Premature hippo at Cincinnati Zoo gets lifesaving IV

A premature baby hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo is still alive because of an IV drip and what's really interesting is who saved her.

It wasn't the zoo staff; though they've been with 4-week-old Fiona 'round the clock raising her.

It was a team of specialists at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Why would a hospital for kids take over for a dehydrated baby hippo? Because they're used to working with difficult veins.

The zoo says preemies have small and unstable veins to begin with. Even though they were able to get multiple IV's placed, Fiona's veins couldn't handle the IV and would rupture, making the IV useless.

See photos of Fiona the hippo:

That's when the Vascular Access Team from the children's hospital stepped in.

With sensitive ultrasound equipment, they were able to place a life-saving IV catheter in one of Fiona's deep leg veins.

Zoo staffers have been with her ever since.

After five bags of fluid, Fiona is showing signs of recovery!

They say she's sleeping a lot but has started to take bottles again.

It's not the first time the zoo worked with the children's hospital. Ali the aardvark needed help in 2015 to figure out what was causing eye problems.

Before Fiona became dehydrated, she graduated to the big kid pool! Since wild hippos are used to spending 16 hours a day in water, the pool helps with coordination in the water. It's one of the many activities to help her grow and get stronger.