Preparing To Intubate
Preparing For Surgery
Operating
Weighing After Surgery
Returning Hammer
To His Enclosure
Monitoring During Recovery
Rechecking Atlantis
In The Dark
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As we have mentioned in previous updates, we have been trying to balance the timing on sterilizing the animals against making sure that their health and strength would give them the best chance to come through the surgeries without complications. The decision was made to postpone the spays on the females indefinitely and the date was scheduled for September 4th (Labor Day) for the neuters on the males. This would be a MASH-type situation, where temporary tents would be set up as operating rooms at the Wide Awake site.
Unfortunately the timing was not working for some of the vets and vet techs who had originally indicated they would help with this process. Indeed all but our primary vet were unable to attend. Luckily one of our volunteers was able to get a very accomplished vet tech to sign on for the event. This vet tech (Cherylin) would assist our vet (Priscilla Dressen) with the surgeries and one of our volunteers who is an MD (Christina) would help with monitoring and blood collection for testing. There would be a catch-up team to secure the animals, one-at-a-time, and bring them to the surgical tent. The team would consist of 3 to 4 people, with blankets, who would corner the animal and throw a blanket over their heads to contain them. There would be a post-op team to monitor the animal, get a weight and then return him to his enclosure with the help of the catch-up team. Although we were not totally sure we would be able to get 7 neuters done in one day, we proceeded with the plans. We felt it was necessary to get this done soon, as winter comes pretty early in Colorado at 10,000 feet above sea level. Teams were organized, materials were collected and packed into vehicles and everything was set.
The day arrived and individuals from around Northern Colorado were getting out of bed before sunrise and heading toward Wide Awake. Most of these individuals were anything but —wide awake. Most had a 2-hour plus trip in front of them and mass quantities of coffee were being consumed. By 9 am folks were starting to arrive. By 9:30 am tents were being put up, the operating table assembled, make-shift equipment counters moved into place, temporary electric service from car batteries checked out and recovery areas established. But where was our vet? By 10:30 am we were getting worried.
Phone calls were being made to figure out what was going on. This was not a simple task either as at 10,000 feet, in the middle of the forest, it wasn’t very easy to get a cell phone to work. It was finally determined that our vet had not been very wide awake either when she was leaving Fort Collins and forgot to pick up the oxygen for anesthesia machine. It became necessary to alter the plans to accommodate this unexpected turn. Every one at Wide Awake was now looking for a comfortable place to take a nap. By noon it was decided to eat an early lunch, so we would not have to take a break later.
The vet finally arrived with the oxygen and things began to move more quickly. The finishing touches were put on the operating area and it was time to get the first animal. Hammer was first. The catch-up team was great. They kept him immobile while the vet administered a fast-acting tranquilizer and then off to the surgical tent. He was intibated, isoflourine gas administered and the surgical prep began. Approximately an hour later he was being weighed and returned to his enclosure. Everything had gone exceptionally well. His weight showed that he had gained 15 lbs since arriving at Wide Awake, just 3 months earlier. This was outstanding news. The same process was repeated for Webster and again it went like clockwork -- maybe we would be able to get all the males neutered in one day. Likewise he had also gained 15 lbs -- everyone was ecstatic.
The next individual was Lance. He was caught up without a problem, tranquilized and brought into the operating tent. Something was not right though and our vet quickly began checking him more thoroughly. He was running a low-grade temp and had not put on weight like the other two. There was a decision made to only take his blood for testing, give him a strong dose of antibiotics and get him back to his enclosure fast. Until we could identify what was wrong it did not make sense to do anything else. These things were done quickly and he was returned to his enclosure. An individual stayed to monitor his recovery.
The catch-up team moved on to Jack. This time it did not go as planned. A mistake was made and one of the team received a fairly significant bite on the thumb. Although Jack was contained, tranquilized and on his way to the operating area, we were sending the individual who received the bite to the hospital for treatment. The rest of Jack’s procedures went great and he had also gained 15 lbs. Although this was outstanding, everyone was very concerned for the individual heading for the emergency room.
A short break was taken while everyone regained their composure, visited the restroom and ate something. It was starting to get late. There would probably only be time to do one more surgery.
Atlantis was the next one on the list and he was caught up without a problem. He was tranquilized, moved to the operating area and his surgery went without a hitch. He was returned to his enclosure and monitored during his recovery. The sun was less than an hour from setting and everyone began breaking down the MASH unit.
Just as everything had been put away it became apparent there was a problem with Atlantis. He had some blood dripping down his legs. The vet went to examine him and made the decision that it would be prudent to get him back on the operating table and check things out. Most likely it was only some seepage from him jumping up too quickly after recovery. It would be better to check it now, as Wide Awake was not close to any animal hospitals if the problem persisted.
Everyone jumped back into setting up the operating table and digging out spot lights as it was now getting very dark. Atlantis was contained again and given more tranquilizer. He was moved back to the operating area and the spot lights focused. Investigating the surgical site was slow and tedious, and as expected, nothing seemed to be wrong. After confirming there were no bleeders, he was stitched back up. The decision was made to keep him kenneled over night and in the home of the Wide Awake caretaker who could monitor him through the night.
As Atlantis was being kenneled, our bite victim was returning from the hospital. Although in pain, he would be fine. Atlantis was moved for monitoring and the MASH site was again dismantled. It was now close to 8:30 pm and everyone was exhausted. Although not as successful as we had wished and not without incident, the day had achieved a good percentage of our goal.
All of the animals operated on are currently doing very well. There have been no side affects for any of them. The blood work that has come back shows no significant issues for Lance. We are hopeful that with his course of antibiotics and much closer attention to his eating habits, his situation will improve quickly. Jack’s blood work shows that he is mildly diabetic and his food regimen has been altered to accommodate the problem. The blood tests on the other animals all shows that their general health is much improved over the baselines taken when they were checked in June.
We will keep you informed on our next neutering exercise and how all of the animals are progressing.
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Mucqua
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We were blessed to have an ophthalmologist (Tanja Nuhsbaum, DVM, MS) volunteer her assistance with Mucqua. The first step was to do a thorough exam on him and determine whether he was even a candidate for cataract surgery.
On Wednesday, September 6th Mucqua was caught up at the Sanctuary without any problems, given a tranquilizer for the trip to Boulder and loaded up in the Wolf vehicle. He traveled very well and his exam lasted all of 10 minutes. It was very obvious that the damage to his eyes was severe and that he was not a candidate for cataract surgery. The technical term was Diffused Retinal Wasting. Our understanding of what that means is that the retina in both of his eyes is disintegrating and therefore he has no vision whatsoever. Even if his cataracts were removed, he would still be completely blind.
We are making plans on getting him integrated with Gead. There is some belief that providing a blind animal with a companion helps to ease the stress from being sightless. It would seem that one will help the other in ways that humans cannot discern.
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