12/05/2026
Nearly 2 weeks ago, you may remember the first burst of sunshine and hot weather we all enjoyed at the time, marking the start of a busy summer period.
Around this time, our call numbers went through the roof, as people ventured into the outdoors often to be met by sick or injured animals that were struggling in the change in climate.
One such call came via our Large Animal Emergency Line for a young otter that had been found roadside just outside of Warkworth.
Given the weather conditions, the roads were very busy along with planned roadworks and some road closures due to accidents, it took us much longer than usual to get to the scene.
On arrival, we were greeted with a young female otter on the road, being protected by kind passers-by who had called for help and thankfully stayed with the injured animal to prevent further harm until help arrived.
The otter, thought to be an older cub from last year, was in a state of complete collapse and largely unresponsive as she lay on the hot road in the burning sunshine.
A senior medic attended and made initial examinations and observations before making a plan for emergency first aid in light of the cub's very worrying condition.
Contact was made with Robson & Prescott Vets in Morpeth before another volunteer was able to meet half way to transfer the cub to Morpeth for first aid, navigating between delays and road closures along the way.
The otter stayed at the veterinary hospital for the next 2 days under treatment and observation until finally we received news that she was stable enough to continue treatment at the centre.
Treatment and supportive care continued over the next few days, while the otter gained more strength, moving onto whole fish and starting to show her true colours.
It will be a while yet for the otter to return to the wild, with extra bodyweight and further development required before the youngster can cope independently in the wild.
We've been part of such an amazing route to recovery from such a worrying and guarded prognosis from the initial call - we hope to update you with the good news of her release over the coming weeks! 🦦
