We take everyopportunity to train tiger vets in gas anaesthesia and it doesn't get much harder than a giant anteater at Colchester Zoo with its very long nose and tiny mouth.

Please donate to train more vets like Nepalese vet Dr Amir Sadaula. Every £1 you cangive before 12 noon on Tuesday 6th December will be match-funded, so your gift will go twice as far.

Yesterday,our visiting vet Dr Amir Sadaula, NTNC, was shadowing zoo vet Nic Masters,IZVG, at Colchester Zoo. They had a busy day filled with interesting casesincluding this incredible giant anteater, Giblerto. Amir has been practicingintubation while he has been here, but this is one animal that’s incrediblyhard to intubate. With a very long face and a tiny little mouth at the endyou’d need extremely specialised equipment to be able to see what you were doing.In this case the team managed without gas.

In the picture above you can see some of its incredibly tongue - did you know they can be up to two feet in length!! The pulse oximeter monitors how much oxygen is in the blood. If the oxygen saturation is low it could indicate a problem with the airway or pneumonia and/or not enough oxygen is getting to vital tissues

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Gilberto has been moving more slowly recently and with the cold weather his keepers wondered whether he might have a bit of arthritis. They are using a portable x-ray system, similar to the one Amir has back in Nepal, so this was a really useful learning experience for him.

The x-rays revealed some new bony growth, consistent with arthritic change. Anteaters can live up to 26 years in captivity and as Gilberto is 23, a bit of wear and tear isno surprise. The team will be reviewing his current medication to see if theycan add in something to help make him more comfortable. Great work everyone!

All the original wildlife medicine knowledge was adapted for wild scenarios from what we knew about the diseases affecting similar species in captivity. To be able to practice on domestic species and captive wildlife is invaluable – you don’t want your first attempt at gas anaesthesia to be on a wild species where every individual counts!

Please donate to train more vets like Nepalese vet Dr Amir Sadaula. Every £1 you cangive before 12 noon on Tuesday 6th December will be match-funded, so your gift will go twice as far.

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