Endoscopic examination helped a caracal in the Děčín zoo

A bored caracal who can't, and won't, shake off the congestion. This is exactly the kind of case that has been solved for a few weeks in the Děčín Zoo. Classical treatment didn't work, so a foreign object in the nasal cavity was suspected. Thanks to the cooperation of field veterinarian MVDr. Lydia Suková and MVDr. Ondřej City from cityVET Děčín, a special endoscopic examination was arranged for the caracal.

The high-end endoscope was brought to the Děčín Zoo by Arthrex, a specialist in various medical technologies, and provided free of charge. "We put the male caracal to sleep for the examination and first took a control X-ray of its teeth, which could also be a potential cause of the problem. However, his teeth were perfectly fine," described zoo veterinarian Lydia Sukova. A subsequent endoscopic examination revealed a lot of mucus in the right nostril, but no foreign body. "If we were to describe how such an examination works, an endoscope is, in layman's terms, a camera on a tube that can examine hard-to-reach places, in our case the nasal cavity. Veterinarians have the opportunity to watch the examination on a laptop screen, record the entire course of the examination and later analyse it in detail," explained Petr Haberland, zoologist at the Děčín Zoo.

After the endoscope examination, the doctors took samples for culture and PCR examination of the causative agent of inflammation in the right nasal cavity, which we hope will reveal the exact cause of the congestion.