morning Bill how are you today buddy how’s that eye at Sydney Wildlife World vet Sam Gilchrist and marup keeper Kate are worried about one-year-old Blinky bill on your PO that’s the way good boy Bill’s had this problem since we first saw him emerg from the pouch if you look at both his eyes you can tell the difference straight away his actual eyeball has this cloudy appear and part of the problem is these eyelids are a little bit malformed that part of the eyeball is constantly exposed to the elements and eyeballs just aren’t aren’t
really designed to do that to prevent further irritation Bill’s eyes are lubricated up to seven times a day get these drops in again Bill despite the treatment Bill’s eye is getting worse it’s been a long road and we make little little wins in the battle but but overall I I don’t think we’re making much long-term progress with this eye today Sam’s taking the koala to the Bondi referral Hospital sash to find out if anything can be done to save Bill’s eye well we’ve just got to the stage where we need to know whether he’s ever
going to be able to see out of that eye we need to talk to Specialists to find that out so big day for Bill we sort it [Music] out hi are you Sam I Am Hi Sam Kelly nice to meet you Kell nice to meet you too Kate nice to meet you I’m super excited about this this will be my first koala being American dday has arrived at his vet Sam Gilchrist is he stressed at all or no he’s very relaxed in there happy to be in there American eye specialist Cali Caruso will decide whether anything can be done to save the
koala’s damaged eye hi little man oh he’s beautiful come on really there’s a zipper somewhere there’s like batteries in here right you’re delicious huh so let’s do a couple really specific ocular test right now I think the thing I’m hoping for is that we find some trauma and that we can fix this eye the other possibility is that he was born with something very wrong with the eye and that we won’t be able to save it I can’t see a pupil response and I see no squint with the with the light it’s not looking good as far as being
able to save it he’s not uh reacting in any way that would indicate that there’s any possibility of vision in this eye oh sweet man I think it would be in his best interest if we take the eye out well I guess I guess deep down it wasn’t wasn’t what I was hoping for we’re going to do the best thing for bill here today and um you know he’s a good man he is a good man poor Sam he’s an amazing veterinarian but I think um it’s hard to draw that line between staying a vet and becoming emotionally attached to some of these
little critters I so wish I could save your eye little monkey will you forgive me if I take it out H the only thing we usually see here are cats and dogs so this is a a rare an unbelievable opportunity to try to help one of these guys and learn a little bit more about you huh I think you like me I love you say hello Bill see even for Australians they’re excited to see a koala Blinky bill is the first koala to be admitted for surgery at Sash and he’s getting a rockstar reception so what’s happened with his eye why is it blue and
yucky we think he was born that way he’s had it since day one the eye has been a constant source of pain and irritation for the one-year-old koala unfortunately it has to come out today but it’s the it’s the best thing for bill for sure you’re okay you’re okay eye specialist KY Caruso will perform the delicate surgery assisting her with the anesthetic is Bill’s V Sam Gilchrist Kala SS are a little bit tricky because they have a really long soft pallet so if we take them too deep they lose control of all that flesh and it can
actually just collapse over the larynx and then koala can’t breathe lift him up ready 3 2 1 can’t to get into it but we need to make sure he’s stable before we jump in I’m really anxious to get him in and off the table and um get him awake that’s that’s when I’ll be able to breathe and feel good so take him a little bit deeper but not too much deeper okay I’m getting 70 now finally bill has stabilized and Kelly gets the go-ahead to start surgery so far no reaction so I’m just really gently and carefully dissecting through some of the
tissues so that we can then lift the eye out of What’s called the orbit now I can actually get a little bit better look in there and see that there’s really no normal tissue in there at all no matter what we did we weren’t going to make him see again unfortunately just about to get the eye out eye out okay we’re going to start closing Sam how’s he going yeah we’ve edged a little deep Kelly suddenly Bill’s breathing becomes irregular I’m not getting much of a blood fish guys if the koala is blood pressure
drops too low it can starve the brain and other vital organs of oxygen I’m moving fast as fast as I can do you need to get in no I need you to S them up okay get in there we have about three more sutures and we’ll be done hang in there buddy we’re almost done surgery completed wake him up okay come on little buddy wake up wake up come on little monkey wake up wake up just want him to wake up here he comes there he comes yay wakey [Music] wakey hi buddy he you g less than an hour after the operation
Bill’s recovering with his gum leaves and is ready to go home bye guys see you a it was a success we’re really happy with the [Music] outcome oh I miss him so much he’s so cute I’m feeling much better now it’s all done thank God like that you do like that a bit yeah as for Blinky Bill he’s not only survived his surgery he’s awesome he’s he’s putting on weight and doing everything that that a young koala should he’s a new improved koala he’s turned into a good boy without his eye very gentle with his
biting wouldn’t even call it biting more like a kiss Oregon I think for sure Bill’s going to be one of our star attractions for the future [Music]