Successful Treatment of Severe Hyperthermia in Captive White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Hyperthermia is a common, serious issue when capturing wildlife and has the potential to cause irreversible damage and death if severe, especially among cervids. During a disease surveillance program in white-tailed deer, 72 animals were chemically immobilized for sample collection. Most of the deer became hyperthermic (body temperatures >2°C above physiological norm) and of those, three became severely hyperthermic (>4.2+°C above physiological norm). Since the deer were sedated for regulatory purposes, reversal of the immobilant was not an option to restore natural thermoregulation. Rather, flunixin meglumine was administered to each animal in conjunction with cold water enemas and/or copious external application of water. Body temperatures rapidly cooled and stabilized within normal physiological ranges after the treatment. Once the samples were collected, each deer was returned to their pens and given the immobilizing agents’ antidotes. All deer survived and appeared healthy 30 days post-capture indicating the protocol used for hyperthermia treatment was effective.