BORIS

A feisty great horned owl battles for life at the WCVM

Veterinary Medicine intern Dr. Alana Shrubsole worked with WCVM faculty and students for months on the rehabilitation of Boris. Here’s her story...

By Dr. Alana Shrubsole

Boris the great horned owl.

Photo by Dr. Alana Shrubsole

One very sick and sad looking great horned owl arrived at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine late last year after a suspected collision with a power line. It was the start of a three-month encounter with a bird named Boris that both challenged our skills and touched our hearts.

As the exotic, avian, wildlife and zoological medicine intern, I was called to the case with three senior vet students in tow. A quick exam showed that Boris was stable but with a lot of damage to his left wing. In fact his left elbow appeared to have a large wound that involved the skin and muscle underneath.

Now it was time for a game plan. Radiographs (X-rays) under general anesthesia would help us further evaluate his wound and look for other problems that may exist. As we were discussed our plan, Dr. Dennilyn Parker, the exotic, avian and wildlife medicine faculty member, came along with a reality check – Boris had a lot of soft tissue damage and there was a good chance that he has been electrocuted. Electrocution injuries are nasty; at worst his muscle would decay and at best, he faced weeks of intensive treatment. Dr. Parker was telling all of us that Boris had a very poor prognosis.

But, together, as the “exotics team”, we decided to go ahead with the radiographs. With fingers crossed we put Boris under general anesthesia, took the radiographs and did a comprehensive physical exam. Lo and behold, his left wing injury appeared to be the only thing wrong with him ... yeah!

So began the long-term and time-intensive therapy of Boris’s wing and the students who took care of him put their hearts and souls into it, treating the owl with the utmost care. The first few days were touch and go as Boris was very sick and subdued but he gradually came around. We knew he was on the road back to his normal great horned owl self when he made it clear he didn’t for a second believe he needed our help!

During his period of daily treatments (wound cleaning and physiotherapy), Boris was housed in the indoor WEAMS (Wild and Exotic Animal Medicine Society) facilities. The physiotherapy focused on a damaged ligament in the wing that, if left untreated, would severely limit the owl’s ability to fly. A crossroad in his recovery was reached after Boris had been at the clinic about five days. Dr. Parker gave us all another reality check – we need to objectively assess the owl because if Boris’ wing was not showing signs of improvement, we needed to think about his quality of life and what the chances were for a successful release.

We all went down to the WEAMS ward to have a good look and although it was not healing as fast as we would have liked, we did see a definite improvement. The decision was made to continue with his therapy.

Boris continued to improve. Having arrived with little energy, in the first two weeks we saw a rapid improvement in his attitude. He went from not really caring about what was going on to being vocal and chirping when we took him out of the cage, to being feisty and trying to attack us whenever he got the chance! He really didn’t think that he needed us, and it was very obvious that if harming us meant that he could escape, he would do it a second!

After about a month, he graduated to the outdoor flight pen and became the responsibility of the WEAMS students – first, second and third year vet students – who donate of their time to helping out with the animals. It was a particularly busy time for WEAMS with 20-30 animals in their care but Boris got the help he needed. He was flown the length of the pen many times daily to build up his flight muscles, and his attitude and flight ability were assessed by the WEAMS students in order to judge his progress. Boris did very well outside and improved day after day.

An eye exam was the last hurdle for Boris. Many wild birds with injuries that involve collisions, either with power lines, cars or windows, end up with eye damage or blindness. As birds of prey are at the top of the food chain and need both eyes to hunt, a blind bird of prey cannot successfully be released in the wild. Boris’ release depended on the results of his eye exam.

I think I was more nervous during the eye exam than Boris. Dr. Bruce Grahn, an ophthalmologist and faculty at WCVM, and Dr. Carrie Breaux, the ophthalmology resident, have been very enthusiastic when it comes to examining the eyes of all of our wild birds. Because WEAMS depends on donations and funding from outside sources, Drs. Grahn and Breaux often donate their time and equipment to helping WEAMS. There was great relief and happiness when they gave Boris a passing mark on his eye exam.

The only thing left was to decide on the day, the time and the location for Boris’s release. We chose Furdale as the location because of the trees and available water – what more could a great horned owl want? – and a date in mid-November seemed as good as any. I trekked to the outdoor flight pen to collect Boris. It was an amazing feeling to hold this beautiful creature, to know all of the work that went into helping him, and how close he had come to death. It was a very rewarding feeling to throw him up in the air and watch him gracefully fly off into the distance.

Thanks to countless people, Boris’s release was a success!

Boris gets ready to fly back to freedom near Furdale, helped by, from left: first-year student Anthea Smith, intern Dr. Alana Shrubsole, and first-year student Barb Weselowski.

Photo by Dr. Dennilyn Parker

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