Percy first came to Misfits Rehab after he was captured because the wonderful people noticed he had frostbite to his ears, toes and tail.
Sadly the damage to the tail was progressing and needed surgery to amputate
He was not happy about being captive and being handled but he had to stay with us until the weather warmed up.
Percy was released and 6 weeks later the original rescuers found him looking odd and brought him back in to find out he had mange.
Poor Percy was the victim of animal cruelty when a man stomped on him and cut his tail off as a "trophy".
Little Percy had to have one more vertebrae removed in order to close the wound properly.
Luckily the surgery was a success and closed the wound properly
Without a tail, an opossum is not going to survive well in the wild so Percy is now stuck with us for the rest of his life. So time for a new enclosure just for him.
Time to check out the new setup
He definitely seemed to come around and start enjoying the new enclosure.
It only took a few months for him to realize we did not mean him any harm and that we mean food. So he often greets us for his nightly meal when he hears us.
Not sure how long we will have him since they only live approx 4 years maximum and we know he was approx 2 1/2 years old when he came in. But we will show him love and respect until the day he leaves this earth.
While holding him to trim just a few long nails he seemed to stress more than normal including stressed breathing.
He had not touched his cheese stick which was his favorite thing in the world. Kathi was on duty tending to the animals when Percy was able to be touched without running away and stood on top of his favorite shoe bed and was gasping for air with labored breathing. So off to the vet!
As we suspected Percy was in congestive heart failure. As severe as his condition was we decided that it was time to let him go. Before the vet even had a chance, in true Percy fashion, he took his own last breath without any assistance, he did it his way, in his own time, by his own will. He brought communities together and taught people across the nation about opossums. He will be greatly missed.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.