A sea otter has become the first to be diagnosed with asthma after developing breathing difficulties when smoke from wildfires in Washington affected her aquarium.
One-year-old Mishka is being trained to use an inhaler, exactly the same as one used by humans, to help treat her condition at Seattle Aquarium in the US, skynews.com reported
Her trainers use food to encourage her to push her nose on the inhaler and take a deep breath.
Dr Lesanna Lahner, who diagnosed the otter with asthma, told the KING-TV network: “We want to make this as fun as possible.
“Any kind of medical behavior you’re training, you want to make sure it’s nice and positive.”
Lahner has said reduced genetic diversity may have contributed to Mishka’s condition.
Sea otters became extinct in Washington State and Alaskan sea otters were reintroduced to the coastline 40 years ago. Mishka is likely to need the inhaler for the rest of her life.
