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Episode 2 - Sauna the Giant Anteater
In this episode we meet Sauna the giant anteater. Sauna is a nine year old giant anteater who lives at London Zoo. She was showing signs of sudden lameness and the vets and her keepers were keen to find out what was causing it.
© ZSLGiant anteaters carry their young on their backs. Sauna has given birth to five babies – including a very rare pair of twins.
Her most recent baby, Julio, had been trying to climb on her back even though he was far too big and had already been weaned. The vets suspected he may have accidentally injured Sauna’s back when he tried to climb on but couldn’t rule out a neurological problem.
Radiographing a giant anteater
Zoo Vet, Tai Strike, initially prescribed some anti-inflammatories for Sauna and her movement had become easier as a result. However, Tai wanted to check Sauna’s spine and so decided to radiograph (x-ray) her.
Sauna needed to be moved from her enclosure and taken to London Zoo’s animal hospital for the procedure. Tai hand-injected Sauna with an anesthetic to immobilise her, before moving her to the hospital. Hand injecting is much less stressful for the animal than darting her. Once Sauna arrived at the hospital she was placed on gaseous anaesthesia which was administered using a mask. As a giant anteater’s mouth is only half a centimetre wide and the opening to their larynx is 60cm away from their mouth, they cannot be intubated and in an emergency a tracheostomy would be needed to give the vets access to their windpipe. Great care must be taken to keep their very long incredibly specialised tongue moist throughout the procedure.
© Claire CunninghamAt the hospital, Sauna was radiographed and given a full healthcheck. The radiographs revealed spondylosis (spinal osteoarthritis) in sauna's cervical (neck) and lumber (lower back) vertebrae. Osteoarthritis is caused by a breakdown of cartilage, the substance that provides a cushion between the bones of the joints. Healthy cartilage allows bones to glide over one another and acts as a shock absorber during physical movement. In ostoearthritis, the cartilage breaks down and wears away. This causes the bones under the cartilage to rub together, causing pain, swelling, loss of motion of the joint and the formation of osteophytes (small spurs of new bone growth). Since radiographs are not able to show damage to the spinal cord or nerve roots, Tai decided to approach the RVC in order to perform a CT scan.
Sauna’s CT Scan at the RVC
To make Sauna’s trip to the RVC as stress-free as possible, her transport box was placed in her den and she was given time to get used to it. In fact she got so used to it that she entered the box of her own accord and fell asleep there! Sauna remained asleep for the entire journey. She woke up at the RVC and once again Tai hand-injected her and then placed her on gaseous anaesthesia.
Sauna was moved to the CT suite and after some initial pilot scans to view the area that Tai and the imaging specialist were interested in, the CT imaging was undertaken.
© Claire CunninghamThe CT imaging proved that there was no neurological cause for Sauna’s lameness and that it was rather caused by pain due to a degenerated cervical intervertebral disc and spondylosis.
We believe that this is the first time a CT scan has been undertaken in a giant anteater and as well as explaining Sauna’s lameness, the scans revealed that giant anteaters’ vertebrae are specially adapted to aid their movement. Imaging of the complex nasal passages in the incredibly long nose showed that they are obligate nasal breathers - this means they have to breathe through their noses and not their mouths - similar to some domestic animals, like pigs and rabbits.
The aesthetic was reversed once Sauna was safely back in her transport box where she made a rapid recovery and was soon returned safely to her enclosure at London Zoo.
Treatment
The damage to Sauna’s spine is probably age related but may have been exacerbated by her most recent very large baby still trying to climb on when he weighed almost as much as she did!
Spondylosis has been linked to an excess of vitamin A in anteaters living in captivity but Sauna's dietary vitamin A levels have always been closely monitored and her blood levels are normal. She has responded well to anti-inflammatory treatment and she will remain on the lowest effective dose. Tai will continue to monitor her condition with her keepers.
Sauna’s keepers feel she has been much more comfortable since being treated with anti-inflammatories and report that Sauna is once again thoroughly enjoying rolling around in her bath!
Find out more about our supervets: Meet the team
