Overview

Currently, the hospital receives over 3000 patients every year. Every patient coming in is assessed by an expert carer and treated for whatever may be wrong in a fully equipped modern surgery. They are then placed in the quiet of a hospital cage with food and water to recover. Whilst they are watched throughout the day there are regular daily assessments of the patients progress, which involve monitoring its feeding, weight gain or loss, appearance the healing of wounds and so forth. Further treatment may then have to be given on a daily basis until the patient are ready for releaser. The patients that require longer term care are housed in the outside aviaries. While most of our patients are birds, Brent Lodge treats around 500 mammals every year.

By far the most common cause of the casualties we admit to Brent Lodge is road traffic accidents, but we also receive birds and mammals suffering injury and illness from a wide range of causes. Patients range from hedgehogs who have been attacked by cats, or hoglets who are unable to cope with the weather, to hawks and falcons which commonly collide with objects when chasing their prey with a tunnel vision focus. They have been known to fly into cars, windows and even walls, whilst their prey narrowly avoids the obstacle. These birds also suffer from enteritis, canker and flying lice infestations. We also receive many small chicks, brought in by well intentioned members of the public who have wrongly assumed that they have been abandoned (please read our baby birds section!).

Brent Lodge also sees a number of sea birds, particularly guillemots and razorbills that have been covered in oil from ocean and coastal spillages or discharges.

Sadly a lot of birds suffer at the hands of human beings. Some birds and mammals are injured due to people's callous disregard for their wellbeing; throwing stones at birds and kicking hedgehogs around as footballs are two such examples. Birds can suffer from accidents and injuries as many and as varied as those suffered by people, and they are also vulnerable to infectious diseases from their friends, mates, eating infected food, or from the many parasites that infest them.

Mammals

The majority of the mammals that are admitted to Brent Lodge are hedgehogs. The following list shows some common problems that hedgehogs are admitted for.

• Bites from dogs, rats and foxes.
• Stab wounds from garden forks.
• Injuries caused by garden strimmers.
• Infestations of ticks and fleas.
• Wounds smothered in maggots.
• Injuries caused by road traffic accidents.
• Babies unable to cope with cold weather.

In most cases they have to be anaesthetised in order to uncurl them, clean and dress their wounds and give them antibiotics.

Birds

We take a great number of birds of all different species. We sectionalise the birds that are admitted into categories, as shown in the table below. The table also shows the kinds of conditions for which they are typically admitted.

Type of bird	Common reasons for admission
Pigeons, including the many types of doves.	By far the most common of our patients. They are common sufferers from gun shot wounds, cats, stomach infections and a nasty infected growth in the throat called canker. They are also very prone, as are many other birds, to infestations of flying lice which can become numerous enough to cause their death.
Garden birds.	Common examples are blackbirds, starlings, sparrows, the tit family, finches. This category of bird is commonly brought in during the spring and summer by misguided members of the public who think they have been abandoned when they are, in fact, still being looked after by their parents. Please read our section on abandoned baby birds. Cats are a major problem in gardens and around bird tables. These birds are also prone to lice, attack by raptors and many types of infections.
The crow family - Rooks, Crows, Jackdaws, Magpies.	Common injuries are caused by cats, being hit by cars, infections and slow development of babies. Birds which have been humanised by ignorant but well meaning people who care for them.
Countryside birds, not normally found in gardens.	These suffer less from human caused injuries but are still subject to car strikes, infections, invasion by parasites, being shot.
Sea birds.	Gulls suffer very commonly from enteritis during the summer months when they scavenge rubbish tips. The smaller gulls are often blown into cables and trees in very windy weather and suffer wing injuries. Most oiled birds brought in are the guillemots and razorbills, but many other sea birds suffer to a lesser degree. The problem here is ingestion, and many birds not discovered for a day or two after the spill stand little chance of survival as they preen themselves to clean up and swallow the oil. This causes slow death by liver poisoning.
Fresh water birds.	Swans, ducks, etc, fly into power lines, are hit by cars, are beaten up by aggressive members of their own species and also suffer with many infectious diseases. They also have to put up with lead poisoning, commonly caused by ingestion of lead weights discarded by fisherman or shot used by "Sportsmen" when out shooting which falls into the water when spent. They also get entangled in discarded fishing line.
Raptors, including Hawks, Falcons, Owls and other birds of prey.	These commonly hit things when chasing prey with "tunnel vision" focus. They have been known to fly into cars, windows and walls when their prey just avoided the obstacle. They also suffer from enteritis, canker, and flying lice infestations, and are sometimes shot by gamekeepers and others who are either ignorant of the law or ignore the fact that these birds are fully protected. Many small chicks are brought in when found by the public who wrongly assume that they have been abandoned.
The Swallow family, including Swifts and Martins.	Nest collapse is common in the summer when the parents have not done a good job or the quality of the mud is not sticky enough to stick to the wall of the house or barn on which the nest was sited. Many babies are injured and orphaned in this way. Swifts have such short legs that they cannot take off if grounded, and need a platform to fly from. A friendly human hand tossing them bodily into the air makes a good substitute in many cases.
Caged birds.	These are escaped pets which we home until their owners are found.