BDMLR Highland Seal Hospital

Scoots first swim at the hospital

2011-07-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

2011-07-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

On the afternoon of the 27th I recieved a call from Audrey, our local SSPCA officer and BDMLR medic that she was going to look at a pup at Golspie. Local medic Andrew Macleod rang as well as a local had reported it to him that afternoon. Both attended and uplifted the pup and Audrey drove it the hour and a half back to the hospital. On arrival we had another extremely thin pup, male, weighing in at 8.4kg and about 5 days old. I thought Harry was a bag of bones but this boy looked worse. He then started the alternate feeds through the night. This lad was called Pee Wee.
While at this point on the night of the 29th all pups are stabilised, receiving medication and are now on a schedule of milk feeds. All pups are progressing well.
Thanks go to Dawna, Dougie and Audrey from the SSPCA, as well as Andrew from Golspie. Also to the guys helping at the hospital, Heather, Alex, Tracey and Boonie.
Jamie

Lulu and Harry

2011-07-02T19:24:00.001-07:00

Lulu

Harry

Having organised to attend the BDMLR mass stranding excercise at Burghead on Sunday the 26th,On the Saturday evening I recieved a phone call from Dawna at the SSPCA to ask if I could take a pup she was about to pick up from Fort William.
She would bring it to the excercise and I would bring it back with me to the hospital.
Dawna arrived with a small female pup that I tubed twice at Burghead before heading home at lunch. I was asked by another SSPCA officer and medic, Dougie, if I could have a quick look at a pup they had been watching near Dornoch, as it was on my way back north, I naturally said yes.
On arrival at Dornoch, I found the spot and there was a small male pup, looking extremely thin. He was placed in the transport box with the other pup and off we set for the hospital.
On arrival at the hospital we had a small female weighing in at 7.4 kilo and being approx 3 days old. she was thin and still had her umbilicus. No injuries.
She was called Lulu.
The pup from Dornach was a extremely thin male weighing in at 7.8, around 4 days old. He was longer than the female but was worryingly thin and hydration fluid was given and milk feeds alternated with the lectade as he needed sustenance as well as fluid as if we had used standard protocol of 24 hour fluid, I am sure he would not have survived the night. This male was called Harry.

2011 New arrival - First Common of the season

2011-07-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

Scoot

On Friday 17th June, Inverness medic John Orr was called to check on a seal pup reported on a beach at Nairn. It was believed to be only a couple of days old and as there were seals nearby we asked John if he could check it again in the early evening, and then eventually Saturday morning, just to be sure mum was not still around.
On Saturday morning it was confirmed that no seals had been near the pup and it was looking a bit thin, based on this the pup was uplifted by John and as we could not find anyone from Inverness to help with transport to the seal hospital John held the pup until Ali Jack arrived in the evening on his way home to Skarfskerry from the BDMLR course at North Berwick.
On arrival at the seal hospital later that evening we found we had a small 8.8 kilo, male common seal around 3 days old. He had no injuries and while being a bit thin he was alert and active.
He recieved hydration fluid for the first few feeds and has since moved onto multimilk.

He has been called Scoot.

Jamie

Grey Seal Release April 2010

2011-07-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

On the 19th April we finally released the last of the winter arrivals from the Hospital.
The weather forecast was looking good for the next few days and so Mary, Al, Patch and Larry were given the once over and weighed in the morning once the pool was drained, then loaded into their transport boxes for the short journey to the release site.
As well as Heather, Caleb and myself we were joined by main Hospital volunteer Tracey and son Elliot, Director Mark Stevens with Carolyn, Director and neighbour Ali Jack along with Pam and little ones, SSPCA officer Audrey and a few others. It was quite a welcome crowd compared to last time as it certainly made all the lifting and carrying of each over 40 kilo seal much easier.
Once at the release site their boxes were lined up but Al didnt want to wait and so squeezed half out his box and then with Heather barely managing to keep some sort of control, tipped his box up. The other three were quickly let out to join him and with the exception of Larry all hit the water pretty quickly. Larry wasnt to sure but with a bit of coaxing finally went in. They spent the next half hour or so exploring the harbour and looking for each other.
We left them to get on with it and last seen they were playing in the seaweed.
Now they are finally back where they should be and the task of readying the hospital for the next lot begins.

Grey Seal Release 24th March 2011

2011-07-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Highland seal hospital release - Thursday 24th March 2011
After having to abandon plans to release on Wednesday due to high winds, then seeing a good weather window for the next four days it was decided to go ahead and release Moe and Sunny back to the wild.
Moe and Sunny are both local pups and both arrived in November. Moe having been seperated from his mother, undernourished but with no injuries was found near Dunnett head. Sunny was found the otherside of the bay near Castletown Harbour and had been severely affected by toxic piosoning, we presume it was some sort of petroleum product due to the internal burning and blinding of her eyes. Sunny also had multiple deep bites over the rear of her body.
Moe progressed through the rehab stages with flying colours, progressing as expected.
Sunny needed some major care in the early days and we were relieved to save her sight and also to then be able to reduce the scarring on her cornea to the piont it was barely noticable.
The day dawned lovely with the wind greatly reduced from yesterday so after a quick check of the five day forecast it was decided to release today. Yesterday we had several volunteers on hand, Tracey, Boonie and a local vet Jamie, today though as it was very short notice they couldnt make it today so it was just myself, Heather and Caleb.
After draining the pool, it was catch up time and then into the transport boxes for the short trip to the release site.
We were joined by two curious common seal yearlings who were sitting in the middle of the small bay watching the proceedings from start to finish.
Once out of their boxs they both approached things differently. Moe went straight down the slipway and over the edge, swimming from one end of the harbour to the other, no hanging about. Sunny on the other hand was reluctant to head into the water, sitting on the edge and not wanting to be rushed. Eventually she went in and spent the next half hour playing in the seaweed and gradually venturing further afield.
We wish them all the best.
Jamie Dyer

Update TBC

2011-07-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

BDMLR Caithness Fundraiser a Success

2011-07-02T14:12:00.002-07:00

Saturday 5th March was the day for our planned bootsale and soup and sandwich lunch fundraiser. The day dawned bright and sunny and made for a better than average crowd at the sale and we were very busy right from the start!

The hall was very busy and packed full of people looking for a bargain and it seems there were plenty to be had. We had a total of 17 stalls and our own stall, which had lots of lovely stuff donated to us by members of the public, family and friends. The soup and sandwich lunch went down a storm, being busy right from 12 pm onwards. The girls who were serving certainly had a busy day of it but they coped tremendously - I am very proud of them all!

When everything was packed up and cleared away we counted the money to find that we made a grand total of £402! I am sure you will all agree that that is a super amount to raise in a few hours!

I would like to thank everyone who gave up their Saturday to help us, Audrey Gunn and her daughter Laura, Colin Bird, Jim Thompson, Jamie and Heather Dyer, Mandy McIntyre and her Mum Kate, my 2 sons Kyle and Elliot Myers and my friend Laura Gunn who also came along and helped us out. We couldn't have done it without a good team to help so thank you all! It goes to show that with a little planning and a few helpers we can achieve so much. Many thanks to you all again for supporting us with this fundraiser!

Tracey Meiklejohn
BDMLR Caithness Coordinator

Ringo update

2011-07-02T14:12:00.001-07:00

Grey Seal 2010 Update - Ringo

2011-07-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

On Friday 11th February I received a call from Marion Jack (Ali's mum)saying there was a small pup laying quite still near the slipway at Gills harbour.

I thought I better go and check as Marion has experience with being around the seals and if she is concerned then there is definitely a need to assess. On the way to Gills, Marion phoned to say Michael Salter, one of the hospitals original helpers had lifted the pup and was on his way to the hospital.

On assessment at the hospital we found we had a approximately 8 to 10 week old male grey seal weighing in at a worrying 17.5 kilos. More worrying was the fishing line injury to his neck. This was a deep, fine cut running around his neck, approximately an inch and a half deep at the top and while not cut underneath it was well welted and swollen, and the line was clearly visible. The wound was certainly of great concern on such a small pup, though due to it being recent it didn't explain the pups lack of weight. Initial thoughts were to suspect lungworm debilitation.

Ringo as he is called was cleaned, had his wounds treated, was medicated and rehydrated. He was lively and active though his energy levels were low.

He is now, as of Tuesday making steady progress. The wound is cleaned and debrided nightly and treated to help with granulation of the tissue. He is eating some feeds in shallow water and others that are medicated are being hand/force fed. He is being treated for the now confirmed lungworm burden and is making steady progress.It's early days yet as the wound is very nasty and down to the ligament at the back of the head, though he has full movement of head and flippers so it should be a case of keeping it clean and letting it heal. Pictures were taken on Monday after he was cleaned and stable.

Petal the Otter

2011-07-02T13:59:00.001-07:00

Info soon

Update page1

2011-07-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

coming soon

Ollie and Winkie Returned To The Wild

2011-07-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 6th November Ollie and Winkie were returned to the wild. Ollie who arrived from Orkney via Ross at Orkney Seal Rescue in July and Winkie who arrived shortly after from Thurso, were fed in the morning as usual and then they had their pool drained. Once drained they were checked over, their tags were double checked and then they were boxed for the drive to the release site. While both these pups arrived at the hospital malnourished and weighing around seven kilos, they were now on their way weighing over 30 kilos each. The release had been delayed and put back for over three weeks due to constantly changing weather conditions though with a good forecast they were now almost there.

Heather, Caleb and myself were joined at the site by HSH volunteer Tracey Myers and her son Elliot, medics Linda, Claire and Natalie from Inverness and SSPCA officer and medic Audrey and her partner Bruce, as well as a few other friends so a big send off for the boys.

The release went smoothly with Winkie swimming out into deeper water straight away to join up with another pup, Ollie meanwhile was a bit reluctant but eventually went out to join Ollie.

A good day for all, I will miss the boys but it’s great to see them back where they belong.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Grey Seal Season Update - Larry

2011-07-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

Late in the evening on Saturday 6th November a small male grey seal arrived at the Highland Seal Hospital. He had endured a long journey after being picked up on Friday evening on the Isle of Lewis by Sandy MacDonald, Kirstie Brown and Ross Spence, and looked after overnight by the ever busy Sandy McDonald. Sandy travelled with him on the Saturday afternoon ferry to Ullapool, where he was driven by Claire Johnston to Simon Eller, who was waiting at Golspie to bring him to us at the Hospital.

On arrival we found we had a small male weighing in at 12.5 kilo. He was very malnourished, covered in bite wounds and showing very poor body condition. He was thoroughly checked, treated, medicated and left to settle in. After fluid therapy he was started on fish late on Sunday and is progressing well. We have named him Larry.

Grey Seal 2010 Update - Curly

2011-07-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

Third in was another male pup from the Western Isles, this time on Uig, not far from where we spent a few days last week with the pilot whales. Picked up by Heather, the ex SSPCA officer on the island, by ferry to Harris and picked up by Sandy once again and driven to Stornaway on Lewis where Sandy cared for it over two nights before getting the first available ferry to Ullapool where local co ordinator Jim Thomson bought it to the Hospital.

Male called Curly weighing in at 12.7kg. Two and a half to three weeks old and very skinny with lots of bite marks and wounds.

Grey Seal Season 2010 Update - Moe

2011-07-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Our second arrival was a large male pup picked up near Dunnet Head. This was a hard one as while he had been observed on his own for four days, he had clearly eaten within this time. There was lots of disturbance and with incoming gales and rough seas it was decided to observe for a further 24 hours. Again after seeing no evidence the pup was feeding, and with the weather getting wilder as the tides now had it pinned against the cliff base, it was decided to remove the pup to the hospital.

He is called Moe and weighed in at 24kilo and approx one week old

Grey Seal Season 2010 - Al

2011-07-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 31st October, this small male pup from the Isle of Harris, weighing 14 kilos and around a fortnight old was picked up and transported by Sandy McDonald back to Stornaway overnight before being brought by ferry to Ullapool, then relayed by John Orr from Inverness to the mound where it was picked up by Ali Jack and myself.

The pup, now named Al, had multiple wounds around the base of the flippers/tail and a few cuts and abscesses, he was also very dehydrated.

Winkie

2010-08-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

The call for this pup came late in the evening and local medics raced out to pick up the pup in the dark.He was unresponsive and in very poor condition when he was admitted to the hospital.The outlook was not good and we did not expect the pup now named Winkie to survive the night. He had his temperature and blood glucose checked. The temp was too low to read and the blood glucose was the same, less than 0.6mmol. He was made comfortable and we would see how he was in the morning. The morning was the start of a long fight to help Winkie to survive,as you can see from the photos we administered a drip along with extra glucose,antibiotics and re hydration fluids given by stomach tube.We left the hospital at midnight we had worked on Winkie for 15 hours.He was making slow progress but progress gave us hope.

The next morning Winkie had improved dramatically this did surprise us all as initially he was given 0.01% chance of survival.We continued his treatment and he is so far going from strength to strength.

Betty

2010-08-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

Betty was rescued from Castletown harbour.She had sustained nasty facial injuries due to a rocky shore and high winds.She was thin at only 9.3kg. The season for commons has been later than we usually expect so Betty's arrival on the 1st of August did surprise us. She had treatment for her injuries and seemed to be progressing well, but unfortunatly and unexpectedly she died. This was a blow for everyone at the hospital, Betty was a happy little pup, very content and a good patient. Hopefully we will learn more from the PM.

She is sadly missed.

Ollie

2010-08-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Ollie arrived at the hospital on the 9th of july,he was rescued in Orkney by Ross Flett from Orkney Seal Rescue. He was very thin weighing only 7.7kg but bright and alert.He was started on our mix multi-milk and a course of anti-biotics. He loves to suck his hip as you can see from the photos.

Last of the grey seals go back home 23rd of April 2010

2010-08-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Grey seals Boo,Princess,Holly and Leia released at last.This grey season was very long and hard work with labour intensive treatment for Boo.Her release was a high point for all at the hospital her progression amazed us all,and seeing her go back home was the best reward we could have.

20/2/10 Ami,Chewy,Blossom and Poppy go back home.

2010-02-21T10:13:00.000-08:00

The weather was fantastic, freezing but sunny as you can see from the photos.Ami,Chewy,Blossom and Poppy all released together.The sea was so calm and clear that we could see the pups explore their home again.

Pumpkin goes back to the wild.

2010-01-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin had a delayed release due to the bad weather,he was well over release weight.We always thought Pumpkin would do well in the wild as he is a dominant male who patrols the pool when we are in cleaning to make sure you don't get too close to the others.He is very impressive when charging round the pool roaring at you. He surpassed himself by being well behaved,boxing him up was easy considering his size.Then off to the release site just a hop,skip and a jump and he was down on the shore line.Pumpkin was a little reluctant to go in the water at first just gentle persuasion from Jamie and he was off.There were lots of seals hauled out on the other side of the bay and Pumpkin being a confident boy swam over and hauled out with them it has to be the best release ever,rehab pup mixing with the colony in 5 minutes.
Thanks to all involved in Pumpkin's rehab we couldn't manage without all the support.
love Heather x

MERRY CHRISTMAS from all at the Highland Seal Hospital

2009-12-23T17:43:00.001-08:00

A Wonderful Christmas message from International Animal Rescue

2009-12-23T17:18:00.000-08:00

A Wonderful message from our family at International Animal Rescue.
The last dancing bear in India is finally off the streets. This has been a long hard fought campaign.
Great news for Christmas and congratulations to Alan Knight OBE and all the organisations for all the hard work, its an incredible thing you have done, truly amazing.
If you havnt already checked out the amazing story or IAR's website then please do as without IAR and especially Alan our own hospital wouldnt exist.
Well done mate!
Here is the message I recieved from Alan today:

Alan and Raju - The last dancing bear - Raju - safe in the Sanctuary

Dear Jamie
Well we did it! Thanks to wonderful supporters like you, every last dancing bear in India is safely in our care. Our partners Wildlife SOS in India have worked tirelessly over the past seven years to achieve this incredible goal and we are indebted to them for guiding this project along the road to success, in spite of the tremendous obstacles and challenges they have faced along the way.
Today we join our partners at Wildlife SOS, at Free the Bears in Australia and One Voice Association in France to celebrate what we have achieved together. And we applaud the Indian Government and its hardworking officials at the Forestry Department for giving the project their full-hearted support and assistance.

The icing on the cake!
The BBC News channel is broadcasting a half hour documentary about the project on four separate occasions over the holiday period: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pwryf

This will be an opportunity for us all to relive the bears' journey from a life of pain and suffering on the streets to contentment and calm in our sanctuaries. Do tune in if you can - and please tell your friends to watch too. What better way could there be to celebrate Christmas and the end to our Year of the Bear!
A heartfelt thank you for all your support during 2009. My best wishes for a very merry Christmas and a New Year filled with more animal rescue successes!

Alan Knight OBE

Chief Executive

http://www.internationalanimalrescue.org/

BOO update - swimming in her pen

2009-12-17T15:49:00.000-08:00

Boo has relaxed over the days in care and while she still doesnt like to be handled she is not as stressed as she was and this is more than likely as she now feels better and has become used to the routine. Also as she now she has pain relief and food. She is actually very gentle and curious and when in the pen she will be around your legs like the other pups, feeling the waterproofs and trying to suckle/bite your boots. You can clean and disinfect the pen as long as you move slowly and deliberatly and dont try and touch her. She watches your every move and loves it when you put the shower on her. But if you pick up a towel, which she associates with catching her up, then you better be able to move like lightning out of the pen or, actually catch her. Once caught and the towel discarded she feeds fine and is relaxed. Thankfully its the towel she has a problem with and not me!

Feeding routine is changing day by day as she starts to heal and her swelling and bruising goes down.
She has had minimal handling, just twice a day to feed and medicate.
Today she spent the day in the pen filled with water, for Boo and her injuries we also add salt to the water to help with the healing process. Boo's wounds look sufficiently OK for them to start being wet for longer periods. As well as helping with healing the wounds, the swimming also helps with her digestion. As she is quite young and just weaned she would not be used to eating solids so swimming in the water and being active helps. It also will help with her digestion as it will take her body weight off her stomach area which has suffered severe trauma which must feel far better than lying on it in the empty pen.
We are very pleased with her progress so far, the wounds are slowly healing, she is less stressed which makes it easier to help her and she seems far happier. I use the word happy as she spent the day playing in the water and anyone who seen her said the same thing, she looks happy playing about.
Hopefully theres a bit of the video I took attached to this post so you can get an idea of what I mean.
Jamie

Boo Swimming showing off her scars

New Arrival - 16th December - Holly

2009-12-17T15:33:00.000-08:00

(click on the pics to enlarge)

Just before lunch on Wednesday we had one of the locals knock on the hospital door and tell us there was a skinny looking pup, about 200metres up the road on Skarskerry slipway. Off Tracey and I went with a seal box and bag to take a look, and sure enough as soon as we turned the corner, there it was trying to shelter behind the little boatshed at the top of the slipway. It was very obvious that it needed to come in as it was as good as weaned with only the last remnants of white coat around its rear flippers and lower back but was very, very thin. A quick pick up and back to the hospital to give a thorough assessment.

We found we had a 3 to 4 week old female grey weighing in at a low 11.7kg.

She had puncture wounds on her neck and rear flippers. There were also three deep, bleeding more serious puncture wounds on her rear flippers and rear underside. She was very alert, though thankfully not too fiesty.She has been named Holly and will have the usual hydration fluid feeds before starting on routine fish feeds.

An easy rescue but a bit of a worry when they start coming to us.
Jamie

BOO update

2009-12-15T14:49:00.000-08:00

On Arrival

front flipper edge Puncture to flipper

before shave after shave

On Monday we took Boo to the local vet surgery where she was sedated so we could clean the wounds a bit better and take a few xrays of the damaged flipper, thankfully nothing was broken though the puncture went straight in almost, if not to, the bone. While she was sedated I took a blood sample and swabs to send off.

Her whole underside from her ribs all the way back to her rear flippers are covered in wounds, some large, some small. Her side is also very swollen and bruised which is not suprising considering the size and depth of the main wound. Her tongue also has three bits out the end where she must have bitten it. This seems to be a common thing in grey seal pups up here where they get knocked around on rocks.

Her front flippers, as well as having the nails ground down she has ground down the edge of the flippers themselves, while this is relatively minor compared with her other injuries, it must be quite painful. It certainly looks it.

The wounds are many and will take a good amount of time to heal, but heal they should.

She needs a fair bit of extra care and a different routine to the others but fingers crossed she will make a full recovery.
Her demeanour improved over the weekend as she became used to her new surroundings and the routine, though she is still very aggressive when handled, which while dangerous is understandable considering what she has gone through and the pain she was in.

She has been given fish feeds the last couple of days and tonight for the first time she seemed more relaxed and swallowed them without biting the tails off. This is a good sign that she may soon start eating for herself as the less stressed we can keep her the quicker her recovery will be.
She loves being showered down and will sit under the shower all day if you will stand there. I have left her tap dribbling when cleaning but she is not interested in it, only the shower.

Jamie

Sunday 13th December - Pup Release - Freddy and Jules

2009-12-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

On Sunday the 13th of December our two common seal pups Freddy and Jules were finally released back into the wild.

They were ready to go around a fortnight ago but due to bad weather we had to wait for the right conditions. They were both looking fat and healthy with freddy finally hitting the 30 kilo release weight after a period when she lost several kilo due to us only being able to get large fish that she decided she didnt want, so she wouldnt eat them and only started picking up once we got her old favourites back. Fussy girl, thats Freddy for sure.Meanwhile Jules was up to 35 kilo as while she was held back for Freddy she just kept eating and eating.

Both pups made the trip down to our usual common release area on the Cromarty, arriving around 2 pm. Heather and I were joined by local medic, daily hospital volunteer and friend Tracey Myers with her two sons Elliot and Kyle and also our good friend, photographer, WDCS and BDMLR man and all round good guy Charlie Phillips. (the great pics on this post are his and the not so great are ours :)

Both pups were taken to the shore and as usual with a release , the tide was way out, so it was a long walk carrying the two fat pups, and with boxs opened and allowed to come out at their own pace. Freddy was into the water reasonably quickly while Jules wasnt quite sure. After a bit of coaxing and a last goodbye of she went. By this time Freddy was already out into the deeper channel in the middle jumping and diving, generally exploring and getting her bearings. Jules soon had the idea and was out in the deeper water exploring and was last seen porpoising out near the middle heading towards some pups further to the east.

They both seemed happy with their new surroundings and with a large population of commons in this area they should find some company within a very short space of time.

After being with them everyday for almost 6 months, people say it must be sad to see them go. Not sad I say, but happy, this is where they belong, not in a pool, so its good to see them go and especially see them happy so quickly. For sure I worry for them and I will miss them, but this is where they should be. We gave them a second chance and now its up to them.

We wish them all the best for a long and fruitful life.

See ya girls it was a pleasure knowing you!

Jamie

New arrival 11th of December-Boo

2009-12-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

A member of the public called head office about an injured pup on Riess beach,Tracey Myers and Jamie responed to the call from head office and set out to check the pup.On assesment they discovered the pup had extensive bite marks and lacerations covering her abdomen and back.So the pup was transported to the hospital for a detailed assesment and treatment.Pup weighed in at 25.5kg and around 4 weeks old and was female, her injuries are pretty horrific as you can see from the photos.The photos are of the wounds after they had been cleaned and debrided she is going to the vets on monday to be sedated so that we can x-rayed her rear flipper,blood sample and check the depth of her wounds.Jamie named the pup Boo and she feeling alot better this evening after pain killers and anti-biotics over the weekend.Update tomorrow after her visit to the vets. Heather

new arrival - 4th December - Blossom

2009-12-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

A resident from Dunbeath contacted head office about a seal pup that had been watched all morning alone on a beach at Dunbeath not too far south of the Hospital.

Local medic Jane Gunn went out to have a look and confirmed it to be a skinny weaned grey seal. Jane then drove the pup to the Hospital for its assessment. Thanks Jane.

We found we had a grey seal female, approx 3 weeks old and while weighing 15.5 kilo was very malnourished as well as very dehydrated. This didnt stop her being very fiesty, which is normal until they get used to their new surroundings.

She was called Blossom, and will start with hydration fluid for the first 24 hours followed by easing her onto fish. There were no physical injuries besides a superficial graze to the chin so all going well she should progress quickly.

New Arrival - 27th November - Amadala

2009-12-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

26/11/09

Medics from Stornaway were called out to a young grey seal looking very underweight.

The young seal was picked up by Sandy and Stacey and held overnight at Sandy's before boarding the morning ferry to Ullapool. Sandy did a great job of tubing the pup hydration fluid and monitoring its temperature through the night. She also made the round trip to Ullapool and back. A big effort, a long night and a long trip, thanks Sandy.

Once in Ullapool the pup was picked up for the next leg of the journey by Sue , who also made a huge effort driving from home near Aviemore to Ullapool, then taking the pup north to Lairg before handing it over to Andrew from Golspie who then drove the pup north to Helmsdale, from where Jim Thompson came the last leg arriving at the hospital around 2pm. Along journey for the little pup and a major effort from all those involved in getting the pup to us. Thank you all.

Now for the pup itself, upon examination we had a grey seal female, white coat at approx 8 - 10 days old. She was weighed at 15.4 kg. She was thin and had some deep lacerations to her underside. These lacerations were right in the folds of skin running across her stomach area. Very hard to deal with as her white coat was covering the area. Once cleaned and assessed she was started on hydration fluid for the first 24 hours to make sure everything was functioning, then she will be given fish soup rather then milk as she is not far off weaning and the transition to solids will be easier with fish soup rather than milk, which she will barely have time to get used to.

She is a fiesty and always alert pup and starting to look a bit scruffy now her coats starting to come off.

Jamie

New arrival - 20th November 2009 - Chewbacca

2009-12-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

Head office received a call about a pup on Keiss beach near Wick. Local medic Kirsty Rose went to assess the pup and upon finding a thin weaned grey trying to get as far away from the water as possible, called back reporting that it should be uplifted. Another local medic Karl, went out with the necessary transport box, uplifted and then brought the pup to the hospital for assessment.
On assessment we found we had a weaned male grey seal, very malnourished weighing in at 13.8 kg and around 4 weeks old. No real injuries, just the usual scrapes. He was very dehydrated so as usual started on hydration fluid.

After 24 hours Chewbacca was started on his routine fish feeds and is putting on weight and progressing well. He has settled in well and swims most of the day eating his fish in the water and playing continouisly. Once of his antibiotics and wormer he should be fit to go to the outside pool.

Sad News regarding Vader 18 November 2009

2009-12-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

Vader:
Unfortunately things didn’t work out as planned for Vader as posted previously.
On the Tuesday he had a long journey down to the Glasgow Veterinary school.
Once there we met up with Shaun Clements and Patrick Pollock, both well experience with seals and their vet needs. We took some further x rays from various angles so they could make sure the bone could be plated and also to decide the best way to do it. We were joined by Damien Chase who would be performing the surgery the following morning. Vader was then bedded down in the stable buildings and fed. He seemed fairly relaxed considering his new environment. I was joined by Patrick around 11pm to give Vader his night feed as he wouldn’t be having anything until the following afternoon.
At around 8.30am I began helping prep Vader for surgery and while he was sedated he seemed to be unstressed with what was going on around him. Once he was under and ready for surgery he was taken for a CT scan to get a proper look at the area that was broken. Once into surgery everything was stable and going to plan until we got to the area of the break. This is when things took a turn for the worse with it being clear that the bone was still badly infected. This meant that it couldn’t be plated and normal options for a domestic animal such as an external fixator or amputation were not options for an animal returning to the wild. He would not have tolerated an external fixator and probably damaged himself trying to get it off, as well as being a hygienic nightmare even with our protocols and standards he would still get filthy. The surgeons also had grave doubts that the radial nerve that allows him to move the flipper would work again. This meant that even after putting him through all of this recovery that if he couldn’t move it he would be euthanaised. We took the only decision left for Vaders welfare and that was to put him to sleep while he was still under on the operating table.
A decision not taken lightly but the best for Vaders welfare.
Certainly a sad day, as it usually is when we have seals come in that need to be euthaniased and broken bones such as this its sometimes the only option, but with Vader more so because there was a bit of hope and we were all optimistic about his chances.
He remained at the Vet School for a post mortem and his skeleton will remain with the school for further study which will surely help any other seal that may need treatment so its nice to think Vader will help others and his short life wasnt in vain.
A huge thank you must go out to everyone at Glasgow University Veterinary School for their above and beyond work for Vader. I would like to thank especially Damian Chase the surgeon from the small animal hospital, Patrick Pollock and Shaun Clements for all the work they put in to helping Vader and for getting it all organized over a weekend when they could have been doing something outside of work. Also a big thanks to James Barnett our consultant Vet for getting the ball rolling.
Thanks from everyone at the Seal Hospital.
Vader was a tough little seal and hopefully we gave him some comfort whilst with us.
A privilege knowing him, for sure
I have attached a few photos to show the work that went in to helping Vader and the incredible standard of care he received.
Jamie Dyer

Lord Vadar more news

2009-11-17T23:50:00.000-08:00

Vadar had more extensive x-rays last night which showed 1 break in the flipper and the other suspected break was actually a growth plate.He is going for a C.T scan this morning so the vets have a clear picture of the break before his surgery.He is doing well if not a bit grumpy (nothing unusual for Vadar).The Vet school have been amazing and we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone as they are doing all of this for free.Keep those fingers crossed as with all surgery there are risks involved.I will keep you posted.

Lastest news 17th Nov

2009-11-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

The hospital has been very busy and it doesnt look like thats giong to change for the next few months.Here is a quick update on the pups,
Pumpkin
He is a great pup eating more than 2kilos of fish a day and still wants more,he is 19.7kg now He had routine blood tests taken ,when we get the all clear from blood tests he will be ready to go outside.
Poppy
Is doing very well,she is eating for herself in the water and is gaining weight now 12.3kg she is looking much rounder.Blood test results pending ,she will move outdoors after she has gained more weight.
Walter
It is with a heavy heart i have to say that our lovely boy passed away.He was doing well but got an infection that flared up over sunday morning and he died on sunday evening.This all happened so quickly,it was i shock to us all. We have sent him for a post mortem and will let you all know what it finds.
Darth
He was taken to the vets in Wick for some x-rays as his right flipper and shoulder were very swollen. Our main worry was a fracture and he has 2 fractures.He is at the moment at Glasgow Vet School with Jamie having more x-rays with the hope that the breaks can be repaired,keep your fingers crossed we'll know more in a few hours.

New arrival 15th of November

2009-11-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

We got a call from SSPCA Inspector John McAvoy regaurding a pup found stranded on the Kintyre Penninsula. SSPCA auxilliary Caroline picked up the pup and delivered it to John where it stayed overnight. The pup was then relayed to the hospital John taking the first leg from Oban to Inverness, then Linda (Inverness co-ordinator) oversaw Heather (medic) transfer the pup as it was her first call out,she took the next leg to Golspie. Where Colin took the last dash to the hospital. On arrival the pup was alert and active but very thin and tiny. The pup was covered in bites and weighed a shocking 9.3kg. She was given hydration fluid and had her wounds treated, antibiotics injection and blood samples taken for analysis. Pup has a very pale silver coat and was given the name Leia.

New Arrival 10th of November

2009-11-11T09:40:00.000-08:00

The new arrival was from Berridale Braes. He was spotted by a local lady who kindly alerted us to the distressed pup.When the pup arrived at the nursey he was a weaned pup 13.3kg very emaciated and quite a vocal little terror. After a full assessment he was dubbed Lord Vadar due to his demeanor and vocal range. He has started on his antibiotics and has just completed his 24hr fluid therapy so it will be an interesting feed later tonight we will see how he likes his fish feed.

A manic weekend.

2009-11-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

The weather was pretty stormy last week so we expected more calls for pups in distress and we were very busy. First pup arrived on saturday afternoon. He came from Sandwick beach near Thurso, he was a thin white coat pup and sadly had to be put to sleep.He had been born without eyes and could not be rehabliltated and put back to the wild so the ethical desision was to let him go.

The next call was for a weaned pup on Scrabster beach. Pup is a tiny 10.7kg and short in length, although she's tiny she is a fiesty girl and is progressing very well. Initially on fliuds for 24hr she is eating herring very well.We named her Poppy which seemed fitting as is was Rememberance Sunday.

Another New Arival

2009-11-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

Around 5 pm I had a call from Jim Thompson saying there was a pup near Kiess which is near to Wick at the Sub Sea 7 instillation. It is a pipeline manufacturing plant that makes the offshore pipelines.We arrived there to find a white coat pup that had somehow travelled around half a mile upstream after getting through a fenced off section of stream and had then turned and travelled down a dirty muddy road next to the pipeline railway for about 300 metres.He had a bad swelling and puncture mark over his ribs and a nasty cut next to his eye.Once at the hospital we assessed him, he was given a pain killer/anti-inflammatory injection as well as anti-biotic and fluid therapy, fed and then bedded him down for the night.We called him Walter after the man who looked out for him all afternoon after a farmer had seen him in the morning. He weighed in at 14.6 kilo and was filthy covered in mud and oil,he is very alert and active considering his adventures.

A Halloween Pup

2009-11-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

Jamie recieved a call on Friday evening from a member of the public regarding a small grey seal pup that had been lying next to the ferry pier to Seil Island, south of Oban. Being over 5 hours away he called, what used to be local, SSPCA officers to help with assesing and if needed, to uplift.After assesing the pup on the Saturday morning it was uplifted by SSPCA John McAvoy, then relayed by SSPCA Dawna Connelly to Inverness and then Jim Thompson collected the pup at Inverness and arrived at the hospital at 10.30pm Saturday night. He has been called Pumpkin and is a male around 10 days old, weighing in at 13.6 kilos. Malnourished with only minor cuts and scrapes.Fiesty and alert.

The pup was called Pumpkin, he was given fluid therapy for the first 24 hours along with anti-biotics, vitamin and iron supplements. He is a well behaved boy with a good singing voice. Pumpkin is now on to eating fish with minimal assistance this is unusual for young pup.The first time he was stomach tubed he willingly swallowed it down and did so each time he was given the fluid therapy, this led us to try very small gutted fish instead of the usual trimmed fillets of herring. He is a smashing little Pumpkin but he will still try to bite your ankle as you step out of his pen.

Freddie and Jules progress

2009-11-02T06:26:00.002-08:00

The girls are well just honing their swimming skills and playing lots, they are not yet at their target weight but will be soon. Enjoy the new photos. Jules loves to show off her fabulous belly while mastering her hunting techniques.

Freddie and Jules progress

2009-11-02T06:26:00.001-08:00

IFAW Animal Action Awards

2009-11-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

left to right Elizabeth Emanuel (fashion designer/bdmlr patron), Josie Sharrad (IFAW),Heather Dyer & Jamie Dyer (BDMLR seal hospital Managers) and The Baroness Gale.

Jamie and myself have received and award from IFAW( International Fund for Animal Welfare.

We were very surprised and thrilled to be reccognised by IFAW for our work with seals.
We have been in various newspapers in the uk and on the North Tonite news slot.
The media interest has been a great boon for the hospital and helped to raise the hospitals profile.
Jim (caithness co-ordinator) took charge of the hospital to allow Jamie,Tracey (BDMLR medic/hospital vounteer)and myself to head to the House of Lords for the award ceremony.Fortunalty Alan Knight (BDMLR Chairman) and Paul and Jenni Laird (BDMLR medics/vounteers) were also able to join us.
The house of Lords was fantastic, everyone made us feel very welcome.The award ceremony was nerveracking until they told us we didn't have to make a speach, then we both relaxed.
It was great to meet so many interesting people in such an amazing setting.

THANK YOU IFAW for this honor and THANK YOU to The Baroness Gale our hostess for a wonderful day.

Freddie and Jules outside

2009-10-17T04:32:00.000-07:00

HEADING OUTDOORS IN LATE AUGUST

Early October and getting bigger

The girls are enjoying the outdoor life, having moved them to the final stage of rehab.They are still gaining weight and now tip the scales at 27.5kg each, so not long before we ca release them back to the wild.

Pics of the pups

2009-09-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some lovely photos of the girls taken by our local GP, Dr Hercules Robinson. Dr and Mrs Robinson have become regular visitors to the hospital and here is a sample of his fantastic photography.

Pup update 25th of August

2009-09-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

Update on seal pups Jules and Freddy

Freddy and Jules have spent the last couple of weeks learning to feed for themselves.
Freddy had picked it up quickest but was still ripping the fish rather than eating them whole. This meant the week previously Freddy only put on around 1 kilo while Jules put on around 300 grams. Nothing unusual while they learn. We noticed Jules eating better last weekend and Monday's (17 August) weight came in at: Jules - 14.2 kg and Freddy 16.2 kg. They were eating much better over the next few days, with there being less and less ripped fish in the pen. We were feeding them from outside the pen and then leaving them alone to feed as Jules would sit at the front waiting to be hand fed. While they were ripping some apart, they soon were going straight for the fish when thrown in the pen.
This was borne out by there weights on Friday (21 August) just four days later as Freddy had put on over a kilo (17.5) about normal gain, but Jules was an amazing 17.2 kg! She had put on 3 kilos in four days and because they are so active and swimming all day it seems a healthy gain as she isn't looking overly fat, rather she has grown, as they both have length ways and both look very healthy.
We are moving them in the morning to the larger pen for a few days until we make sure Freddy is getting enough away from the greedy Jules and then it will be out to the pool.

Thank you

2009-09-05T03:32:00.000-07:00

We would like to thank everyone for there support in the last year, as it was very stressful time for Jamie and myself.

My kidneys failed in May 2007 and had been on dialysis for a year, i am one of the few lucky people who had the option of a living donation from my Dad.The surgery was planned for the 30th of July 2008.As you can imagine this was a very stressful time for all involved. The surgery went very well for both my Dad and myself, and i now can lead a normal life.

Jamie proposed when i came out of theatre and we got married on the 2nd of May this year.

So we would just like to say thank you a few special people....

Marjory and Ian Greig (heather's parents) and all the family

Jenni and Paul Laird

James Barnett BDMLR Vet

Sue,Trevor and Alan at BDMLR Head Office

Ian and everyone at IFAW

Tracey, Jim, Jane, Kelly and all the medics who volunteer there time to BDMLR.

first common pups of the season 1st July

2009-09-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

Jules

Freddy

The first rescued seal pups of the season has been brought in to the hospital.
The first pup was found on a busy beach near a caravan park in the Dornoch Firth. A marine mammal medic from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) responded to a call from the coastguard and went out to check on her and he was soon joined by an SSPCA officer. After sending images by mobile phone to the seal hospital to assess her condition it was agreed that she should be brought in.
The pup was driven two hours north to the seal unit where a pen had already been prepared for her. On arrival she was weighed at 8 kilos and put in a pen to cool down as it had been a very warm trip.
The initial vet check revealed that the pup was a female common or harbour seal of about two days old bearing signs that the umbilical cord had only recently been detached. She had no obvious injuries but was slightly dehydrated and her stomach was empty. Her teeth were just starting to come through at the front of her mouth.
The pup has been christened Freddy after Fred O'Regan, President of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The group has contributed generously to the setting up and running costs of the seal rehabilitation unit.
Alan Knight, Chairman of BDMLR, said: "This little seal is likely to be the first of a number of stranded or abandoned pups that need our help in the coming weeks and months. If it wasn’t for IFAW's support for the rehabilitation unit, we wouldn't be able to rescue these animals in distress and give them the care they need before returning them to the wild."
There has been a sharp decline in the number of harbour seals around the British coastline. Between 2000 and 2007 the number found around the coast of Scotland and England declined by 56 per cent from 36,345 to 23,277.
The decline gives serious cause for concern: the harbour seal is protected under the EU Habitats directive and Scotland and the UK has a special responsibility to protect it. As one of the UK's most popular marine mammals, the harbour seal is a great tourist attraction – a source of revenue that parts of Scotland are depending on more and more.
A second pup was brought into the unit on the same night that Freddy was admitted. It was also a female a few days older but much thinner and suffering from an eye infection.She was named Jules. Once the blood test and the eye infection are clear both pups will be put together in one pen which will assist with their mental and physical development.

Pickle's release Easter monday

2009-09-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

Pickle's rehabilitation had been very problematic.He had difficulty in learning to feed for himself,and a few health problems along the way.
To say his release was emotional may be a slight understatement.All the volunteers involved in his rehab agree that Pickle has a huge personality for a little common seal and we all enjoyed his release immensely.
It was also the end of a very long season fraught with difficulties so we all needed a rest.

Abe 4th of march

2009-08-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

Abe was a very calm and friendly pup,initially it was thought he had lost lots of weight due to an infection and we carefully monitored his progress.Abe would not feed for himself and as he gained weight this became more of a problem.Blood samples came back with no clear answers to why he was not progressing as anticipated.After consultation with James Barrnet and our local vets we decided the only way forward was to x-ray Abe.The x-ray results were not good he had genetic abnormalites that we could do nothing about,and Abe was euthanasied while under anesthetic.All at the nursery were deeply upset as Abe was a lovely pup who we will always remember.

Roxy's Vet visit 18th of feb

2009-08-18T04:04:00.001-07:00

Roxy was progressing well she had regained full movement in both her rear flippers and was due for another round of x-rays at the vets in Thurso.
All at the hospital were nervious to see what the outcome would be for her.
After her sedation had taken effect several x-rays were taken so that the vets could view the area of the break from different angles to ensure a clear diagnosis.
The news was positive the break had healed very well and she could be put in the outdoor pool to fininsh off her rehabilitation before release.
This was a very happy day for the hospital as Roxy's care had been difficult but very rewarding.

grey seal release 27th of March 2009

2009-08-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

March 27th was a fantastic day,the hospital was a hive of activity all hands on deck for our first mass release.Luckily the release site is not too far away from the hospital so minimum travel stress for the pups.It was a very emotional day for all the volunteers involved as Roxy was ready to go,a day many of us did not think we would see.As you can see from the photos the pups are all healthy weights 40kg +.

Luna was first in the water but surprisingly spent lots of time playing with Frosty just a few metres of shore,Luna may have been the smallest pup but was the most ferocious and did bully the others.nipping there flippers if she wanted on the haul-out.Frosty on the other hand was the most gentle of the grey seals who was seen pushing Pickle on to the haul-out when he was unwell,then lying next to him in what seemed a protective manner and would not allow any other seal on the haul-out.

Marley hit the water and sped off only to be seen as a dot in the distance,which is a normal behaviour for a grey seal on release.
Breeze played in the seaweed in the shore before swimming off into the deeper water he was spotted porpoising further out in the bay.

Roxy was the triumph of the grey season for all at the hospital having overcome her dreadful injuries she swam over to the rocks covered in seaweed and played for an hour,sticking her head in the water under the seaweed and generally enjoying being back home once more.

We would like to thank all the medics who have helped us in the hospital over the last months :Tracey, Jim, Jane, Kelly and Jenny and Paul Laird(who travelled to the frozen north and gave up their Christmas).We also thank all the medics who have braved the vicious Caithness weather to pick up seals in those pitch black stormy nights.

common seal pup release 15th of feb

2009-08-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

On the 15th of feb Bella,Kessock and Arnie were released they had been waiting for a good weather window and For Pickle to catch up with there weight gains.The calm weather arrived but unfortunatly Pickle had not reached target weight for a common seal 30kg therefore could not be released yet.

Several medics from both Caithness and Inverness joined us for the joyful day.It is always a great feeling to see all your hard work come to fruition, as you watch the pups swim off into the sea.

Pup update 19th of Jan

2009-02-02T13:38:00.000-08:00

Luna has been experiencing some problems,she had not passed any motion and although this can happen to pups who have been very starved,poor Luna has been the unfortunate victim of marine litter.To-day she passed a baloon bearing the logo of Harveys furniture store sale.The ballon had been blocking her intestine and since passing the obstruction her function has now returned to normal.
Roxy had got full movement in both her rear flippers this has been very stressful for all at the hospital as we have all had to wait to see if she would regain movement as the prognosis was very poor if she didnot improve.We all said a collective hurrah as Roxy is a character a beautiful girl with a gentle spirit.

Latest arrival 13th of Jan

2009-02-02T13:20:00.000-08:00

Our latest pup arrived from Scrabster harbour,Richard dropped her off at Tesco car park as Jamie and I were in getting some shopping.She was in a very poor state,13.3kg at 5-6 weeks old fully moulted and emaciated.On full examination she was full of sand her teeth barely visible luckily no other injuries.Pup was named Luna a very pale girl similar colour to Roxy.Luna is feisty in short bursts,when she was tube fed hydration fluids her stomach also had lots of sand as the tube was coated.Poor girl must have been sucking sand on the beach for a while.

Video of Moss release

2009-02-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

We hope you enjoy the video of Moss being released.

Moss release,Hogmany 2008

2009-01-28T13:53:00.000-08:00

Moss was our first grey seal release of the season.The weather was lovely and calm, blue skies and absolutely freezing.Moss had reached his target weight and was all set to go.He was loaded in to his tub for the short journey to his release site.We contacted Debbie the local lady that had watched Moss and reported him as a stranded pup.He had quite a send off, it was the first release our volunteers had assisted on and it was quite emotional.Moss cautiously took to the water after some gentle persuasion.It was the best new year celebration you could get.Thank you to all that helped Moss get back to the sea where he belongs.

New Arrival,update 30th of december

2009-01-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

Frosty was found at Wellego Steps he had multiple wounds on his abdomen,chin and multiple bite marks on his front right flipper.Otherwise he was in ok body condition at 26kg and fully moulted.Lucky is body fat had protected his muscle layer from damage as his abdomenal wounds were very deep.Frosty has a very fiesty nature and ate fish for himself very quickly.We are treating his wounds with antibiotics and a gel called intrasite,this promotes healing and granulation of the tissue.He has settled in to the nursery very well and he is a lovely pup.

Christmas pups

2008-12-20T15:04:00.001-08:00

Christmas Card Competition Winner

2008-12-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

We finally have a winner of our Christmas Card Competition! After recieving lots of wonderful entries we have picked the best. This has been an extremely hard decision but without further ado, the winner is.......(drum roll).................... Katie Mackay, 8years, from Miller academy Thurso, P4/5.
Katie will be out the Hospital soon to see the seals and maybe help us feed them.

here is Katies winning card

Thanks to all the children for the wonderful entries from all at the Highland Seal Hospital.

Jamie + Heather

Roxy update -

2008-12-13T05:43:00.000-08:00

Hi all

Just thought I would update everyone on Roxys progress.

Roxy has spent the last week on medication for infections, inflamation and pain. She had also been non responsive for any feeling in her rear flippers which as detailed below we are still hoping is a trapped nerve due to other functions that are normal. The feeling has not returned, with no gain on the left side with a minimal improvement on the right. The swelling in her back had subsided enough mid week that we could xray her and be confident we would get a better idea of what was going on. Roxy was sedated so we could get a clear look from several angles without stressing either her or the vet.

The prognosis is still not good but visually we can now see what is causing some of the swelling etc. Though unsure if this is the root cause of the nerve damage. The xrays showed she had 2 breaks in her right flipper, while both are in line they are bad breaks. one is on a digit and the other further up towards the body. The larger looks as though it is already starting to heal though is hard to pick up clearly. It may be that she has a bone infection either in the upper limb or running into the lower spine, thus causing the nerve damage. Her treatment will target this bone infection as without the use of her rear flippers the outcome is not good. Her recovery will be fairly long term and for quite a few weeks she will be in a pen swimming and kept quiet. Her feed will be monitored closely as usually we have a schedule that allows for the pups to be built up quickly, but for Roxy this will be continually adjusted to allow for her intentionally restrained excersise.

There are a couple of pics of the X Rays with the breaks circled.

Thanks again to both our consultant vet James Barnett and Bridgette from Thurso Vets for all the help over the last week or so with Roxys continually changing condition.

Jamie

Miller Academy Talk 8th of December

2008-12-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

We have organised a Christmas card competition with a local primary school and i went out to meet the pupils of P4 and P5 and give a talk to explain what we do at the hospital and tell them all about seals. I had a great time and the pupils asked lots of very interesting questions.Some of the pupils gave me their entries to the competition and more will follow next week.I have to say it will be a very difficult job to pick a winner as they are all very good.So watch this space as we will scan the winner and display it on our blog as well as the BDMLR website.
Thankyou to all the pupils and teachers of P4 and P5 for a great day.

Heather

Latest Arrival 8th of december

2008-12-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

Medics Karen and Karina responded to a call regarding a pup on Dunnet beach.He was whisked into the hospital as it was very clear this pup needed our help.

He was 19.5kg but had lost a lot of weight he should have been nearer 30kg as you can see from his photo he is extremely wrinkly with a large muzzle and flippers.He has an infection in his umbilicus,and an eye infection both are being treated with antibiotics.It was decided that he would be called Abe after the character Abe (Grandpa) in the Simpsons as he was so wrinkly.Abe is a weaned pup with tiny patches of white coat on his flippers.Abe has a calm demeanor and is so easy to treat ,he has recieved fluid therapy and will be fed fish soon.

New arrival on 28th November

2008-12-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

NEW ARRIVAL - ROXY

Local medics Tracey and Richard responded to a call,and our latest grey seal arrived at the hospital.She was a weaned female pup weighing in at 20kg, approx 3 weeks old she had several infected puncture wounds covering her body.Her front left flipper was badly bitten, but what concerned us more was the lack of movement in both her rear flippers.She had sustained a blow to the spine as there is lots of tissue/muscle swelling on her left side of the lower spine.She has movement in her tail and bladder and bowel function are intact so we are hopeful that if the swelling in the effected tissue/muscle is controlled she should regain the movement of her rear flippers. She has been called Roxy and is the most aggressive seal we have encountered in years.She is receiving treatment by injection in the evening and her flippers checked daily for improvement.She is in a flooded pen during the day as she can eat for herself very well.As discussed with James Barnett and our local vets Roxy will receive treatment for 7-10 days then she will be reassessed,further treatment will be based on response to her current treatment plan.Roxy may be grumpy but she is incredibly beautiful as you can see from the photos.

Heather

New arrival 19th of november

2008-11-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

We are having a particularly bad spell of weather and with that comes pups in difficulty. A white coat was brought to the hospital last night.A male around 10-14 days old underweight but luckily only minor injuries; a grazed rear flipper,eye infection and nasty bad breath.He is called Breeze, a fiesty little man who is settling in well. Breeze was given lectade for the first 24 hours along with vitamins and a course of antibiotics.Hopefully Breeze will live up to his name and be back out in the wild soon.

We are all hoping the weather will calm down but i think it's wishful thinking.Thanks again to all the medics who attended the rescue as it was a truly stinking night.

update 10th of november

2008-11-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry to report sad news but it is an unfortunate fact of life.We had a difficult week with 2 grey seal pups being brought into the nursery days apart. The first pup a white coat female was picked up on 30Th of October on Dunnet beach,she was called Casper. Casper had sustained multiple injuries, her jaw was extremely swollen and damaged.A large wound on her abdomen and puncture wounds covering her entire body.She could not be tubed as she was so swollen and stressed.We consulted with James Barnett our specialist vet and the difficult decision to euthanase her was made.

The next pup to arrive at the hospital was Kai. He was picked up at Broch on the 2nd of November. Kai was a very soft natured pup with a birth defect. His right nostril appeared to be missing, on assessment Kai was found to have a cleft palate,his teeth were misaligned he was suffering from a very nasty infection of the mouth and sinus tract.His missing nostril was in his mouth above what should have been his gum line.Again we consulted James and the difficult decision to euthanase was made.

Kai

In the 8 years that Jamie has worked with seals Casper and Kai were only the 3rd and 4Th seals he had to euthanase.It is never an easy decision to make but you have to put the pups welfare first both physically and mentally.

Pup up-date 20th of october

2008-11-11T05:37:00.000-08:00

MOSS
Moss is the first grey seal of the season. He was found lying on a patch of moss high up on a rocky shoreline. He was monitored for 4 days before he was brought into the nursery as he was in good body condition and we had to make sure his mother had abandoned him.
Moss is a lovely pup, initially nervous but is settling into the nursery well. As you can see from his photo he is moulting. When he was admitted he was sporting a pair of large fluffy eyebrows these have disappeared now as his moulting progresses.
On assessment Moss had various abrasions and eye infection and an old scar on his shoulder, he is being treated for these minor injuries with some antibiotics. He is a big boy weighting in at 22.7kg so he being fed on fish and is feeding very well, he ate 2 fish in the water while enjoying his first swim to-day.

ARNIE
From the beginning Arnie was the star of the nursery, progressing through the system very easily. He is a very calm amiable pup who fed for himself at a very early stage. Arnie has leap frogged the others in the nursery and is now the heaviest common.

KESSOCK
Kessock or Kess as she is affectionately known is feeding for herself in the water and gaining weight well. Initially she dropped weight while learning to eat fish in the water. Kess has earned herself the nickname of the phantom flatulator, as she waits for you to clean the pen then creeps up beside you then lets rip noisily.

BELLA
Bella is in the large end pen with Kess and is eating fish for herself. She is still a quiet gentle girl with a stubborn streak, and has taken a while to learn to eat for herself. Being in a pen with Kess Bella realised you have to be quick or Kess will eat all the fish.

PICKLE

Arnie and Pickle
Pickle is a small pup with a huge personality. He has been the difficult pup of the season. Feeding is problematic, he won’t eat for himself yet and is back to being hand fed. Fortunately his blood tests have come back ok. So it’s just a matter of feeding him up gradually getting the weight back on him and fingers crossed he’ll come good with time.

This season of common seals has been unusual pups have been born later than expected and there are fewer born this year. There are many different theories as to why this but no hard evidence yet.

Hospital has lots of visitors in september/october

2008-11-11T05:24:00.000-08:00

STACEY AND ANGIE

Stacey and Angie are both medics from the Buchan area who came up for a week. Angie has helped out on many occasions before and this was Stacey’s first visit to the hospital. They were a great help and will always be welcome at the hospital. Thank you both very much for all your help it was much appreciated. A special thank you from the pups to Auntie Angie cheers for the care package the toys were cool.

ANDY AND ALISON

Andy co-ordinator for Buchan area and his girlfriend Alison a vet student and medic also popped up for a few days. Andy has been involved in the hospital from the beginning so it’s always great to them both.

JENNY AND PAUL LAIRD

Jenny and Paul are old friends of the nursery; they have helped us out lots both personally and professionally. Thankfully the weather was very kind to us and we did have some nice days. Paul is our I.T. wiz and managed to repair our ailing computer. He also donated a laptop to the nursery, which is extremely welcome and most generous. Jenny has been working on adoption scheme with myself and has proven invaluable as she is capable of wearing many different hats at once (editor, proof reader, comic, the list is endless). The week flew by and we were all sad to see them make the long journey home, we can only hope some one invents a teleporting machine soon!

ELIZABETH THACKER

Elizabeth is an artist who asked to come up and draw the seals. She has very generously agreed to donate a piece of her work from her sessions in the nursery to help raise funds.
Elizabeth’s work is fantastic and even from her sketching you could clearly identify each pup’s individual characteristics. We hope to see more of her at the nursery and as soon as her web site is operational we will add a link to the blog. So thank you very much Elizabeth it was a great insight to see an artist at work.

8th September update: IFAW and Alan Knight visit BDMLR HSH

2008-10-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

IFAW VISIT BDMLR HIGHLAND SEAL HOSPITAL

Alan Knight Director of BDMLR came to visit the hospital with Ian Robinson and Claire from International Fund For Animal Welfare to talk about the possibilities of helping with funding for the hospital. Ian is a vet who has a vast knowledge of seals as he previously ran East Winch for many years. Ian is now based in Boston USA for IFAW and deals with many different projects on a global scale. Claire is the press officer for IFAW’s London headquarters so enjoyed getting up close and personal with our pups in the nursery. They are both extremely busy people so we really appreciate them taking time out of their hectic schedules to visit the hospital.
It was great to chat to someone who understands the process of seal rehabilitation so well and has such a wealth of knowledge. Both Ian and Claire got a little hands on work with the pups, Claire hand fed one of the pups from outside the pen and Ian hopped in with the 2 smaller pups who were still being force fed. I think they both enjoyed the experience from the big smiles. It wasn’t all work as we did manage a trip on the North Coast Explorer, which was amazing. We saw lots of wonderful wildlife, around 50 harbour porpoise in Gill’s bay, a great variety of seabirds and hundreds of grey seals as we toured round the island of Stroma. It was such a pleasure seeing so many seals in their natural habitat. Thank you Alan for making my first trip on a powerboat such a memorable one I didn’t realise you could do hand brake turns on the water!
The entire visit was a great success, we all had fun and IFAW agreed to give us some funding. From all at BDMLR Highland Seal Hospital thank you Ian and Claire. Thank you Alan for your continued hard work and support of the hospital.
So from all the pups and humans at the BDMLR Highland Seal Hospital THANK YOU IFAW very much for all your help and continued support.

Take care Heather

Thursday Sept ember the 8th ( backdated catchup)

2008-10-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hospital Update: 8Th September

Apologies first for the long break between updates. This was due to a very busy month both in the hospital and personally. Another factor was IT problems between laptop and uploads but with a new laptop on the way this should finally be sorted.
On the personal front I had to be away from the hospital for several days at a time due to my partner, Heather, both in the hospital and in the rest of life, finally getting a kidney transplant. This was performed in Glasgow and the month or so of recovery also in Glasgow. All went very well and Heather is doing extremely well and is now at home. Due to anti rejection drugs and risk of infection it will be at least another five months before Heather came come back to working in the hospital. No dialysis four times a day anymore so it has already made a huge improvement to Heathers, and mine, quality of life.
A very big thank you must also go to our number one volunteer Richard Bradley, or poo monkey as he refers to himself. He made a huge effort during this time from coming in for every feed days before I had to go away, to learn force feeding fish and the different traits of each pup with it. Then he spent several periods where I would be away for four or so days at a time, returning to find Richard tired, but he had kept the hospital in fine form, following the routine and dealing with Pickle who decided to start being difficult with feeding. So thank you for all your work Richard, it was a crash course for feeding before hand, but you did a great job and it made my time away less stressful as I didn’t have to worry about the pups.

PUPS:

Well we had a new arrival on the 10th August from Dunnet beach.
A common seal male weighing in at 8.5 kilo. He has been named Arnie by the local medics He was dehydrated and malnourished and around a week old. He has followed the routine of being rehydrated before starting on his milk. He has been through the fish stages and is now hand feeding from outside the pen. He is a very laid back pup and spends his day playing, either with Pickle or with the various things put into the pen for enrichment. He feeds his fish extremely well and rips the fish apart in the water, filleting them with his nails and then swallows everything down. There is no waste with Arnie.

Weight on all pups has been progressing well with current weights as of 8/9/08:
Kessock: 14.7 kg
Bella: 16 kg
Pickle: 12.5 kg
Arnie:13.7 kg

2008-07-24T04:36:00.000-07:00

Bella and Kessock playing in pen

2008-07-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

Bella and Kessock Kessock

Bella Kessock Kessock + Bella

UPDATE: 21/7/08

All pups doing well and settling into the routine.
Hopefully along with this update there will be a picture update in the form of a slideshow, I say hopefully as my forte is seal rehab not IT. Also up should be a copy of our weight chart showing the pups progression through the weeks and I will highlight the changes in feed from milk through weaning and onto feeding for themselves.
We had an article about the hospital in Saturdays Daily Telegraph, it was a good piece and we are grateful for the publicity, though it was not as detailed as we had hoped, but good non the less. And Kessock had a colour picture of her to go with the story.
I must say a huge thanks to Richard who has been coming out during the week for the morning feed and clean. He helps with everything around the place and makes my life a lot easier, so Rich, thanks again.
Friday was weigh day and all pups had gained, even little pickle who had only been in a few days.

Friday: 18/7
Kessock: 9.7kg
Bella : 10.5kg
Pickle: 7.9kg a good gain after 2 days considering it had rehydration fluid for the first 24 hours before starting on milk.

Monday: 21/7
Kessock: 10.8 kg
Bella: 11.5 kg
Pickle 8.6 kg
A really good weekend with all pups gaining good weight, and looking very healthy with it.

Kessock:

Kes is doing well and is quite well behaved, she does have the habit of putting her jaw around my leg and squeezing whenever I am cleaning or in the pen. This was fine when she was tiny and her teeth were yet to come and couldn’t reach above my wellies. Now she is bigger I can really feel her teeth pushing through the wellies and it’s a bit of a worry when I feel her at my knees. Have to keep an eye on her at all times. She is very playful and when she hears us open up in the morning she makes it known to all she wants her food. She was certainly well behaved for the photographer from the paper.

Bella:

Bella is settling in and while still a bit nervous she knows the routine, it is only if you are doing something she is not used to that she gets jumpy. Bella and Kessock are now buddied up in the same pen. At first Kessock just wanted to play but Bella being nervous as she is, just spent the afternoon at the back of the pen with one eye on Kes. She never seemed afraid or aggressive, which can and does happen, but rather just kept her distance. This buddying up is very important for their development and stops them attaching to us, be it through necessary interaction or visual stimulation.

Pickle:

Pickle is progressing well, and again seems to be settling into his routine with his weight picking up at a good rate. Due to his severe malnourishment we have to be careful in the early stages with his intake and basically ease him into it. With his relatively short time at the unit his weight gain is very pleasing. He is a bit like Bella in that he is still nervous, though he is lightning fast, so we have to keep an eye on him when in the pen and also count our fingers once out J

That’s it for today, a big one I know, remember drop us an email at the address opposite and say hi.
All the best
Jamie

Update: 16th July

2008-07-16T04:10:00.000-07:00

Well the season is now well and truly underway, yesterday afternoon between feeds, Richard bradley being the coordinator for Caithness, had a call out for a pup at Strathy, about 20 miles west of Thurso. Local medic Callum Stronach joined us on the drive to check on the pup.
We arrived to find a very malnourished pup up at the high tide line. He was covered in sand and so after a quick eye wash he was carried the mile or so back up to the road to Richards Landrover and transported to the seal hospital.
Once at the hospital the standard assessment showed us we had a male harbour seal pup weighing in at 7.5kg and around 5 or so days old. He is/was in a very very poor body condition. We have started his rehydration and later today he will be started on the milk formula, this combined with his medication should start making him feel better. He is looking better this morning after a night under the heat lamp. His blood sample should give us a better idea of what’s going on in his system.

He is alert and relatively active which is a good sign, especially considering his condition. As usual we will monitor and treat accordingly.
He has been called Pickle and as usual we will let you know how he gets on.

As for Kessock and Bella, both are doing well and have settled in nicely. Once Bella finishes her course of antibiotics they will be buddied up in the same pen. Kessock is herself such a well settled pup and if not sleeping is playing around the pen with anything she can get hold of. Bella has settled and come into her own, she is a bit more relaxed with her surroundings and not as nervous, we just take it slow and deliberate around her.

Well thats it for today, so far J as at the time of writing its only 11am and after not getting home till after 1am last night, we need to wait to see what the rest of the day brings.
Remember to go and look at BDMLR’s web site and if you can donate in anyway then please do so. With so many pups coming in at such a young age we are rapidly going through the Multi Milk formula, and what with it costing £100 a bucket, and with three pups now meaning it wont last too many days, any help at all is gratefully accepted. If you can help then please do.

Thanks again
Jamie

Picture blog 15th July 2008

2008-07-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

Kessock

Bella

Update 14th July

2008-07-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

14/11/08 HOSPITAL UPDATE

Friday night (11th) at 10.30pm our second pup arrived.
A week old common/harbour seal female. She was picked up off of Thurso beach after being reported to the local police earlier in the day. Local BDMLR medics Richard Bradley and Karen Munro arrived to discover a small thin looking pup that clearly hadn’t eaten for a while. Richard and Karen then transported the pup out to the hospital where Heather and I were waiting.
We all agreed to give her the name Bella, she weighed in at 9.4kg, was around a week old and besides being a bit malnourished she had no physical injuries.
Balla has started her rehydration routine and everything seems well this morning. She will be started on her milk formula this afternoon and we expect her to progress well.
Like Kessock she will be given the usual supplements, a course of antibiotics and we will blood sample her on Monday.
She is quite nervous, which really is to be expected. One minute your on the beach and the next you have people around annoying you by touching, and proding.
She will we assume calm down over the next day or so once she realises we are helping her and she has a routine.
KESSOCK is her usual laidback self , constantly wanting to suckle on my wellies and waterproofs.
Once these pups are cleared for anything major, mainly parasite and blood testing they will be buddied up together. This will help them develop immensely and is a natural stimulation.

Monday = Weigh day. Kessock 8.7kg
Bella 9.7 kg
More later
Jamie

FIRST UPDATE

2008-07-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Well, compared to last year it’s a very slow start to the common season, just as well as its allowed us to get fully operational once again. We have situated the hospital building, completed the cladding, drainage, painting and the plumbing and electric. We did have a short lived happiness when we first turned on the water from the main. It was the last major piece of the puzzle, unfortunately once the pressure built after a few moments we then realised the internal fittings couldn’t cope with the new pressure, as water was cascading across the floor and a fountain was trying hard to burst upwards through the ceiling. A minor hiccup, but a wet hiccup. We also had to restock more than we would have wished as we had quiet a lot of things go missing between shutting the hospital at its previous place and reopening in the new. These things happen but with the unbudgeted costs of moving these have really hurt our finances. Many people ask me why we moved as we had a very successful season last year. The decision to move was based not on our rehab work or practices, more we were in an environment that we couldn’t plan for the future with any certainty. Agreements would be changed regularly without consultation, and we soon realised it was not a stable environment to build our future, so the decision was taken to finish the season and relocate. Security was a issue as well.

NEW ARRIVAL! 4th July - Kessock

Well, that is the past and a short but successful past it has been, and now here we are with our first pup of the season, she is also the first pup in the new location. So a very special girl.
14th July - Kessock – a common seal female weighing 7kgs and approximately 4 days old on arrival.
Kessock had been observed for a few days by BDMLR medic Kirsty Sharrat and Charlie Philips, both also of WDCS. As her name hints at she was found at North Kessock, just across the bridge from Inverness. She arrived with us around 10pm and was assessed and then started on hydration fluid for the first 24hours.
Kessock was underweight and we surmise, from the amount of time she was observed and the weight loss that she had spent only around 24 hours, if that with her mum. She had no injuries, so once off the hydration fluid she started her routine of four hourly milk feeds for five then four times a day. The amount changes with her body weight.
Mondays weight = 7.3 kg - progressing well
Fridays weight = 8.4 – excellent! She is really coming on, well behaved as well. (It helps)
She is starting to teeth and has taken to biting wellies and squeezing them in her mouth, so time to watch the fingers.

More as it happens
Jamie

I must also take this time to thank all those that have helped with the move to our new home. If I have left anyone out then don’t worry I will remember at some time, as at the moment my mind is filled with too much information (most of it useless).
To all the family at BDMLR, at head office and around the country, THANK YOU! Not only have you all been supporters of the hospital and our work, but you have given me the opportunity to do what I love doing with an organisation that truly cares. You pretty much know who you are and your not just friends to Heather and I but truly family. The two people who should be mentioned are James Barnett and Alan Knight. Alan for sharing the vision and what we would like to aim for, but more importantly, like most of his ideas, for making it happen. I know it was a leap of faith and a long time planning. And also for doing it on a handshake as mates with neither of us needing something written at the early meetings, that means a lot. For James for the encouragement and help in making it happen. I often wonder where we would be if you hadn’t phoned that evening and mentioned the unit. It only took me three minutes I think, to say yes “I’m in”.
I would be mentioning hundreds if I did it individually.
A very big thank you to Richard Bradley, Jim and all those from the Caithness team who helped get the unit cladded, painted and generally sorted once it arrived. It would have taken a lot longer without your help.
To Richard and Trish for helping so very much with the move of home for Heather, myself and the dogs. For the many nights letting me sleep on the sofa whilst I was inbetween two places, for the endless coffee and food and most of all for your friendship.
And to anyone reading this thank you for having a look and being interested. Check back regularly for updates on whats happening and any new arrivals. If you’ve arrived here without coming through the BDMLR site, then go have a look, I’m sure you will find lots of information, news and the forum is always busy.
http//www.bdmlr.org.uk

All the best
Jamie

2008-07-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

HIGHLAND SEAL HOSPITAL

The Highland Seal Hospital was originally funded by IFAW and is overseen/managed by the UK charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR). BDMLR is a charity dedicated to the rescue and triage of all marine mammals, and the training of medics to deal with assessing and saving those stranded or in trouble not just in the UK, but internationally.
The Highland Seal Hospital is located about seven miles from John O’Groats on the far northern coast of Scotland.
The main purpose of the hospital is to rehabilitate stranded seals and deal with injured, or debilitated seals found ashore throughout Scotland.
The hospital was originally set up in Skarsferry many years ago as a holding facility, before animals could be taken to a dedicated rehab facility. This changed dramatically in 2007 when the hospital was moved further down the west coast of Scotland to be opened with additional facilities as a dedicated rehab centre. Twelve months later this changed once again when circumstances meant a move back to Skarsferry on the north coast and thankfully a more stable, longterm future.
From the 1st June 2008 we have been officially open at our new home.
The Hospital is managed and manned by myself Jamie Dyer and my partner Heather Greig. We both have many years experience rehabbing seals at a large rehab centre on the west coast of Scotland. Myself running the animal side of the centre as well as many years rehabbing wildlife back home in Australia. Heather having many years experience as a vet nurse in Glasgow before joining the team at the rehab centre.
We both bring our experience and high standards of care to this always exciting new set up of the Hospital.
We are overseen by specialist vets, as well as the local veterinary surgery, all of who have a vast experience with marine mammals.