Emergencies
This beautiful Tawny owl is a patient being cared for at The Wildlife Aid Foundation in Leatherhead. He was not responding to any treatment tried for his left eye, which he continued to hold tightly closed. WAF were concerned he may have had glaucoma so urgently needed to test the intra-ocular pressure of the eye to diagnose this. They made an urgent appeal to borrow a Tonopen from a local vet surgery.
Our head Veterinary Nurse Sarah Holliday, who also helps out at Wildlife aid, saw the appeal and asked Ian if they could borrow Vet4life's Tonopen.
A Tonopen is a a hand held device that measures the pressure inside the eye. This test is used to check for glaucoma, an eye disease that can cause blindness by damaging the nerve in the back of the eye.
WAF were able to test the owl's eye pressure. The nib of the pen was gently touched on the surface of the owl's eye and a reading was taken of the pressure on the surface of the eye.
The Veterinary team at Wildlife aid are very happy to report he does not have glaucoma, and just needs more time on his current eye medication. Once his eye has fully recovered this gorgeous Tawny Owl will be released back into the wild.
