July 18–20 Admission and Severe Anemia

Patient 26-519 arrived at Ojai Raptor Center on July 18 after being found grounded and unable to fly.

She was underweight, pale, quiet but alert, and significantly dehydrated. Importantly, her initial examination did not identify fractures, wounds or other significant traumatic injuries that could immediately explain why she was grounded.

Intake radiographs taken while she was awake showed abnormalities in the appearance of one of her kidneys and mild abnormalities in the lungs. Because several different conditions could produce these findings, treatment began with stabilization and supportive care while the veterinary team gathered more information.

A more comprehensive examination and diagnostic workup followed after initial stabilization. Blood samples were collected for testing both at Ojai Raptor Center and through outside diagnostic laboratories.

One result immediately became the central concern: her PCV was  10%.

PCV measures the percentage of blood made up of red blood cells. In a healthy Bald Eagle, this would generally be expected to be above 30%. Patient 26-519 was therefore severely anemic. Her blood protein was also low.

At this point, the team was facing two challenges simultaneously: supporting a patient with dangerously few circulating red blood cells while determining why the anemia was occurring.

Possible causes under investigation included toxic exposure, parasites, chronic or inflammatory disease, abnormal destruction of red blood cells and other less common disorders.