This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Help for Broke Neck Deer

Joined Jul 2019
1 Posts | 0+
Lakeland, FL
Good afternoon yall, My name is Laura and I am posting this on behalf of my Mama, Debbie that is not very techy, but has a huge heart and is involved in saving and rehabilitating deer (to later be released back into the wild... well, a protected ranch).

FWC brought her 5 new deer a couple days ago and 1 of the fawn got spooked by some raccoon that fell into their pen and the fawn ran head first into a tree! It appears to have broken it's neck. We are assuming this is the damage that has been done without calling the vet out for a full evaluation as the deer can no longer stand, nor can it hold it's own head up... it only lays on the ground and thrashes it's legs (from the hips and shoulder it appears), but my argument is if the deer's pole of it's neck is indeed broken, then wouldn't it lose complete mobility of it's limbs?

To further describe his condition -

There is a huge lump on the left side of the neck, under the ear (about the size of a baseball, hard not like fluid).

The deer is eating and drinking (fruit - grapes, bananas, lettuce, leaves & & drinking water and formula from a bottle).

When we pinch the hide right above the hoof line on the front feet, the deer does not react at all to the left front leg (and his actual leg feels cold and lifeless to the touch), however... when we do the same test to the right front leg, he seems to notice and responds by moving his rear legs (from the hips).

She has administered Benamine & Dex, I'm not certain on the amounts, but enough to ensure the deer is not in distress while we analyze how we should handle this situation.

This creature's life is in our hands and we are seeking input from other deer farming & rehab experts as I have read some similar posts already on this forum that have proven helpful...

We just need help to identify if there is a chance we can cure this deer by any means we have not considered. Who knows maybe we could at least get it back on 3 legs by identifying it has some herniation of the neck that a chiropractor can fix and our vet could amputate that nerve dead leg & we'll call him, "Lucky"! Wishful thinking.

Any advise is greatly appreciated!

Thank you all.
 
It could be swelling that is causing the paralyzes and not actually a broken neck.I have had fawns lay in a cage at the vet with iv fluids for 3 or 4 days before they are able to walk again.I think the fawn has a chance. Usually with a broke neck they do not survive. imo