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Brendon Nafziger, DOTmed News Associate Editor | August 12, 2011
A male koala
(Credit: Quartl)
Earlier in the week, Sprinkles, a koala being raised by an Australian wildlife hospital, got its first dose of radiation therapy to stop her from drooling excessively. While it sounds like a harmless problem, the excess drool was causing skin infections, according to the Courier Mail. A vet at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, where Sprinkles lives, told the newspaper the only two koalas she knew with the same condition had to be put to sleep.
With radiation therapy, the vets have zapped the animal's salivary glands. This should make them shrink, thus ending the drooling problem. At some point, once Sprinkles recovers, her caretakers plan to introduce her back to the wild. They've been caring for her since her mother was run over by a car last year.
Interestingly, the Brisbane Veterinary Specialist Center, which treated Sprinkles, claims to have the only external beam radiation therapy unit in the southern hemisphere dedicated to treating animals.