At the iconic Melbourne institution Lort Smith Animal Hospital no two days arethe same.

Lort Smith’s exotic vet, Dr Tristan Rich restored a baby macaw to good healthand out of misery following the discovery of a tube in its stomach.

The beautiful and rare bird had been seen by another vet clinic before beingtaken to Lort Smith.

Dr Tristan Rich explained, “The baby macaw had been to another vet beforecoming here for vomiting, weight loss and lethargy.

“When I took radiographs a surprisingly large tubelike foreign body wasvisible. I was then able to take it out of the stomach using an endoscope.

“Once we removed it we could see that it was a feeding tube. The currentcarers had not had her long and they were not missing any feeding tubes so Isuspect the tube had been swallowed while still at the breeders – sitting inthere the whole time they have had her.

“It is very inappropriate for a breeder to sell an unweaned bird. We don’trecommend buying unweaned birds unless you are very experienced in caring forbirds,” he said.

The good news is the baby macaw is now doing well and should make a fullrecovery.

Lort Smith aims to provide world-class animal care and is the busiest not-for-profit animal hospital in Australia – each year treating approximately 25,000patients.

The organisation receives no ongoing government funding and relies on thecommunity and donors help deliver vital services to sick, injured andvulnerable animals.

Previous How important is puppy socialisation?

Next Why French Bulldogs Make a Great Family Pet