August 5, 2008

Modern medicine is no longer bound by species. Celebrex, aspirin and antibiotics all are prescribed to animals. (Pet Pulse Photo by Victoria Lim, Design by Tim Mattson)

BROOKFIELD, Ill. -- At 47-years-old, Beta the gorilla is a series of medical firsts. She’s the first gorilla to have given birth from artificial insemination. She had a double hip replacement.

Last year, human specialists joined veterinarians and performed a procedure called a hydrothermal ablation to alleviate pain and heavy vaginal bleeding.

When that didn’t resolve the problem for this menopausal primate, specialists returned earlier this year and performed a uterine fibroid embolization to shrink the tumor doctors believed was causing the pain and bleeding.

It worked.

“The tumor was the size of a softball, and shrunk to the size of a golf ball,” said Brookfield Zoo’s vice president of veterinary services Dr. Tom Meehan. “The bleeding stopped the next day. It was like switching off a light switch.”

Such extraordinary measures are becoming commonplace in our nation’s zoos, as baby boomers of all breeds and species are living longer. The American Association of Zoo Veterinarians estimates zoo animals are living twice as long as they did 30 to 40 years ago.

At Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, a 17-year-old Emperor Tarmarin monkey that’s lost more than half his teeth now requires soft foods. A 31-year-old lemur named Ruffles at the St. Louis zoo may be suffering from dementia.

Arthritis and a vitamin D deficiency have slowed Cookie the cockatiel to the point that this 75-year-old doesn’t even attempt to fly when the door to his habitat is open. He’s the last remaining original animal from when the Brookfield Zoo opened in 1934.

“Animals are certainly living longer than they used to because we’re understanding more about their environment, dietary requirements and what’s normal as far as their health is concerned,” said Dr. Jennifer Langan, an associate veterinarian for the zoo and one of Cookie’s doctors.

A large UV lamp hangs in his habitat and his caretakers give him anti-inflammatory medication to help with the arthritis. The medicine is similar to what you may see in your own bathroom cabinets.

“That was really the renaissance in treating humans, then dogs and cats, for arthritis, which is one of the most commonly seen items in older humans and older animals,” Meehan said.

Take a peek into Brookfield Zoo’s pharmacy and you’ll find drugs familiar to humans for pain and infections: Celebrex, Vioxx, Tylenol and Amoxicillin.

But sometimes drugs aren’t effective alone, as in the case of 22-year-old Jewel, the camel. Her steps are slow and cautious compared to her younger roommates who move fluidly and with ease. The typical lifespan for camels is in the teens.

When aspirin and injectable drugs for joints didn’t work, the zoo brought in another specialist: an acupuncturist.

“Early on we saw good results. After some treatments, she ran for the first time in a long time,” Meehan recalled. But that type of progress has tapered off in the past few years and caretakers are now mostly concerned with Jewel’s comfort.

Meehan stressed that every day, veterinarians and caretakers in zoos across the country must decide of the decisions they’re making to prolong an animal’s life is the best for its quality of life, or if euthanasia more humane. With advances in medicine -- across the board -- he said all living creatures are likely to enjoy longer lives.

“I think there’s an appreciation that it’s not just human medicine and vet medicine, but one medicine that encompasses all these different species and humans is just one of the whole group,” he said.

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