The rescue and treatment of sick or injured wild free-ranging deer is fraught with ethical, welfare and, for some species, legal considerations; many of these cases are best managed by humane euthanasia at the point of triage (see Chapter 3). The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to return the animal to the wild, where it will survive and contribute to the breeding population. Hand-rearing of young wild deer may be accomplished successfully (see in the following), but heroic medical and surgical interventions are rarely justified for severely injured or ill adult deer because the chance of the animal’s survival to be successfully released back into the wild is very low. However, the principles described in this chapter for the treatment of deer under managed care could potentially be applied to wild deer, with due consideration given to animal welfare, the law and ethical aspects. Chapter 22 of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association Manual of Wildlife Casualties gives extensive guidance on the rehabilitation of wild deer casualties (Varga 2016). Post-release monitoring of wild deer to ensure their survival past the immediate post-release period is essential but may be difficult to achieve in practice (Williams and Gregonis 2015).

Veterinary surgeons working with wildlife rescue organisations should ensure that the rehabilitator is compliant with the law regarding the care and release of wild deer species. In the United Kingdom, it is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) and its amendments to release sika and muntjac deer into the wild, because these are non-native species. In some areas of England, it may be possible to obtain a license from Natural England to release individual sika and muntjac at the site where they were found (Varga 2016).

There are no veterinary pharmaceutical products licensed for the treatment of deer in the United Kingdom, so veterinary surgeons must refer to Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) guidance on prescribing medicines under the cascade (see RCVS and British Veterinary Association [BVA] websites for guidance). See also Chapter 34 on the formulary for guidance. Products used for domestic ruminants are generally safe and effective in deer when used at dose rates and routes of administration licensed for cattle (Masters and Flach 2015; Varga 2016) with the exception of sedative and anaesthetic drugs, for which dose rates can vary widely between deer species (Chapter 4). If wild free-ranging deer are treated with veterinary medicines that have no established maximum residue limits, such as tiletamine, zolazepam and atipamezole, an ‘Eat_Not’ ear tag should be applied to prevent the animal from entering the human food chain (Green 2018).

Traumatic injuries are not uncommon in managed deer. An initial distant visual inspection with the aid of binoculars will help the veterinary surgeon decide whether intervention for treatment or humane euthanasia is required.

For adult animals that are not accustomed to close human contact, as is the case for most park, farmed and zoo deer, it is generally inadvisable to separate the animal from the herd for hospitalisation, because this is likely to cause unacceptable levels of stress and may result in death from capture myopathy. Many traumatic injuries can be successfully managed with an initial capture or immobilisation for assessment and treatment, following which the animal is immediately returned to the herd. The animal should be individually identified using a collar or large ear tag so that it can be identified for repeat treatments if required. It is recommended to give intravenous (IV) fluid therapy using large-bore cannulas during the intervention; in deer species that are too small or dehydrated to allow IV access in the field, fluid administration by the subcutaneous or per rectum routes may be helpful. Oral fluids administered by stomach tube may cause significant regurgitation, so this is not recommended.

Analysis of plasma lactate concentrations using a point-of-care lactate meter validated in cattle (Accutrend Plus System, Roche Diagnostics; Burgess Hill, West Sussex, United Kingdom) found that wild roe deer admitted to a wildlife rescue centre with lactataemia higher than 10.2 mmol/l had a poor prognosis for survival (Di Lorenzo et al. 2020). Portable lactate meters may be a useful tool to help guide triage decisions.

Orthopaedic limb surgery in large adult deer is unlikely to be successful because prolonged hospitalisation for post-surgical rest is generally not tolerated and implant failure following surgical fixation is common. Deer are capable of recovering from catastrophic injuries, such as proximal long bone fractures that would permanently disable a domestic ruminant, with minimal or no medical treatment (Green 2018). The decision not to intervene in such cases should be weighed against the animal welfare consequences and legal concerns associated with non-treatment (Varga 2016). For managed deer in a farm or zoo setting, if the animal is mobile, keeping up with the herd and maintaining its body condition, it may be acceptable to not treat the animal. This should be reserved only for herds in which the manager can be relied upon to monitor the animal on a daily basis at minimum. Humane euthanasia should be performed if the injured animal has concurrent problems such as suspected pelvic or spinal injuries, an open fracture, flystrike, is unable to keep up with the herd or is losing body condition. Surgical repair of limb fractures may be justified in small, calm deer species in zoological institutions if the individual is thought likely to tolerate a period of rest following surgery.

Simple mandibular fractures can be successfully managed using external fixation, keeping the animal with the herd, as long as the deer is able to feed and maintain body condition. For animals that are accustomed to pelleted supplementary feed, a gruel of mashed pellets and water can be offered while the animal is recovering. Targeted feeding with oral meloxicam for analgesia may be attempted in habituated individuals.

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