Bandit came into Care on 6 August 2022. He weighed just 993 grams
He was found in his Mum's pouch after Mumma had been killed in a MVA Driver didn't stop and Bandit left alone cold and alone. A lovely young couple found him and rang me and we met half way. He was so cold and hungry. I warmed him up gently and offered him some milk which he guzzled down.
on 31 August we welcomed beautiful little Bailee (836 grams) as a sister for Bandit. She was so precious. another victim of a Hit and Run MVA and also arrived freezing cold.
Bailee didn't settle and after a visit to the vet we found that the tendons in both her feet had detached. The outcome not good and a tearful decision was made to put her to sleep. R.I.P. beautiful baby.
21 September we picked up Benson (1.5kg) from Nicky and Bandit had a little brother.
On Nov 17 2022 Bandit (3.3 kg) was having a little hoon. He was only just finding his legs and somehow he broke his tail.
A visit to the vet confirmed the broken tail and Dr Miles strapped the tail into place. Unfortunately after a a few days the strapping had slipped and was no longer supporting the fractured tail. Its extremely difficult and complicated strap a tail. I took Bandit to Claire at Karlup Animal Sanctuary. She restrapped the tail. As we struggled in the first few weeks it was decided to leave the strapping on for 8 weeks instead of the usual 6. Bandit had free time to wander and hoon in the joey enclosure and had waalks around the property. At Christmas time he was given a beautiful Christmas tail
The day the strapping came off and Bandit was free to hoon, although only in the pen he managed to break it again. While I was waiting to have it restrapped and splinted he started biting the spot where it hurt and broke open the skin. I took him to the vet for xrays to and it was discovered he had Osteomyelitis. Osteomyelitis occurs when bacteria from nearby infected tissue or an open wound circulate in your blood and settle in bone, where they multiply. If the infection is treated quickly (within 3 to 5 days of it starting), it often clears up completely.
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| Car Trips to Claire |
I knew then that we were in trouble. Bandit was placed on Clindamycin, Metrogill, Meloxicam, Phenergan and Pain Stop. He was on antibiotics for 6 weeks at a cost of $15 per day. ($630.00) His tail was splinted and strapped to try and stop the infection from moving through the bone.
The journey to healing began and consisted of
3 x trips per week to see Claire to rebandage, restrap and resplint. This also meant loading not only Bandit but also Benson and Marli into the car.
Each bandage change could take up to 4 hours. Kangaroo fur grows quickly and the tape needed to be cut away gently and methodically so as not to cause pain or discomfort.
As he was a growing boy the splint needed to be adjusted or changed regularly.
During each change the wounds were flushed with Saline and Betadine
As the infection was present new dressings still in packaging needed to be used to make sure it was all sterile.
Bandit needed to be sedated during each change (and often in between changes if the pain was too much for him to manage or he was restless)
This looked a whole lot worse before it started to get better.
Claire loves wound care and was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! She encouraged me when I thought things looked hopeless.
We were prepared at any time the vet made the decision that we would put Bandit over the rainbow bridge.
At each bandage change lots of photos were taken and sent to Nurse Alice (Vet nurse at Mt Barker Vet Hospital and also a wildlife carer) and we were given instructions on next step forward.
We tried many ointments, creams etc during the process to keep the wounds moist and fight the infection
We were introduced to hydrocolloid technology from Bandaid. It acts like a second skin and supports the natural moisture balance to offer fast wound healing. This stuff was magic. At $9 a box of 3 and often needing up to 5 to cover the area also expensive. The idea was to leave on for a week, but because of the fast hair growth as explained earlier we needed to replace 3 x weekly. Claire started to get excited, Alice was jumping for joy, I was still skeptical.
During this time Bandit was on 100% complete pouch rest. Thankfully he was a pouch potato and didn't really mind. Every morning I went bush for a walk and brought home an armful of bush tucker for him.. He had access to woolly bush and grevillea etc as well as his grain.
The nursery pen was invaluable. He would be in there during the day and watch all the big kids do their thing. Benson and Marli would spend time in with Bandit as well, so Bandit's Kanga emotional needs were well taken care off.
Once the infection was improving he was allowed short times on his feet. We blocked off a third of the nursery enclosure and he was able to stand and graze. Over a couple of weeks the area was made bigger until finally he had the whole enclosure.
We sent XRays to Southern Cross Vet Hospital and WA Wildlife. As they couldnt agree on best treatment, we decided to continue with what we were doing as it was working.
The most exciting day was 11 July 2023 when finally his splint and strapping was removed. Oh the emotions from all of us. WE DID IT!! 8 months of high level care!! We were done - well not quite.
We had to take things very slowly for another month as Bandit adjusted to a naked tail. He was close to 14 kilos and with no muscle strength in his tail or butt, we had to be careful not to move to quickly.
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| 36 weeks after breaking his tail - freedom |
Then it was time for Mumma to step back and allow Bandit to become part of the mob. The first night in the joey shack was a bit scary, but thankful for security cameras. Bandit couldn't lay down yet so that was another thing to learn.
I have tried to put them in some kind of order, but don't have the dates on them
We found we needed to strap from the base of his butt to the tip of his tail to stop swelling and maintain equal and even pressure the length of his tail.
This is his tail today
It is muscly He uses it when in flight mode, to balance, to box with Marli and Rossie. He still needs to gain confidence to balance on his tail and kick with his back legs, but he will get there.
A huge thank you to
Claire at Karlup for your endless hours of strapping, splinting, restrapping and resplinting. Making splints as he got bigger, all the hugs and love you gave him. Thankyou will never be enough but I know seeing Bandit growing big and strong, wild and free is all the thanks you need.
Alice at Mount Barker Vet for your hours of checking photos, getting advice, giving advice and for your encouragement when I was thinking this was never going to end.
Peggy for being a taxi driver when I was exhausted, for babysitting the kids so I could have some time out.
ARC for providing big stretchy pouches and XL hanging bags for Bandit as he kept growing. and out grew everything I had.
Dr Lisa - locum vet for your initial diagnosis, support and advice even after you had left.
DPIRD for the grant to construct the nursery enclosure
To everyone who encouraged, prayed, donated towards medical expenses.
Definitely a huge team that got Bandit through 9 months of healing and rehab.
