A premature baby hippo named Fiona was recently born at the Cincinnati zoo, born six weeks early to her 17-year-old mother Bibi. Well, this caused complications, as Fiona became dehydrated after refusing to drink milk.
The staff at the zoo had to get creative in their efforts to get nourishment into Fiona’s system, so they called on doctors at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center to help.
You see, preemies of all species have tiny and unstable veins, and it often takes experts to get an I.V. going. So the children’s doctors – the experts – were called in. They brought ultrasound equipment to the zoo and put an I.V. catheter into Fiona.
Zoo staff members have been monitoring Fiona around the clock since then and she’s showing signs of recovery.
Fiona is also helped by being close to her mother, Bibi, and father, Henry, so the family can hear and smell each other. And, thanks to the zoo’s Twitter account, people are keeping an eye on Fiona’s progress and rooting for her all the way.