South Bay : Experimental Surgery Saves Airport’s Fox
It looked like it was curtains for Fauna, the blind fox who for 10 years has charmed visitors at Santa Catalina Island’s Airport in the Sky. An inoperable cancerous tumor was found in the animal’s right ear earlier this summer.
The animal’s only hope was an experimental laser surgery--developed at the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic at UC Irvine--which involves injecting a laser-sensitive dye in the tumor.
The operation worked. Fauna returned home in July and has fully recovered.
“Our fox’s life was saved, and I think she made a valuable contribution to cancer research,” said Misty Gay, a naturalist with Catalina Island Conservancy.
Fauna was found in 1984 wandering in circles on the airport’s sole runway.
Though Fauna lost her ear in the surgery, the operation did not affect her hearing.
“She still recognizes the sound of her food hitting her bowl,” Gay said.
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