Reservoir Vet Clinic was lucky enough to treat a young Joey that had been rescued by a local wildlife carer. Dr Wayne examined the young Joey and found that his hip was painful. Dr Wayne took a radiograph of the Joey's hip and found that his hip was dislocated. This is a painful injury for such a young Joey to have. Dr Wayne immediately administered a general anaesthetic so that he could place his hip back into the correct position.

Nurses Janelle and Sommer assisted the surgery by monitoring the Joey’s anaesthetic closely while Dr Wayne was attempting to replace his hip. Dr Wayne also administered a very strong pain relief medication to ensure he remained comfortable. Once Dr Wayne had replaced his hip he took another radiograph to ensure his hip remained in the correct position and that there weren’t any fractures associated with his injury.

As kangaroos use their hind limbs for mobility it was important that he remained confined as much as possible to allow the joint to heal. Luckily the Joey had some very dedicated wildlife careers who successfully nursed him back to health and were kind enough to send us some photos of him happy and healthy.

If you ever find injured wildlife and you can safely handle the animal you can take the animal to the closest veterinary clinic. As injured wildlife can be unpredictable and may not be handled safely you can also call Wildlife Victoria on 0500 540 000 and an experienced volunteer will rescue the animal.