{"id":136249,"date":"2025-09-11T13:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T13:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/136249\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T13:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T13:41:08","slug":"rare-monkey-avoids-surgery-with-ct-scan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/136249\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare monkey avoids surgery with CT scan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ShaunShaun Wilson<\/p>\n

Red-faced spider monkeys like Smokey are classed as “vulnerable” in the wild<\/p>\n

Staff at a veterinary surgery had an unusual patient to examine recently \u2013 a rare monkey from a nearby zoo.<\/p>\n

Smokey, a red-faced spider monkey at the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay, Conwy, needed a CT scan when he fell ill with gastroenteritis.<\/p>\n

He was taken to the nearby Mochdre Vets, where staff were able to use the scan to diagnose the problem, so he didn’t need to have surgery.<\/p>\n

Zoo staff say Smokey has now recovered and is now eating and acting as normal while finishing off his treatment.<\/p>\n

Keepers first became concerned when Smokey started vomiting just over a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n

The zoo had already lost a female spider monkey a few months ago, who died suddenly from a perforated ulcer, so they were keen to get Smokey checked out quickly.<\/p>\n

Staff at Mochdre Vets recommended a CT scan as a way of finding out what was wrong.<\/p>\n

\"MochdreMochdre Vets<\/p>\n

Staff weren’t sure what was making Smokey ill, but the scan allowed them to rule out him having a tumour, or having swallowed something<\/p>\n

Deputy Head Nurse Robi McAffrey said: “the scan meant we could treat Smokey without surgery.<\/p>\n

“We were able to rule out tumours, foreign bodies, and even ulcers.<\/p>\n

“Operations in spider monkeys are always complex, and in Smokey’s case, there was an added concern.<\/p>\n

“He has been known to pull fur from his arm when stressed, so having a healing wound could have been a real temptation for him.”<\/p>\n

Nurses at the practice are used to putting cats and dogs through the CT scanner, but a spider monkey was a new type of patient for them.<\/p>\n

\"MochdreMochdre Vets<\/p>\n

Staff at Mochdre Vets said that giving Smokey a scan meant they could diagnose what was wrong without having to operate on him<\/p>\n

Head nurse Jess Nettleton said: “The procedure is very quick, which meant Smokey was only asleep for a short time – something that carries obvious benefits for his safety and recovery.<\/p>\n

“By the same afternoon, he was safely back in his pen and eating again.”<\/p>\n

Red-faced spider monkeys are found in the rainforests of South America, but they are classed as vulnerable because their habitat is being destroyed and they are sometimes hunted.<\/p>\n

\"MochdreMochdre Vets<\/p>\n

Staff at Mochdre Vets in Colwyn Bay are more used to scanning dogs and cats!<\/p>\n

Smokey has now made a full recovery and is just completing his course of treatment.<\/p>\n

Commercial Director at the Welsh Mountain Zoo Michaella Brannan said: “Smokey is much better and is back to his normal self, interacting with visitors.<\/p>\n

“He’s now eating a normal diet and swinging effortlessly around his enclosure in the way that we’d expect him to.”<\/p>\n

\"MochdreMochdre Vets<\/p>\n

Head nurse Jess Nettleton prepares Smokey for the scan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shaun Wilson Red-faced spider monkeys like Smokey are classed as “vulnerable” in the wild Staff at a veterinary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-136249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}