A Snow Leopard Cub In For Surgery At Sac Zoo This Morning [PIC]

The Sacramento Zoo is performing a surgery on a snow leopard cub named Coconut after he was born with a birth defect on his eyelids.

By WKBW on October 24, 2018

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Coconut is a baby snow leopard, and he was born in Sac Zoo earlier this year. It was found that he was born with an eyelid defect, and he’s set to have surgery this morning.

Ever since his birth, Coconut has had to have regular checkups and eye drops to address the issue, known as colombas. There were some other things veterinarians had to do leading up to the surgery though. Coconut had to be handled and sort of “trained” in preparation. No, he won’t be awake during the surgery, he’ll be under anesthesia. But he’ll have to tolerate the work afterwards during the recovery process. They also had to get him used to taking injections, which will still happen after the surgery. He also has to be used to and trust the handlers touching him.

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Tomorrow, Coconut, the snow leopard cub born at the Sacramento Zoo earlier this year, will be the recipient of a rare eyelid surgery performed by Sacramento Zoo veterinarians as well as veterinary specialists from UC Davis. The surgery will be performed on zoo grounds at the Dr. Murray E. Fowler Veterinary Hospital. The surgery, which will begin at approximately 9:30 a.m., will be open to the public via our viewing window at the hospital. Coconut will be off exhibit for at least two weeks to allow him proper time to recover and heal. Read more about the cub's care and surgery on the zoo's news blog: saczoo.org/SnowLeopardSurgery Photo by Mike Owyang #internationalsnowleopardday

A post shared by SacramentoZoo (@sacramentozoo) on Oct 23, 2018 at 1:33pm PDT

During the surgery, Sac Zoo veterinarians will be conducting the surgery along with an orthopedic surgeon from UC Davis. The orthopedic is necessary to check for other birth defects that may be present in Coconut. The surgery was set to start around 9:30 this morning, and you’ll actually be able to watch. Surgeons will be working at the Sac Zoo in the Dr. Murray E. Fowler Veterinary Hospital right there on the grounds at the zoo. There’s a viewing window where you can watch the surgery happen, if you’re curious about that. Here’s some more information on Coconut’s condition, as well as more details about the surgery.