Chana

sex: female
born: January 1988
birth place: New Mexico

deceased: 13 June 2001

given sanctuary: 15 June 1995

 

Chana's Memorial
see Newsletter - Fall 2001 (click)

Chana's Story

Chana came to the Wolf Sanctuary when she was eight years old. She arrived with her son, Peter, and her owner. Chana and Peter were the two surviving members of a pack of three. Their companion animal had been wolf-napped and killed. Chana's owner started receiving death threats against the two remaining animals and feared for their lives.

Under cover of darkness Chana, along with Peter, were taken from their home. The animals, including the male that had been shot, had never done any harm to anyone. Someone in the neighborhood just didn’t like wolf-dogs, and, without a care for the animals or their owner, killed an innocent animal. When Chana and Peter arrived, they were terrified and confused, but soon adjusted to their new surroundings.

The two lived happily together for several years, and then Chana began gaining an inordinate amount of weight. Chana was going to be treated for an overeating disorder, which would require that she be isolated from her son. In order to make that adjustment more reasonable, Bacchus was introduced into the group as a companion for Peter. The two animals were moved to the enclosure next to theirs, to allow Chana to still be close to Peter. This allowed careful monitoring of her food. The diet did not accomplish the goal and, after seeing several veterinarians, Chana was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease.

Cushing's Disease is basically a tumor in either the adrenal gland or the pituitary gland. Chana was taken to The Pet Imaging Center for an MRI to determine which organ the tumor was in and whether or not it was malignant. Unfortunately for Chana, the tumor was in the center of her pituitary gland and it was malignant.

The pituitary sends a chemical to the adrenals, telling them to produce more adrenaline. In turn, the adrenal gland then tells the pituitary to produce more steroids, which causes the adrenal glands to produce more adrenaline; and so, there is this vicious cycle. Had the tumor been in Chana's adrenal gland, the condition could have been corrected with surgery; but Chana’s tumor was in the pituitary gland in her brain. The location of the tumor eliminated any chance of surgery. The only alternative to surgery for Chana was to go on a human cancer drug called Lysodren. Lysodren was extremely expensive, costing $250.00 per bottle of 100 tablets. It was still unknown how many tablets would be needed each day for Chana’s treatment.

Keith Hardes, a Wolf volunteer, happens to be a pharmacist and immediately contacted a representative of Bristol-Myers Squibb, Co., the makers of Lysodren. The Drug Company agreed to supply Chana with the Lysodren she needed free of charge. We received over $1,000.00 worth of Lysodren and Chana's medical regime was started.

Chana reacted very well to the treatment, and her illness stabilized quickly. The decision was made to return her to her previous enclosure with Peter and Bacchus. She is still the alpha female of her pack, and is not experiencing any pain because of the cancer. Her main activities are bossing around her other pack mates and eating. Chana is getting on in age, but is still very chipper and willing to please the two-leggeds, as long as she gets petted. She is still overweight, but we tell her she is just very fluffy.

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