Helping A Wounded Porcupine

This adult male porcupine arrived at Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation on June 20, 2017, with a large wound on his dorsum that was suspected to be caused by a dog attack. He was in good body condition, weighing in at 11.4 kilograms.

He was sedated, and the wound was cleaned and sutured. He was treated with pain medications and antibiotics, but it is difficult to get medication in a porcupine twice a day. They found, however, that porcupines like the EmerAid Intensive Care Herbivore diet offered in a dish, and the rehabilitators were able to hide his medications in this dish of EmerAid.

He ate the medication twice daily and was released on July 13, 2017.