Occurence of bacterial urinary tract infection in hand reared lesser anteaters (tamandua tetradactyla): case report

Abstract

On October, 2009 and on May, 2011, two orphan lesser anteaters, with approximately two and five months of age, respectively, were received at the Aquario de Sao Paulo. Both were hand reared. Urine analysis were performed on both animals, and changes such as hematuria, pyuria and bacteria were observed. The treatment plan was chosen aiming to acidify the urine, eliminate the crystals and the bacterial infection. The antibiotics that were used were chosen according with the antibiograms' result. Preventive medicine programs are being performed frequently with the intention of establishing reference parameters of extreme relevance for the maintenance of this species in captivity. In the case of anteaters, who present low intrinsic rates of population growth, the maintenance of a minimum viable population is utterly necessary.