9 Strange Medical Cases Of Animal Kingdom That Will Leave You Speechless

Medical science has witnessed many weird cases in humans and scientists have conducted proper studies on them in order to find out the reason. However, humans are not alone when it comes to strange medical cases and several unusual cases have been discovered in animals as well. The scientists are carrying out research to find out the cause behind such rare conditions.


While some instances were discovered in the private facilities, there were few which took place in forests and were luckily discovered by humans.

Here are few strange medical cases of the animal kingdom that will leave you surprised:


1Hedgehog deflated as it got swelled to the size of a beach ball

A member of public found a hedgehog swelled to the size of a beach ball lied by the roadside and took it to Locke and Preston vets in Bude, Cornwall. The rare condition with which the hedgehog was said to be suffering from was “balloon syndrome” and the animal was double of its size when it was taken to vet clinic.

Hedgehog Deflated

Image Source: www.amicopolis.com


2What did the doctors do?

The vet doctors at the clinic were perplexed after seeing the hedgehog as they had heard about the balloon syndrome but never treated any animal suffering from the disease. After X-ray, the doctors got to know that there was a giant air pocket inside its body. They got worried because it could have burst if not treated and released the air by puncturing hedgehog’s belly using a standard syringe. The doctors were of the opinion that the hedgehog suffered from this condition after getting hit by a car or any other vehicle on the road.

Puncturing hedgehog’s belly

Image Source: brinsleyanimalrescue.org


3Two-headed deer

A two-headed deer was found by a mushroom hunter just a mile away from the Mississippi River while he was hunting for mushroom. However, the deer which was separated at heads and necks but conjoined at body appeared to have been dead at that time only and it was clean and dry as if the mother deer had groomed it.

Two-headed deer

Image Source: foxnews.com


4What did the experts say?

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources took the dead twins from the mushroom hunter and froze it. Later on, many tests were conducted and it was found that the twins were stillborn, their liver was malformed and there were problems in the internal system. The researchers said that the rarity of the event can’t even be estimated and as per them, this is a remarkable discovery despite the fact that the deer was dead.

World's first two-headed baby deer

Image Source: www.dnaindia.com


5Dead deer’s bone overgrew with arrow

When a hunter from North Carolina opened up a deer which he hunted, he got confused after what he saw. There was an arrow in its rib cage and the bone grew on that arrow. The hunter got that rib cage framed and as per Robert Stegall, son of the hunter, when the deer was killed by his father 30 years ago, it was quite healthy.

Deers bone overgrew with arrow

Image Source: www.montanaoutdoor.com


6Expert’s opinion

Utah Conservation Officers Association posted about this weird incident on Facebook and Twitter and as per them, the deer must have been shot by someone else years ago but that shot was not life-taking and it broke-off some ribs of the deer. The arrow also broke-off and it was used as a splint by the bone which overgrew around it. However, it is quite unusual for a bone tissue to grow over an outside object.

Wounded deer


7Bear’s oversized tongue

In 2016, some monks from a monastery rescued two young Asian black bears from traffickers who were taking them to China to sell. They soon called the vets as one of the black bears nicknamed Nyan Htoo was suffering from an unusual disease. The tongue of the bear was swelling so much that it weighed around 7 pounds and the bear had to drag it on the ground.

Bear’s oversized tongue

Image Source: thenypost.com

8Surgery was performed on the tongue

A surgery was performed on the bear’s tongue and nearly 6.6 pounds of tongue was removed. After that, he was able to shut his mouth and could keep his head up. Later it was found that the bear was suffering with elephantiasis – a disease which is caused because of the parasites which are transferred because of a mosquitoes bite.

Surgery was performed on the tongue

Image Source: nvexo.com

9Teeth on the forehead of a mountain lion

A hunter got perplexed after he saw a weird beast in Idaho. It was a mountain lion but extra teeth and whiskers were originating from its forehead. The hunter first saw that mountain lion when it got engaged in a clash with a dog on a private property. He followed the lion with hounds for 3 hours before hunting it down legally.

Teeth on the forehead

Image Source: wideopenspaces.com


10What did the experts say?

A statement was issued by Idaho Department of Fish and Game after the photo of the lion was sent to them. They said that the mountain lion was absolutely real and the teeth and whiskers on forehead could be because of two reasons – first, it could be a rare tumor termed as tertoma and secondly, it could be the remains of the twin that died in the womb but absorbed by the other fetus.

Teeth on forehead

Image Source: wildlifeinsider.com

11Sinus infected gorilla

When Vip also known as The Big Guy or Vippers, the alpha male gorilla at Woodland Park Zoo, suffered from a severe sinus infection, the veterinary doctors tried to cure it by giving antibiotics but they were of no use. When things were not showing any sign of improvement, Dr. Greg Davis, a sinus surgeon at UW Medical Center, was called to examine Vip. After proper examination, Dr. Davis suggested surgery for the animal.

Sinus infected gorilla

Image Source: purch.com

12Sinus surgery of gorilla

The surgery took four long hours and the pus, tissue and bone were removed in order to make it easy for Vip to breathe. However, the surgeon who had operated only humans till then wasn’t able to stop himself from looking at the huge head and giant fangs of Vip.

Sinus surgery of gorilla

Image Source: publicbroadcasting.net


13Bears got burns

Due to fire in Los Padres National Forest, two bears suffered very painful burns and had been bought to California Department of Fish and Wildlife for treatment along with a young mountain lion. In the opinion of the veterinary doctors, the injuries were severe and paw pads were burnt badly.

Bears got burns

Image Source: mshcdn.com

14Unusual treatment

The doctors gave an unusual treatment to the bears whose paw pads were severely burnt as they covered the paws with the skin of a fish tilapia. This was for the first time that the skin of fish was used for treatment and the results were so wonderful that the doctors recommended further research on the matter.

Unusual treatment

Image Source: imgur.com

15Otter suffering from asthma

Many humans suffer from asthma but have you seen any animal suffering from it? Meet Mishka, the first sea otter that has been diagnosed with asthma and Seattle Aquarium has been taking care of it since 2014. Signs of severe asthma were seen in Mishka when it was just 1 year old due to the smokes which came from fire in the forests of eastern Washington.

Otter suffering from asthma

Image Source: www.livescience.com


16What did the staff of Seattle Aquarium do?

There were no inhalers designed for otters as Mishka was the first patient but it did need one to keep the situation under control. The staff taught her to use the inhaler for cats which is called Aerokat. Now Mishka has learnt to press her nose against the inhaler which then releases the medicine.

What did the staff of Seattle Aquarium do

Image Source: telegraph.co.uk

17Naked mole rats and their resistance to cancer

Naked mole rats are also known as sand puppy; they are rodents that are known for their unusual characteristics. Their skin is pain insensitive, acid has no effect on them and they can live for almost 30 years which is five times more than the lifespan of any other rodent of their size. Moreover, they can live without oxygen for some time and they are resistant to cancer which makes them ideal for study of anti-cancer mechanisms.

Naked mole rats

Image Source: internapcdn.net

18Things changed in 2016

A 22 years old naked mole rat of Chicago zoo developed a tumor in its chest and the growth of cancer cells was stopped as the tumor was removed from the chest. But another 20 years old naked mole rat was not lucky enough as it got rashes on face, lost weight due to cancer and finally it succumbed to the disease.

22 years old naked mole rat

Image Source: www.sciencedaily.com


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