Asthmatic Sea Otter Diagnosed From Wildfire Smoke, Uses Asthma Inhaler

The otter, named Mishka, has lived at the aquarium since January.

Coaches are assisting Mishka with figuring out how to utilize an inhaler to get the same pharmaceuticals that people do, to assist her with breathing better.

“We try to make it as fun as possible”, said Perry in a news release from the aquarium. Veterinarians spent the past months learning Mishka how to use the inhaler on her own.

In order to effectively treat her condition, Mishka has been trained to use the same kind of inhaler device that humans use by pushing her nose against the spacer.

“Anytime you’re training a medical behavior, you want to make it nice and positive”.

Researchers aren’t sure exactly how Mishka developed asthma, though wildfire smoke appears to have been a trigger. But ecologist Sara Perry began engaging food products now as to sway Mishka into setting her nipple to the inhaler and having a waft. Dr. Lahner believes Mishka was susceptible to the disease due to low genetic diversity after sea otters went extinct in their native Pacific Northwest and were replaced by Alaskan sea otters in the late 1960s. In 1969 and 1970, a population of otters from Alaska was moved to Washington in order to re-introduce the species.

It has been reported that otters, which are considered as one of the top architects in the animal kingdom, have an average life span of 10 to 12 years.

But what is most significant about this study is the realization that more and more animals continue to develop as a result of exposure to airborne contaminants-such as smoke and wildfires and, of course, pollution-but genetics can also play a role.