Nemo stranded at Vero Beach and was immediately taken to Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution where he was placed in a medical pool. Diagnostics indicated a very heavy gastric parasite load but the animal appeared relatively healthy otherwise. It was decided to transfer this animal to Mote's Dolphin and Whale Hospital where another Kogia calf was being rehabilitated (Ami). Nemo arrived this afternoon and was placed in a separate tank. The whale immediately wanted to eat. He was offered one pound of squid and comsumed it readily. He was then allowed to swim and navigated the medical tank fairly well. He weighed 99 kg (218 lb) and was 178 cm (5'10") in length on arrival. He will be kept separate from Ami until we are certain he has no contagious disease.

5/13 Nemo did well during his first night here. His appetite can best be described as "ravenous". He did vomit once during the night and is having a little difficulty maneuvering with the walls but is doing well otherwise. Bloodwork from arrival was unremarkable.

5/14 Nemo had several bouts of vomiting during yesterday afternoon and last night. An exam this morning revealed that he still has many, many live worms in his stomach so we started him on another medication for the worms. Otherwise, he is still very hungry and is swimming on his own.

5/15 Nemo is not digesting squid that he has eaten, indicating a possible mechanical blockage in the stomach. We have scheduled an exam to do gastroscopy tomorrow morning to determine the cause.

5/16 Gastroscopy revealed the worms are almost completely gone and both the first and second (fundic and glandular) stomachs appeared to be free of foreign bodies. Stomach pH was abnormally high so he was given fluids and medication to bring pH back down.

5/17 Stomach pH is back down to normal and Nemo is again eating squid. He spends most of his time floating around the tank but has begun to play in a water stream that is directed into his tank from time to time. White count that was up slightly two days ago seems to be back down also. Later in the afternoon, Nemo began vomiting the squid again. We suspect a blockage farther down the GI tract.

5/18 Due to continued vomiting, we are going to do an upper GI x-ray series today to determine if a blockage exists.

5/18 pm Upper GI and gastroscopy revealed delayed gastric emptying and an impaction in the second stomach (consisting primarily of dead worms and squid parts). Nemo has been temporarily placed on a liquid diet until the impaction can be removed.

5/19 Liquid diet seems to be helping a lot. No more vomiting and he is more active, swimming and diving from time to time.

20 We were able to break up the impaction this morning and he is taking fluids orally again. We will offer whole squid later today.

5/21 So far, Nemo is keeping small amounts of squid down. He seems to be feeling better today as well.

5/22 More swimming and diving this morning. No vomiting. Will do blood work this afternoon.

5/23 Blood work looks good. Taking more squid and still no vomiting. Otherwise, no change.

5/24 No major changes today. Blood work is improved somewhat.

5/25 Nemo has resumed the vomiting whenever he receives a large meal of squid. We are cutting back on the whole squid and increasing the liquid diet. We assume there is another blockage farther down the GI tract and we hope to be able to open it up with medication.

5/26 Nemo is doing better this morning. As long as he does not get more than 8 pounds of squid per day, he digests it well. Any more than that, and it comes back up. Unfortunately, he needs about 20 pounds per day. The liquid diet is working well enough that he has gained back some of the weight he lost. His weight today was 94.5 kg (208 lb).

5/27 Bright, alert, and hungry, but blockage is still there.

5/28 Nemo has finally begun to ink again, although not large amounts yet. Appetite good.

5/29 Seems to be a little playful today.

5/30 Some evidence today of a mild respiratory infection. Started on new antibiotic. More activity today than previously.

5/31 More active (swimming and diving) and consuming more solid food. Otherwise, no change.

6/1 No change today.

6/2 Still some evidence of obstruction or ileus but otherwise doing very well.

6/3 Occasional defecations but otherwise no change.

6/4 Nemo's appetite seems improved today and he appears to be somewhat more active.

6/5 Some abdominal cramping and several large defecations. Otherwise, fairly active.

6/6 Seems better today.

6/7 We have begun to raise the water level for Nemo as he is doing more swimming and diving.

6/8 Nemo is eating more squid each day.

6/9 We attempted to gastroscope Nemo this morning but the squid that was fed to him at 8pm yesterday was still being digested, so we could not get a good look at his second stomach. Colon seems distended today. Otherwise, no change. Late afternoon, an enema was given that eliminated much of the distension.

6/11 Nemo had two very large defecations during the night and seems slightly more active today.

6/13 Exam today revealed second stomach to be free of lesions and impactions. Today's weight was 105.5 kg (232 lb) and length was 181 cm (5'11"). We are going to take him off liquid diet and try whole squid again to see if GI tract is now working.

6/15 Nemo ate 14 lb of whole squid yesterday and is set to receive 18 lb today. It appears that his GI problem may have been resolved.

6/16 Doing very well today.

6/18 Weight today was 105.0 kg (231 lb). His appetite has been off a little since yesterday. Otherwise, little change.

6/19 Appetite has dropped of some more so we have started giving some of the liquid diet again.

6/20 Appetite continued to drop. Evidence this morning of a gastric ulcer so he has been started on sucralfate and prevacid as well as primarily a liquid diet for a few days.

6/21 Appetite better.

6/24 For the last 36 hours, Nemo has been undergoing gastric stasis, probably due to the prevacid. Treatment for the stasis, however, has been successful, and Nemo is doing much better today. Back on solid food.

6/25 Nemo is even better today. Stomach is now functional. Today's weight was 102.5 kg (225.5 lb).

6/26 Appetite is much better today.

6/27 Continuing to improve.

6/28 Yesterday afternoon Nemo quit eating altogether. Will do endoscopy procedure tomorrow to determine cause.

6/29 Appetite better. Gastroscopy revealed several small ulcers at the esophageal/gastric junction. Will be treating accordingly.

7/1 Nemo was a little uncomfortable yesterday after the endoscopy but is doing better today. Appetite slowly improving.

7/2 Nemo's ravenous appetite is back. Today's weight is 105.5 kg (232.1 lb) and his total length is 185 cm (6'1").

7/3 Appetite continues to be excellent.

7/5 Nemo is now readily taking both squid and shrimp. Blood work (sed rate) is improving and near normal.

7/7 Nemo's appetite is inconsistent. We are giving him a liquid diet in addition to solid food and continue to treat him for gastric ulcers.

7/9 There has been little change. Nemo continues to eat small quatities of squid and shrimp. We have finished a three-day course of treatment (panacur) for possible gastrointestinal parasites. 7/11 Nemo seems to be eating better today. We have made adjustments to gastric acid blocking medication that seems to be helping.

7/13 Nemo is being placed into Ami's tank with her to determine how well they are going to get along.

7/14 Nemo and Ami are together and doing very well. 

7/16 Both whales are still together but seem to be largely ignoring each other. Nemo's weight this morning was 105 kg (231 lb) and his total length was 188.5 cm (6'2").

7/18 Ami seems to be trying to interact with Nemo but he appears to not want to interact. Otherwise, appetite is fairly good and behavior is typical.

7/22 Nemo's white count has gone up so we have started him on antibiotics and antifungals. Appetite was down yesterday but seems better today.

7/24 Nemo is not eating well. We have taken him out of Ami's tank until he is doing better.

7/25 Nemo is failing to digest solid food again and has been switched back to a liquid diet. Behavior seems OK today.

7/26 Nemo spent most of yesterday vomiting but that seems to be under control now. He is alert and playful.

7/27 Vomiting has started again. Will try a new medication to get it stopped.

7/29 Vomiting was continuing so we performed a gastroscopy yesterday to check for obstruction. None was found in either of the first two stomach compartments. It is possible that there is still an obstruction beyond the second stomach (functional pyloric stenosis?), so we will plan another upper GI series for this week.

7/30 Still some vomiting last night so will schedule upper GI series for tomorrow.

8/1 Upper GI series yesterday indicated a stenosis at the opening of the third stomach compartment. He was started on dexamethasone and atropine and appears to be very hungry this morning. Will gradually increase his liquid diet today.

8/2 Nemo appears to be feeling much better today. Appetite is better, no vomiting. Starting him on some solid food again.

8/3 Continued improvement although his white count has gone up some.

8/4 Nemo has taken a sudden downturn. He began vomiting this afternoon and may have aspirated some of it into his lungs. His respirations are rapid and shallow. He has also become stiff in his rear end. We are doing everything we can to help him, but things are very critical now.

8/5 Nemo had a VERY rough night and almost died several times. He apparently was having a toxic reaction to the medication he was receiving for the stenosis. Symptoms included total body paralysis and pulmonary edema. An antidote was given early this morning and Nemo is now attempting to swim again and is aware of what is going on around him. He is not "out of the woods", but is greatly improved from just a few hours earlier.

8/7 Nemo is doing much better today and is keeping liquid diet down well. He is swimming as well as he was last week.

8/8 Nemo continues to improve. Appetite is good and he is relatively active.

8/9 We are concerned abour liver function because liver values are increasing as a possible result of toxicity. Have started him on treatment.

8/10 Nemo seems somewhat better and more active today. Liver enzyme values have decreased slightly.

8/11 Nemo is slightly more active today and liver enzymes are much lower.

8/14 Nemo continues to improve. Eating more solid foods and rarely vomiting.

8/15 Continuing to slowly improve.

8/16 Nemo is weaker today and his abdomen is distended. Gave several enemas to evacuate the colon.

8/16 10pm Nemo became progressively weaker throughout the afternoon and evening. He died at 10pm, probably from multiple organ failure and septicemia. A necropsy will be performed tomorrow but it will likely be several weeks before a final cause of death is known.

8/18 Necropsy revealed septicemia, probably associated with liver infection. Will await histopathology for final results