The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Is Helping To Save A Dehydrated Baby Hippo!
The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Is Helping To Save A Dehydrated Baby Hippo!
Month-old baby hippo Fiona has been struggling since her premature birth, but when she began teething, she became severely dehydrated. Luckily, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital was able to step in and help her recover!
Month-old baby hippo Fiona has been struggling since her premature birth, but when she began teething, she became severely dehydrated. Luckily, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital was able to step in and help her recover!
On January 24, 2017, baby hippo Fiona was born six weeks premature to mom Bibi and dad Henry at less than half the lowest recorded birth weight ever. Little Fiona weighed only 29 lbs, when the average birth weight for baby hippos is between 55 and 110 lbs. But the little hippo has surprised everyone by making it this far.
However, when Fiona began teething, she stopped taking milk, causing her to become severely dehydrated. The Cincinnati Zoo tried to give her fluids via IV, but the little hippo's tiny veins couldn't handle the needles. Luckily, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital has had plenty of experience hydrating premature babies and knew exactly what to do with the little hippo.
The first vein they tried burst 30 minutes into treatment, but the hospital's doctors were soon able to find a stable vein deep in the little hippo's leg and administer five bags of fluid to Fiona, who can now take milk again.
According to the zoo's curator of mammals, Christina Gorsuch, Fiona is now back on track to recovery and doing well.
"Five bags of fluid later, Fiona is showing signs of recovery. She is still sleeping a lot but has started to take bottles again and has periods of carefully-supervised activity. The catheter is still in place.
Christina Gorsuch
BBC News, February 21, 2017
But now, what we'd like to know is...
Do you think baby Fiona will be okay?
Do you think baby Fiona will be okay?
Any other thoughts? Talk to us about it in the comments below, and share with your friends to see what they think.