Recovering Opossum

It never ceases to amaze me how well and how quickly wildlife can heal. I received a young, juvenile, male possum in a week or so ago. He had been caught by a labrador retreiver and the wildlife officer had to chase the dog and then force it to release the opossum. When the possum arrived at my house, he had rapid, shallow breathing, palpable subq emphasema over the entire right side of his body, major bruising across the abdomen, right eye filled with blood and protruding, left cornea white.

Follow up:

He was taken to my vet who gave a steriod injection and administered oxygen while examining him. He had a flail chest due to multiple broken ribs, punctured lung, questionable abdominal injuries, left hyphema (eye injury) and an old right cornea injury.

I brought him home. He was kept in a quiet, warm container over night to limit initial movement and, as his condition improved, has been moved to larger housing. A short course of steroids were continued, pain medication given, antibiotics administered to prevent pnuemonia and antibiotic eye drops administered for the corneal abrasion.

I am pleased to say that a week and a half later, the hyphema is resolving though we are not sure what if any sight he will retain in that eye. The corneal abrasion has healed. The air under his skin has been reabsorbed and his breathing is normal thus the lung has healed. The ribs are mending fine and the abdominal bruising is resolving. He is eating and putting on weight. It may be a few more weeks, but this little guy should be ready for release back into the wild, though in an area with fewer possble interactions between other humans and dogs.

What a wonderful experience it has been to work with this incredible animal and it is always awesome to watch one heal. Success stories are so much fun and help us get through those times when all our hard work has a sadder ending.