are being told to put Nicke on ELECTROLYTE REPLACER to help along.Nicke is getting better by the day and life returns to normal. We are all so very happy and very grateful.
4th of March and Nicke is slowing down with his food intake. He is still eating but not the full amount he is supposed to have. We are getting very concerned again.
5th of March about the same and now he is starting to lose his balance again. On the 6th we are back to see Rebeccah again and she gives him S/C fluids injected under his skin and we start another lot of Baycox. Nicke is now going downhill very fast. He can not move at all any longer.
7th March back to Southern Animal hospital for more S/C fluids. He has now stopped eating all together and is totally blind.
The night to 8th of March I held him in my arms in our bed all through the night making sure he was breathing and giving him as much comfort as I could. It was the longest night of my life, but I refuse to give up hope.
We had an appointment with Rebeccah early in the morning of 8th of March and Chris offered to take Nicke there and tried to caution me that he might not be coming back.We both knew that a miracle was needed and kept hoping.
I stayed at home to look after Trang and our other animals while Chris went to see Rebeccah with Nicke.
When he eventually came home and told me that Nicke had to be euthanased because the suffering was getting too much and we would only be prolonging his agony we both broke down.
Nicke we love you and we hope that you are in the most wonderful Kangaroo Heaven and we were blessed to have you the short time we did.
During this time we were also worried about Trang, so she was also treated with Baycox for preventative purposes and we watched her closely for any signs at all.
Now we were getting worried about what the grief would do to Trang so I have been spending all my time with her and she now seems to be fine. Suzie, our little dog has been doing her bit of grieving too. The mystery about what actually caused Nicke's illness is just that, still a mystery.
On the suggestion of another Fauna Rescue members (Sue Rayner) I rang Lynda Staker in Queensland and she came up with something that we never heard of: WALLAL VIRUS, caused by mosquito bite and certainly some of his symptoms are spot on, but not all of them.
Apart from that, Lynda was very helpful with lots of information and promptly mailed us her latest Newsletter that was actually dealing with the WALLAL VIRUS. Lynda also said that we, or anybody else could give her a call anytime we needed help or advice.
I would like to finish our
sad little story about a joey called Nicke with giving our
heartfelt THANK YOU to Dr Rebeccah Stanton and all the
other surgeons, nurses and staff at Southern Animal Hospital.
Thank you too to Dr Schultz at the Adelaide Zoo and thank
you to Dr Ian Hough. Last but not least a big THANK YOU
to all Fauna Rescue members supporting us during this difficult
time. To name just a few:
Sue Rayner, Sheila Burbidge. Liz MacGuinness and Rhonda
Tracey(bless your soul).
I hope that I never will have to write a story like this ever again.
Britt Schulze (with the warm support of my husband Chris).
