She had eyeballs on her socks. Dr. Carmen Colitz, Veterinary Ophthalmologist, proudly displayed her profession while performing an eye exam on Curry, a California sea lion, at SeaWorld San Antonio. The SeaWorld video team filmed an informational video to present at the 40th Annual IAAAM conference hosted at SeaWorld San Antonio. IAAAM or the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine is dedicated to the practice of aquatic animal medicine, teaching and research in aquatic animal medicine and the husbandry and management of aquatic animals.
Animal care is top priority at SeaWorld San Antonio. Dr. Carmen, with the help of Dr. Johanna Mejia and SeaWorld trainer Lisa Halstead, demonstrated cutting edge techniques and tools for the conference attendees regarding eye care for marine mammals. Did you know California sea lions are especially susceptible to cataracts?
Dr. Carmen used several basic eye tests: the accrued test of vision, menace response, fluorescein test, tonometry and fundic exam. Her trust in our trainer and Lisa's bond with Curry just amazed me throughout the exam. Not only did Dr. Carmen perform the tests, Curry trusted Lisa enough to allow a stranger to use tools foreign to him just floored me. I've seen people react worse when getting an eye exam. No medications needed, just good old-fashioned positive training and trust from both human and animal.
Vision testing is just what you think: judging how well the sea lion can see. The trainer tosses fish from spots around the room and the animal catches it. These special veterinarians evaluate if the sea lion is favoring an eye, just by how they catch a fish. The menace response isn't as scary as it sounds. The doctor just moves toward the sea lion. If the animal moves away then the vision is ok, but if there is no reaction, the sea lion has vision problems.
During the fluorescein test, after numbing the sea lion's eye, diluted greenish/yellow liquid fluorescein is put on the eye. The veterinarian then uses a slit lamp with a blue filter to look at the eye. If anything glows, the doctor can see and treat it.
Dr. Mejia checked Curry for glaucoma using a special tool called tonovet. In humans, this test blows a puff of air into your eye. Since you can't do that with a sea lion, you need the tonovet to perform this test. The older model, called a tonopen (looks like a huge pen), was much louder and harder to use. The advances in animal medicine are really cool!
Dr. Carmen used another tool called an indirect ophthalmoscope, or what she jokingly referred to as her “Darth Vader” helmet, to perform a fundic exam. This tool allows her to see the back of the animal's eye. Humans get their eyes dilated for this exam. We can't dilate sea lion's eyes, so she uses the ophthalmoscope to perform the exam.
One of the biggest challenges of marine animal eye exams is not being able to touch the animal. Dr. Carmen has to balance herself perfectly to perform the exam. Can you imagine being a doctor who can't touch the patient? What a challenge!
I was amazed to see these cutting-edge procedures demonstrated when only a handful of veterinarians have ever seen them in person. In fact, we were making the video to teach others and help advance animal medicine in such a young field. Human medicine dates back thousands of years, but marine mammal medicine is only 40 years old. What will they think of next?
I can't wait for SeaWorld to be there!
