ZooTampa vets double as detectives as they treat the Bay Area's most exotic patients

TAMPA, Fla. - ZooTampa vets are the exclusive doctors to thousands of animals at one of the most exotic locations in the Bay Area and have the added challenge of treating patients who cannot speak.

Veterinarians take care of all the animals at the zoo, from the tiniest little birds and reptiles up to elephants, giraffes, and manatees.

The Catherine Lowry Straz Veterinary Hospital is as state-of-the-art as any medical facility for humans and may be more advanced since the vets rely on the diagnostic tools even more than human medical doctors do.

"Veterinarians in general, we've got a challenging job, we're a little bit like detectives because our patients can't tell us what's wrong," Dr. Melissa Nau the director of animal health at ZooTampa explained. "We have to look at the clues that they show us, and then use the tools that we have ... to kind of figure out what's wrong with the animal and to treat them."

The veterinarians become students of their patients. They study their behaviors, their patterns, and their physical fitness. A change in behavior or a change in their mobility can be a red flag signaling that something is wrong.

"We can bring almost every one of the animals up to the hospital except for some of our larger ones," Dr. Nau admitted. "We also have everything we need in a transportable mobile form because we want to be able to go to the animal's habitat and be able to work with them in their comfortable environment as well."

That's right, these doctors make house calls.

"We have everything in a transportable mobile form because we want to be able to go out to the animal’s home and their habitat and be able to work with them in their comfortable environment as well," Dr. Nau stated. "Another challenge at the zoo is that the animals we work with are wild animals that have a little bit of an aversion to our presence and a little bit of that white coat syndrome that people have, so we really have to work hard with the animals here in our care. We work with the animal care staff relentlessly to try to get voluntary behaviors, so we make all of our exams and interactions with the animals a positive experience for them."

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Not only is every patient not the same, but how they are treated for the same exam is not the same either.

"Every animal here at the zoo brings its own challenges," said Dr. Nau, "We have to be more creative in the way we work with those animals to get the information that we need."

The veterinarian staff has to use their imagination along with their training and medical background to look after all of those exotic patients every day.

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"Really no two days are the same here at the animal hospital, and we always are looking to be flexible for all of the animals in our care," Dr. Nau shared.

Click here for more information on the zoo.