Kudu Bull Broke His Toe Off
I got called out to work on this mature kudu bull after the owner noticed him limping.
The owner sent me a video, and after watching him walk, I agreed—we needed to get on this quickly.
I was able to dart him with sedatives and get him down safely. After a short exam, the reason for the limp became pretty obvious.
He had broken off the toe of his hoof, exposing the soft, sensitive tissue underneath. If you’ve ever torn a fingernail or toenail down into the sensitive tissue, you can imagine how uncomfortable it would be to walk around on an injury like this.
I carefully examined the hoof to make sure there wasn’t a deeper injury or another problem hiding underneath. While I was working, I also found several additional cracks in the hoof that showed me where some of the weak areas were. I was able to work on those areas as well and hopefully prevent another piece of the hoof from breaking off in the future.
I cleaned and treated the injured area, bandaged the hoof, and got this big guy back on his feet.
This is a good example of why paying attention to subtle changes in your animals matters. A limp may not look like much from a distance, but sometimes there’s a significant injury underneath.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on him and making sure that hoof continues to heal.
#TheWildlifeVet #DrSamWilkinson #Kudu #Veterinarian #ExoticWildlifeVet