IFAW VISIT BDMLR HIGHLAND SEAL HOSPITAL
Alan Knight Director of BDMLR came to visit the hospital with Ian Robinson and Claire from International Fund For Animal Welfare to talk about the possibilities of helping with funding for the hospital. Ian is a vet who has a vast knowledge of seals as he previously ran East Winch for many years. Ian is now based in Boston USA for IFAW and deals with many different projects on a global scale. Claire is the press officer for IFAW’s London headquarters so enjoyed getting up close and personal with our pups in the nursery. They are both extremely busy people so we really appreciate them taking time out of their hectic schedules to visit the hospital.
It was great to chat to someone who understands the process of seal rehabilitation so well and has such a wealth of knowledge. Both Ian and Claire got a little hands on work with the pups, Claire hand fed one of the pups from outside the pen and Ian hopped in with the 2 smaller pups who were still being force fed. I think they both enjoyed the experience from the big smiles. It wasn’t all work as we did manage a trip on the North Coast Explorer, which was amazing. We saw lots of wonderful wildlife, around 50 harbour porpoise in Gill’s bay, a great variety of seabirds and hundreds of grey seals as we toured round the island of Stroma. It was such a pleasure seeing so many seals in their natural habitat. Thank you Alan for making my first trip on a powerboat such a memorable one I didn’t realise you could do hand brake turns on the water!
The entire visit was a great success, we all had fun and IFAW agreed to give us some funding. From all at BDMLR Highland Seal Hospital thank you Ian and Claire. Thank you Alan for your continued hard work and support of the hospital.
So from all the pups and humans at the BDMLR Highland Seal Hospital THANK YOU IFAW very much for all your help and continued support.
Take care Heather
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Thursday Sept ember the 8th ( backdated catchup)
Hospital Update: 8Th September
Apologies first for the long break between updates. This was due to a very busy month both in the hospital and personally. Another factor was IT problems between laptop and uploads but with a new laptop on the way this should finally be sorted.
On the personal front I had to be away from the hospital for several days at a time due to my partner, Heather, both in the hospital and in the rest of life, finally getting a kidney transplant. This was performed in Glasgow and the month or so of recovery also in Glasgow. All went very well and Heather is doing extremely well and is now at home. Due to anti rejection drugs and risk of infection it will be at least another five months before Heather came come back to working in the hospital. No dialysis four times a day anymore so it has already made a huge improvement to Heathers, and mine, quality of life.
A very big thank you must also go to our number one volunteer Richard Bradley, or poo monkey as he refers to himself. He made a huge effort during this time from coming in for every feed days before I had to go away, to learn force feeding fish and the different traits of each pup with it. Then he spent several periods where I would be away for four or so days at a time, returning to find Richard tired, but he had kept the hospital in fine form, following the routine and dealing with Pickle who decided to start being difficult with feeding. So thank you for all your work Richard, it was a crash course for feeding before hand, but you did a great job and it made my time away less stressful as I didn’t have to worry about the pups.
PUPS:
Apologies first for the long break between updates. This was due to a very busy month both in the hospital and personally. Another factor was IT problems between laptop and uploads but with a new laptop on the way this should finally be sorted.
On the personal front I had to be away from the hospital for several days at a time due to my partner, Heather, both in the hospital and in the rest of life, finally getting a kidney transplant. This was performed in Glasgow and the month or so of recovery also in Glasgow. All went very well and Heather is doing extremely well and is now at home. Due to anti rejection drugs and risk of infection it will be at least another five months before Heather came come back to working in the hospital. No dialysis four times a day anymore so it has already made a huge improvement to Heathers, and mine, quality of life.
A very big thank you must also go to our number one volunteer Richard Bradley, or poo monkey as he refers to himself. He made a huge effort during this time from coming in for every feed days before I had to go away, to learn force feeding fish and the different traits of each pup with it. Then he spent several periods where I would be away for four or so days at a time, returning to find Richard tired, but he had kept the hospital in fine form, following the routine and dealing with Pickle who decided to start being difficult with feeding. So thank you for all your work Richard, it was a crash course for feeding before hand, but you did a great job and it made my time away less stressful as I didn’t have to worry about the pups.
PUPS:
Well we had a new arrival on the 10th August from Dunnet beach.
A common seal male weighing in at 8.5 kilo. He has been named Arnie by the local medics He was dehydrated and malnourished and around a week old. He has followed the routine of being rehydrated before starting on his milk. He has been through the fish stages and is now hand feeding from outside the pen. He is a very laid back pup and spends his day playing, either with Pickle or with the various things put into the pen for enrichment. He feeds his fish extremely well and rips the fish apart in the water, filleting them with his nails and then swallows everything down. There is no waste with Arnie.
Weight on all pups has been progressing well with current weights as of 8/9/08:
Kessock: 14.7 kg
Bella: 16 kg
Pickle: 12.5 kg
Arnie:13.7 kg
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Bella and Kessock 
Kessock
Bella Kessock Kessock + Bella
Kes is doing well and is quite well behaved, she does have the habit of putting her jaw around my leg and squeezing whenever I am cleaning or in the pen. This was fine when she was tiny and her teeth were yet to come and couldn’t reach above my wellies. Now she is bigger I can really feel her teeth pushing through the wellies and it’s a bit of a worry when I feel her at my knees. Have to keep an eye on her at all times. She is very playful and when she hears us open up in the morning she makes it known to all she wants her food. She was certainly well behaved for the photographer from the paper.
Bella is settling in and while still a bit nervous she knows the routine, it is only if you are doing something she is not used to that she gets jumpy. Bella and Kessock are now buddied up in the same pen. At first Kessock just wanted to play but Bella being nervous as she is, just spent the afternoon at the back of the pen with one eye on Kes. She never seemed afraid or aggressive, which can and does happen, but rather just kept her distance. This buddying up is very important for their development and stops them attaching to us, be it through necessary interaction or visual stimulation.
Pickle:
Pickle is progressing well, and again seems to be settling into his routine with his weight picking up at a good rate. Due to his severe malnourishment we have to be careful in the early stages with his intake and basically ease him into it. With his relatively short time at the unit his weight gain is very pleasing. He is a bit like Bella in that he is still nervous, though he is lightning fast, so we have to keep an eye on him when in the pen and also count our fingers once out J
That’s it for today, a big one I know, remember drop us an email at the address opposite and say hi.
All the best
Jamie
UPDATE: 21/7/08
All pups doing well and settling into the routine.
Hopefully along with this update there will be a picture update in the form of a slideshow, I say hopefully as my forte is seal rehab not IT. Also up should be a copy of our weight chart showing the pups progression through the weeks and I will highlight the changes in feed from milk through weaning and onto feeding for themselves.
We had an article about the hospital in Saturdays Daily Telegraph, it was a good piece and we are grateful for the publicity, though it was not as detailed as we had hoped, but good non the less. And Kessock had a colour picture of her to go with the story.
I must say a huge thanks to Richard who has been coming out during the week for the morning feed and clean. He helps with everything around the place and makes my life a lot easier, so Rich, thanks again.
Friday was weigh day and all pups had gained, even little pickle who had only been in a few days.
Friday: 18/7
Kessock: 9.7kg
Bella : 10.5kg
Pickle: 7.9kg a good gain after 2 days considering it had rehydration fluid for the first 24 hours before starting on milk.
Monday: 21/7
Kessock: 10.8 kg
Bella: 11.5 kg
Pickle 8.6 kg
A really good weekend with all pups gaining good weight, and looking very healthy with it.
Kessock:
All pups doing well and settling into the routine.
Hopefully along with this update there will be a picture update in the form of a slideshow, I say hopefully as my forte is seal rehab not IT. Also up should be a copy of our weight chart showing the pups progression through the weeks and I will highlight the changes in feed from milk through weaning and onto feeding for themselves.
We had an article about the hospital in Saturdays Daily Telegraph, it was a good piece and we are grateful for the publicity, though it was not as detailed as we had hoped, but good non the less. And Kessock had a colour picture of her to go with the story.
I must say a huge thanks to Richard who has been coming out during the week for the morning feed and clean. He helps with everything around the place and makes my life a lot easier, so Rich, thanks again.
Friday was weigh day and all pups had gained, even little pickle who had only been in a few days.
Friday: 18/7
Kessock: 9.7kg
Bella : 10.5kg
Pickle: 7.9kg a good gain after 2 days considering it had rehydration fluid for the first 24 hours before starting on milk.
Monday: 21/7
Kessock: 10.8 kg
Bella: 11.5 kg
Pickle 8.6 kg
A really good weekend with all pups gaining good weight, and looking very healthy with it.
Kessock:
Kes is doing well and is quite well behaved, she does have the habit of putting her jaw around my leg and squeezing whenever I am cleaning or in the pen. This was fine when she was tiny and her teeth were yet to come and couldn’t reach above my wellies. Now she is bigger I can really feel her teeth pushing through the wellies and it’s a bit of a worry when I feel her at my knees. Have to keep an eye on her at all times. She is very playful and when she hears us open up in the morning she makes it known to all she wants her food. She was certainly well behaved for the photographer from the paper.
Bella:
Bella is settling in and while still a bit nervous she knows the routine, it is only if you are doing something she is not used to that she gets jumpy. Bella and Kessock are now buddied up in the same pen. At first Kessock just wanted to play but Bella being nervous as she is, just spent the afternoon at the back of the pen with one eye on Kes. She never seemed afraid or aggressive, which can and does happen, but rather just kept her distance. This buddying up is very important for their development and stops them attaching to us, be it through necessary interaction or visual stimulation.
Pickle:
Pickle is progressing well, and again seems to be settling into his routine with his weight picking up at a good rate. Due to his severe malnourishment we have to be careful in the early stages with his intake and basically ease him into it. With his relatively short time at the unit his weight gain is very pleasing. He is a bit like Bella in that he is still nervous, though he is lightning fast, so we have to keep an eye on him when in the pen and also count our fingers once out J
That’s it for today, a big one I know, remember drop us an email at the address opposite and say hi.
All the best
Jamie
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Update: 16th July
Well the season is now well and truly underway, yesterday afternoon between feeds, Richard bradley being the coordinator for Caithness, had a call out for a pup at Strathy, about 20 miles west of Thurso. Local medic Callum Stronach joined us on the drive to check on the pup.
We arrived to find a very malnourished pup up at the high tide line. He was covered in sand and so after a quick eye wash he was carried the mile or so back up to the road to Richards Landrover and transported to the seal hospital.
Once at the hospital the standard assessment showed us we had a male harbour seal pup weighing in at 7.5kg and around 5 or so days old. He is/was in a very very poor body condition. We have started his rehydration and later today he will be started on the milk formula, this combined with his medication should start making him feel better. He is looking better this morning after a night under the heat lamp. His blood sample should give us a better idea of what’s going on in his system.
We arrived to find a very malnourished pup up at the high tide line. He was covered in sand and so after a quick eye wash he was carried the mile or so back up to the road to Richards Landrover and transported to the seal hospital.
Once at the hospital the standard assessment showed us we had a male harbour seal pup weighing in at 7.5kg and around 5 or so days old. He is/was in a very very poor body condition. We have started his rehydration and later today he will be started on the milk formula, this combined with his medication should start making him feel better. He is looking better this morning after a night under the heat lamp. His blood sample should give us a better idea of what’s going on in his system.
He is alert and relatively active which is a good sign, especially considering his condition. As usual we will monitor and treat accordingly.
He has been called Pickle and as usual we will let you know how he gets on.
He has been called Pickle and as usual we will let you know how he gets on.
As for Kessock and Bella, both are doing well and have settled in nicely. Once Bella finishes her course of antibiotics they will be buddied up in the same pen. Kessock is herself such a well settled pup and if not sleeping is playing around the pen with anything she can get hold of. Bella has settled and come into her own, she is a bit more relaxed with her surroundings and not as nervous, we just take it slow and deliberate around her.
Well thats it for today, so far J as at the time of writing its only 11am and after not getting home till after 1am last night, we need to wait to see what the rest of the day brings.
Remember to go and look at BDMLR’s web site and if you can donate in anyway then please do so. With so many pups coming in at such a young age we are rapidly going through the Multi Milk formula, and what with it costing £100 a bucket, and with three pups now meaning it wont last too many days, any help at all is gratefully accepted. If you can help then please do.
Thanks again
Jamie
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Update 14th July
14/11/08 HOSPITAL UPDATE
Friday night (11th) at 10.30pm our second pup arrived.
A week old common/harbour seal female. She was picked up off of Thurso beach after being reported to the local police earlier in the day. Local BDMLR medics Richard Bradley and Karen Munro arrived to discover a small thin looking pup that clearly hadn’t eaten for a while. Richard and Karen then transported the pup out to the hospital where Heather and I were waiting.
We all agreed to give her the name Bella, she weighed in at 9.4kg, was around a week old and besides being a bit malnourished she had no physical injuries.
Balla has started her rehydration routine and everything seems well this morning. She will be started on her milk formula this afternoon and we expect her to progress well.
Like Kessock she will be given the usual supplements, a course of antibiotics and we will blood sample her on Monday.
She is quite nervous, which really is to be expected. One minute your on the beach and the next you have people around annoying you by touching, and proding.
She will we assume calm down over the next day or so once she realises we are helping her and she has a routine.
KESSOCK is her usual laidback self , constantly wanting to suckle on my wellies and waterproofs.
Once these pups are cleared for anything major, mainly parasite and blood testing they will be buddied up together. This will help them develop immensely and is a natural stimulation.
Monday = Weigh day. Kessock 8.7kg
Bella 9.7 kg
More later
Jamie
Friday night (11th) at 10.30pm our second pup arrived.
A week old common/harbour seal female. She was picked up off of Thurso beach after being reported to the local police earlier in the day. Local BDMLR medics Richard Bradley and Karen Munro arrived to discover a small thin looking pup that clearly hadn’t eaten for a while. Richard and Karen then transported the pup out to the hospital where Heather and I were waiting.
We all agreed to give her the name Bella, she weighed in at 9.4kg, was around a week old and besides being a bit malnourished she had no physical injuries.
Balla has started her rehydration routine and everything seems well this morning. She will be started on her milk formula this afternoon and we expect her to progress well.
Like Kessock she will be given the usual supplements, a course of antibiotics and we will blood sample her on Monday.
She is quite nervous, which really is to be expected. One minute your on the beach and the next you have people around annoying you by touching, and proding.
She will we assume calm down over the next day or so once she realises we are helping her and she has a routine.
KESSOCK is her usual laidback self , constantly wanting to suckle on my wellies and waterproofs.
Once these pups are cleared for anything major, mainly parasite and blood testing they will be buddied up together. This will help them develop immensely and is a natural stimulation.
Monday = Weigh day. Kessock 8.7kg
Bella 9.7 kg
More later
Jamie
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