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Episode 5 - Kindi the Diana Monkey
Kindi is a Diana monkey who was born at London Zoo in 2000. Her keepers reported that she had injured one of her fingers and it was swollen.
Zoo vet, Tai Strike, prescribed a course of antibiotics together with anti-inflammatories and monitored how Kindi responded to this treatment.
Kindi’s finger remained swollen and as Tai couldn’t get close enough to have a proper look at her injury, the decision was made to anaesthetise Kindi and move her to the animal hospital to radiograph (x-ray) her hand.
© Claire CunninghamX-raying a Diana monkey
When Kindi arrived at the animal hospital she was placed on gaseous anaesthesia, whilst Tai examined her finger. It was immediately apparent there was a hard lump on one of Kindi’s fingers. The vet team x-rayed Kindi’s hand from several different views. The x-rays revealed that Kindi had a fracture and a large bony proliferation on the second phalanx (bone) of the third digit on her left hand.
Tai was concerned that rather than a simple fracture, the bony proliferation might be the result of something more serious, and decided to get a second opinion from a colleague at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC).
Chris Lamb, an imaging expert at the RVC, looked at the x-rays and informed Tai that the bony proliferation was a large callous. A fractured bone forms a callus in order to heal. As Kindi had been able to use her hand despite her injury, the callus on her finger was slightly larger than normal.
Further treatment
Everyone was relieved that the swelling on Kindi’s finger was normal bone healing following a fracture and not anything more serious. Luckily for Kindi this means that no further treatment has been required and she can carry on with her monkey business!
