...WideAwake - The Saga Continues

Happy Is Found & Gets A Name Change

Although we did report to you in the last newsletter that Happy had been found and was indeed on her way to Wolf, we did not have the final pieces of that transport when the newsletter went to the printer. What follows is the remainder of that episode.

J.J. (her new name) was transported to Colorado on Saturday, June 24th in an air conditioned vehicle and with frequent stops for water. She received a thorough exam, vaccinations from our vet, Priscilla Dressen and then transported to her family at Wide Awake. She was put in an enclosure between her mother, Kasota, and Atlantis. Her blood tests indicated that she also is suffering from Heart Worm, malnutrition, dehydration and extreme stress.

According to those who knew her, she was born on April 11, 2004. In her short life she has experienced way too many tragedies and inhumane acts by humans. Unfortunately, where she was confiscated from, there are approximately another half dozen animals contained in the same fashion she was. This is utterly ridiculous and hard for compassionate humans to fathom. This is NOT HUMANE!

THE PATH TO RECOVERY
(email update sent - 17 Aug 06)

All of the animals rescued from Wisconsin are progressing slowly. We have been feeding them meat twice a day. They have also been receiving supplements, vitamins and probiotics to help them on their path to recovery. Many of them are still very afraid of humans, but we believe are starting to realize that no one is going to hurt them. Physically they are gaining weight and appear to be much stronger. Many of them still get very stressed whenever humans get close to their enclosures.

We started their heart worm treatment over a month ago, by starting them on doxycycline. This antibiotic attacks other microorganisms, which can become part of the problem once the heartworm medication was started. Their first dosage of heart worm medication was given last week (11-Aug-06). Although the protocol will be long, we are confident that it will give them all the best chance at survival and long term health.

We postponed the spays and neuters on these animals, in order to allow them to gain more strength and be healthier for those surgeries. We have decided to proceed with the neuters on the males and will be scheduling those for the next week or two.

Our sincere thanks go out to all of those individuals who have helped with the expenses involved in this rescue. We also must acknowledge, Jeff Figgs, whose untiring dedication to these animals has been outstanding. He has taken up residency in an Airstream at the Wide Awake site, in order to care for their every need. Our jobs would have been significantly more difficult without his commitment.

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Searching For A Permanent Site

As mentioned in previous emails, we must find a permanent location to move these animals. Even though our original plan was to get them healthy and then place them at other sanctuaries, it became quite evident that with their critical health issues that this was not going to be possible. It will take us two to three years to return all of them to appropriate health levels. At that point it would be even more traumatic to separate them from their pack. We must locate them to a new facility because of number restric­tions put on us by our county. Therefore it is imperative that we find new property as soon as possible and begin construction of new enclosures.

If anyone has any ideas that might work for this, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Frank at 970-416-9531 or fwendland@wolfsanctuary.net

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The Neuters Have Begun
(email update sent - 16 Sep 06)

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 the 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 intubated, 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 individual was returning. 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 base-lines taken when they were checked in June.

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