News, Summer 2008, page 4

Volunteer of the Quarter - Michael Hogan

Centerfold - Sigmund

Vet Days -- Exams, Vaccinations, etc.

August 26-28 were scheduled to be intense days at Wolf, as we completed our general exams, vaccinations, and a few spays. Three vets, multiple techs and many volunteers helped in this marathon ordeal. Thank you to all who worked so hard to get it all done!

On Tuesday the 26th, Arkte was up first, due for her vaccines and spay. She had to be darted, which went great, until she woke up when we tried to pick her up, and ran to the top of the mountain. Fortunately, she then went back to sleep, but carrying her down the mountainside was challenging! Her spay went as well as can be expected on an older female, and she was back in her enclosure a couple hours later, wondering what had just occurred. The next day, she was back to normal.

Next on the list were the three New Mex Pups, Makoce, Tate and Peta. They were lured into their smaller catch-up area, but their darting did not go as well. They were very scared and difficult to dart. We felt terrible for putting them through this with how afraid they are of humans, but it is imperative to keep the animals healthy. After many tries, we were successful in getting Makoce and Tate down. Peta was hit with a dart, but did not go down. He was let back into the main enclosure while the other 2 were worked on. Before the 2 exams were done, Peta indeed went to sleep at the very top of his enclosure. Everyone again hiked up to work on him. The moment the exam was done, he awoke and took off running. A volunteer spent the next half hour following him around the mountain waiting for him to go to sleep again, in order to reverse the drugs. All three are extremely healthy animals, and have fortunately forgiven us for what we put them through.

Wednesday started with catching up Pride for her spay. This was also not an enjoyable experience. She was locked in the containment area, but moving too fast for us to dart her. We had to force her into a corner and jump on top of her. Thankfully, her spay went very well, and it even appears she is younger than we originally thought! Pride recovered very quickly from her spay, as she was fence fighting with Sigmund the next day. Unfortunately, she hasn’t totally forgiven the humans, but is starting to come back up for goodies.

Menemith and Webster were up next, her for an exam and spay, and Webster for an exam and vaccinations. Their catch up went beautifully, and we brought Menemith in for surgery. Things did not go well, and she did not recover (See In Memory of Menemith). Webster recovered fine, but is still in the process of grieving Menemith’s loss. We canceled day three because of this, which will be rescheduled eventually.

Although the loss of Menemith is devastating, we are happy with everything else that was accomplished, especially since everyone else is in good health.

In Memory of Indigo

On June 23, merely 2 days after the Waltz, our vet came up to perform a tooth extraction on Merlin, who had an infection. Chores were done quickly in the morning, and all of the animals seemed fine. At 5 pm, one of our excellent volunteers, Coley, who flew in from NJ to help at the Waltz and see the animals, went out to do night meds a little early. She found the 5 gallon water bucket in Indigo, Sky and Nuggets habitat nearly empty. Something was seriously amiss here; the bucket was filled to the brim only hours before!

Staff immediately rushed to find which animal was ill, as that kind of water consumption can only mean serious illness. They found Indigo lethargic and obviously under the weather. Plans were quickly made to take Indigo to the CSU Vet Hospital, as this was not his first illness in recent years. From the moment of arrival at CSU, things went horribly wrong. Staff had to fight with the doctors to perform the necessary tests and administer antibiotics. Things were moving so slow that Indigo awoke from the sedatives and had to be held down. All the vets and techs ran from the room, afraid apparently of an ill, muzzled and half-drugged animal in dire need of help.

Things deteriorated even further during x-rays, which took over 3 hours. We left CSU at 3 am, 7 hours after arriving with no answers or treatment. There were tests taken hoever, which we would have to wait on. Indigo came home, and showed no improvement. He was knocked down twice more that week for antibiotics and fluids, before we were finally able to get him eating on 31 Jun.

We still had no test results and no one at CSU seemed to know anything about them. After raising hell, test results were found showing severe pancreatitis, which may be leading to diabetes. As there is no way to give Indigo insulin shots, we changed his diet drastically, started him on supportive supplements and hoped for the best.

The problems with CSU prompted a meeting with the Vet Hospital Director. Although very friendly and concerned, he indicated that they were considering a new policy on whether or not to see wolves or wolf-dogs on an emergency basis. Not having heard anything from them since that meeting, we have moved on. Gratefully, we have found a new emergency hospital called VCA Veterinary Specialists that is happy to treat the animals, and has been very good to us.

Indigo improved steadily before crashing again on 20 Jul. This began round two of knocking him down for meds and fluids. We still could not get a firm diagnosis of what was causing the pancreatitis, but managed to pull him through. Indigo continued to do reasonably well for the next few weeks. Eventually he decided cooked chicken was not good enough for a wolf, and began stealing food from his pack mates. Then he would only eat canned dog food, then nothing at all. We finally decided to knock him down again on August 20th, and take him to VCA for an ultrasound of his pancreas, and a biopsy. Blood and urine tests were performed first, and the results were painful. Indigo had indeed developed full blown diabetes, and was actually going into a diabetic crisis. Treatment would require intense hospitalization followed by daily insulin treatment for life. We could not ask an unsocial animal to withstand this. The tough decision to euthanize him was made.

Indigo came to Wolf in June of 2002 from a rescue in Florida at only 1 year of age. He was actually born in Indiana, but was confiscated by the USFWS after left free-ranging on federal land. He came as a companion for Spirit, who was grieving horribly for the loss of his mate, Cheyenne. Indigo saved Spirit's life. Indigo was always very shy of humans, but allowed a lucky few to gently scratch his nose. Indigo taught Wolf the value of zip ties after he tried to dismantle his kennel on the 30+ hour trip from FL. When intrigued or nervous, he would rotate his head from side to side. Indigo was only 7 years old. His loss hit us very hard, and his quirky personality will be deeply missed.

In Memory of Menemith

Menemith was rescued in June 2006, part of the WideAwake Pack. After breaking her leg in deep snow in October 2006, she underwent major surgery and was moved to the main facility. We built a one-of-a-kind heated doghouse for her, as they shaved all the fur from her leg and shoulder during a very cold winter. Soon after, we moved her companion, Webster, to Wolf as well, and they became permanent residents.

Menemith was extremely afraid of people due to the abuse she received from her former “owner”. But she thrived in their mountain side habitat, and became very curious of the goofy human activities, such as poop scooping. She made significant improvements in her time here, maturing into a very beautiful wolf. Her favorite spot in the enclosure was under a large rock with a great view of the entire Sanctuary. Although she never learned to trust humans, we are sure she found peace at Wolf .

During our recent vet procedures, we decided Menemith was finally healthy enough to be spayed. Spaying not only prevents unintended pregnancies, but also reduces the risk of dangerous health conditions. She was caught up, examined, and taken into a mobile clinic. Her surgery was complicated from the beginning. Menemith appeared to have a mammary tumor, which had to be removed before surgery. She bled very heavily during the procedure and took longer than anticipated. It appears she was much older than we believed, and may have been in the beginning stages of a heat cycle.

We could not get Menemith to wake up from the anesthesia, in spite of repeated stimulation. The decision was made to keep her in a kennel in one of our outbuildings for the night, so she could be constantly monitored for signs of bleeding or other issues. She began having bloody diarrhea soon after. Staff and the vet stayed with her for a few hours, but everyone needed to get home to rest and prepare for more surgeries the next day. One staff member stayed with Menemith.

The bloody diarrhea continued, but she remained stable. She was supposed to be checked once an hour, but her loyal human did not leave her side. At 1:30 am, she began blinking and applying teeth pressure when a hand was in her mouth to check her gums. Great news, she must be starting to wake up! Her caregiver turned off the lights and lay down next to the kennel, hoping to not scare her when she awoke. At 2:20 am, Menemith’s breathing changed and she let out a few whines. Her human jumped up to see what was wrong. Her breathing became increasingly rapid, and then stopped altogether. Staff started stimulating her to breathe, which she did twice more, her final breaths. Menemith had lost her battle.

After giving Webster time with her body in the morning, we took Menemith in for a necropsy. The results determined there was no surgical error and indeed all of her blood tests were good, but a rare and not well understood condition had occurred, HGE. This stands for hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, which in English means massive spontaneous bleeding into the GI tract. There is nothing you can do for the animal when this occurs. They believe it may be caused by a type of virus, bacteria, stress, or underlying health issues, but no one is sure. Regardless, we are taking Menemith’s loss very hard. All other surgeries have been cancelled. We pray that Menemith is happy and free on the other side.

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