A rescued lion's last-chance operation

Brut America

This lion was declawed as a baby so tourists could take pictures with him. 13 years later, he's paralyzed after suffering from multiple infections. Brut followed Léo the lion as he underwent a life-saving surgery ...

Transcript

00:00Let's try to stabilize this.

00:02Put it on my head.

00:05What's the difficulty today?

00:07It's clearly the size of this animal.

00:10Is this the last chance operation?

00:12Last chance, yes, that's it, the last hope.

00:20We're going to do the stitches to sedate him,

00:23to put him to sleep, to take him to the operating room.

00:26It's going to take 10 to 15 minutes, 20 minutes for him to fall asleep.

00:30Leo is a bit of an emblem of the Tanière.

00:32He's one of the first animals to arrive.

00:35The Tanière is a retirement home, a hospital,

00:38a shelter for animals that don't have any, that no longer have any.

00:41Let's go.

00:44Leo and Zampa are two animals that we recovered at the Spain Fur Foundation.

00:48All babies were removed at the time.

00:50They had a big wound.

00:51To castrate babies, which is something you shouldn't do,

00:53so they don't have a cranium.

00:54And above all, they were beheaded by charlatans,

00:56so it affected them a lot.

00:58They were used for 3 to 4 months to take pictures on the beach,

01:01in the night and in the evening.

01:03They also have problems with cataracts, etc., because of the flashes.

01:06And then, because of bacterial infections,

01:10which could have been caused by his claws,

01:12he developed a calcification bubble,

01:15there could be several here,

01:17which prevents the spine from functioning normally.

01:21So he's paralyzed from the back.

01:24If we ever had to lose Leo,

01:27it would be a hard time for him.

01:29We already had a hard time with Leo,

01:31but now it would be very difficult.

01:34Veterinarian?

01:36Yes, doctor.

01:38Is Pupi still dilating?

01:41Yes, doctor.

01:46How is he?

01:48He's still a bit...

01:49Yes, yes, I know.

01:50Be careful.

01:52The leg, the leg.

01:57The leg.

02:05This is the last chance for him.

02:08The last chance, yes, that's it.

02:10The last hope.

02:11It works or it doesn't.

02:14There is also a risk that we make the decision to wake him up.

02:18If what we discover is too complicated.

02:23One leg here, one leg in front.

02:25One leg here, one leg in front.

02:32Now we are doing the pre-operation.

02:36We intubate him,

02:38we put catheters.

02:40The idea is to stabilize all access routes,

02:43both venous and aerial,

02:45for anesthesia.

02:47In case of emergency,

02:50to be able to put him to sleep

02:53or wake him up if there is a problem.

03:01Today we have the greatest veterinarian in France

03:05who is here to try this operation.

03:08We disinsert everything that is on the pin.

03:10We tilt the musculature like this.

03:12We take the shoulder and we turn it completely.

03:16We disinsert the big rhomboid muscle

03:18that holds the shoulder in its upper part.

03:21The scapula being free,

03:23we can tilt it like this.

03:25This allows us to reach the rachis by lateral way,

03:28on an animal of this size,

03:30which is of an incredible length.

03:32On the other hand, there is a post-operative

03:35where the animal hardly uses his front leg.

03:44It's better, isn't it? It's much better.

03:51Where is he?

04:04How long will it last?

04:06Five hours.

04:13Normally, 99% of the time,

04:16it will happen.

04:18After that, there will be very big interventions.

04:23With me, Sommier, we were very clear.

04:25He told me, depending on what I saw

04:27and what he told me, I would tell you.

04:29But after that, it's the first.

04:35The operation went very well.

04:37He spent six hours on the table.

04:39He slept a little before and after.

04:41As soon as he wakes up, he dreams a little,

04:43he has nightmares, he doesn't suffer,

04:45he is often asleep.

04:48And if everything goes well,

04:50in three or four weeks,

04:52he should be able to find a normal life.

04:54Fingers crossed for him.

05:00Bravo Piccolino, bravo!

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