MEDICAL JOURNAL

Working closely with veterinarians and other medical specialists, we are tireless in our bid to nurse even the sickest animals back to health. Read on for some of our experiences and what we have learned.

Timber the Wolf ....with a passion to live

Most wolves are extremely shy. But Timber was exceptionally shy. Those of us who are scientifically oriented might say because we killed thousands of wolves over the centuries, only the ones so skittish that they panicked at the very sight of a leaf in the wind, survived. The more mythically inclined might say they carried the terror of the persecution of generations. But even among shy wolves, he stood out. We named him Timber because he was the lovely silver-gray of a timber wolf, and because he was so tall, magnificent and stately.  

Timber had an unusually sensitive stomach, perhaps because he took things so hard. We varied his food, each new diet working for a while, until he reached his seventh year. One morning during early rounds we found him standing in the back of his enclosure trembling, looking at us, mutely asking for help. We rushed him to the vet. He was in acute crisis, but they didn’t know why. If we wanted to save him we would have to take him to a teaching hospital.  

What do you do if an animal looks at you asking for help? There was no question. We gave him an intravenous drip, packed several bags of IV fluids to help him survive the long journey and drove through the night to Colorado State University for emergency exploratory surgery. They found that one section of his intestine had slipped inside the other, blocking food from passing. Against all odds Timber survived the surgery. He went into intensive care while the doctors ran more tests and we drove back through the second night to care for our 59 other animals. It was wrenching, leaving an ill and terrified wild animal in a strange place, to be handled by strangers, unable to explain we would be back. 

Five days later we brought him home, a weak but living wolf. The diagnosis was severe progressive Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) possibly due to an allergic reaction. They estimated his chance of recovery as poor. 

The animal I saw bore little resemblance to Timber. There was no wolf-light in his eyes. But he raised his head feebly in recognition. We carried him into the living room and gently placed him on the warm heated floor padded to ease his bony frame. He was shaved on his front and back legs, belly and side, where various tubes had been inserted. Around his middle he had a large white bandage out of which protruded a stomach tube through which we were to pump liquid food and medicine every two hours. He was on three antibiotics, intestinal motility drugs, antacids, and massive doses of prednisone. 

I made a bed for myself on the floor next to him, wanting to sense any changes, hoping that caring energy would tip the balance. He was too weak to stand, meekly letting us do whatever we needed to. With stomach feedings and time he gained a bit of strength and a little light returned to his eye. We got him off antibiotics after a month, hoping that would help with his digestion. But a few evenings later we walked into the living room and gasped….he was lying on his side, his stomach so distended it looked like it would pop. A rush to an on-call vet – a very confused vet when the x-rays kept turning out black, until she realized she was x-raying air. We spent the early morning hours watching a wolf deflate as she inserted a needle into his abdomen, pumped out the air, and the equivalent of a wolf smile appeared on Timber’s face.  

Another exploratory surgery and she found the problem – a hole in his stomach where the stomach tube had been. The next day there was wolf light in his wonderful yellow eyes. Now that he was over the crisis, we began to research how to heal him. The prognosis from all the vets he had seen were pessimistic. But he had asked to live, had fought so hard, had survived so much. We had to leave no stone unturned. 

We had been told not to allow him to touch any food he had ever been exposed to. We tried specially prepared veterinary diets: whitefish and rice, duck and potato (he turned up his nose in disgust), salmon and rice, venison and rice. The rice passed right through and the rest just kept him at starvation weight. Some days he would eat and throw up, some days he wouldn’t eat at all, and his stools were not objects of health and beauty.  

We did what we could to ease any inter-wolf stress. An animal of commanding presence and dignity, he was a natural alpha wolf, yet also had that exceptionally sensitive personality – a difficult combination to manage within oneself. He had the additional stress of feeling ill yet having to put up a good front – other wolves are not forgiving of weakness. So he lived in our cabin at nights soaking up tender loving care and spent his days in the Wildlife Garden with Scamper-Who-Lived, a female wolf, for companionship.  

We found a nutritionist who specialized in IBD in canids. With hope, we consulted at length, giving him Timber’s history. He said he had healed animals on the brink of death from IBD through diet. He believed the cause of IBD is often cooked food and recommended a purely raw diet. However there were few sources of protein Timber had not been exposed to, limiting possibilities. It had also been suggested that we keep some foods in reserve in case he became allergic to each new food over time, leaving him with nothing he could eat. We were currently keeping him alive on canned tuna and fresh organic eggs donated by our chickens.  

Following the recommendations we tried a diet of raw, finely ground organic buffalo, bone meal and vegetables. To our delight Timber fairly leapt upon the new food. He began to gain weight. 

It has been a delicate balancing act over the last 16 months, charting every few hours what we fed him, how much, how often, what temperature, what probiotics, what supplements, what the results were out of either end. He has some days of nausea and indigestion, but most days he is just fine. Often his stools are absolutely gorgeous- something that was never supposed to be possible. We e-mailed pictures to his vets. They took it well. 

We are not yet satisfied and continue to experiment with nutritional and energetic approaches. But Timber is in all important ways a healthy wolf. He has zest for life, an excellent appetite, and is once again a vibrant gorgeous animal with a properly wolfly sense of mischief. It was a long, arduous journey, and he fought for his life all along the way. He has earned every joyous moment of it

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Josie the Buffalo Goat and Polioencephalomalacia

A horrible unearthly sound was coming from the pasture area, a low-pitched groan that seemed to come from the depths of misery. We went to investigate. In the donkey shed lay Josie the Buffalo goat, all four legs pointing stiffly in front of her, her neck arched back so far the tips of her horns were digging into her back. She was paralyzed in that position. What had happened? Had she been kicked by a horse? But there was no blood or bruising. We put her stiff and moaning body in the truck and rushed off to the vet, expecting her to die on the way. She made it that far and we took her out of the truck on a stretcher. First diagnosis – definitely a neurological problem. Prognosis poor. She would probably have to be put down. Josie! The Goat who Ran the Ranch! What would the Buffalo Girls do without her? The vet efficiently put her on life support and treatment for shock and investigated further. The suggestion – before putting her down, try a vitamin B1 shot. This did not seem very useful to me – how would a vitamin shot do anything in this extreme condition and crisis? But there was nothing to lose so we tried it. Twenty minutes later Josie was beginning to stir and tried to sit up – shaky, befuddled, but definitely not paralyzed. It was like a miracle. Death sentence reversed by a vitamin. She had a goatful of a diagnosis – polioencephalomalacia. Paralysis caused by inflammation and swelling of the brain due to a thiamine deficiency. When you get down to root causes - caused by stealing horse food. Noble, our Clydesdale, was on a special high protein diet, and apparently watching him get his exclusive treat every day was too much for her. We would prepare it, soak it, bring him out of the pasture to eat in peace….and Josie had been going into the barn and stealing the fixings. She had access to any food on the entire ranch – hay, fresh greens from my garden, shoots of young trees we were trying to grow, chicken food she stole – but watching Noble look forward to his treats reduced everything else to worthless. Unfortunately high-grain diets encourage the growth of bacteria in goats which produce an enzyme that destroys the thiamine. Paralysis by greed.

She stayed at the vet overnight as they continued to watch over her, administer supportive care and vitamins, and we went home with hope. They called in the morning and told us we could pick her up. We arrived to find a still befuddled but definitely living goat. They told us she would improve, but in these cases it was hard to tell if they would ever get back to normal. We would have to monitor her closely, give her shots twice a day and see what happened. It was a several week recovery, with a lot of pampering, all of which was accepted. A special heated bed with mattress and fresh straw in the animal kitchen; treats placed at the tip of her nose; petting and cooing and compliments (she always liked those). For several days she barely ate or moved and faded to a shadow of her former plumpness. We continued bribing her with treats and giving her twice daily shots, worrying, watching every nuance of behavior. Slowly, imperceptibly, she improved until one day I looked out the office window and there was Jean, carefully walking, and behind him - a goat! Josie the Buffalo Goat, in her first triumphant outdoor walk. Each day after that she went for her daily constitutional. As the cold evening hours approached she walked purposefully towards the animal kitchen and stood in front of the door waiting to be let in to her comfortable quarters. Then one day, at the usual hour, she wasn’t there waiting. Panicked, we looked everywhere for her. We found her, standing nonchalantly with the Buffalo Girls. She was back home. It was still awhile before she regained her full panache but now she once again runs with the Buffalo Girls, butts their heads, harasses the poor old donkeys, steals everyone’s food (except the horse’s food– we locked the barn), and is back to Running the Ranch. She has fully recovered.

Josie is shown above with Mary and Miracle Chick

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NUTRITION JOURNAL
Grizzly Oil

It is now over 2.5 years (that’s 14 years in wolf years) since our wolf Timber, was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and given a terminal sentence. He is now off all medication and full of life and vitality. We accomplished this through obsessive attention to his diet. In the course of research, we came upon Grizzly salmon oiI made from wild Alaska salmon and full of Omega-3 fatty acids. We added it to his diet. Timber had been gradually improving so we couldn’t be sure how much of a contribution it was making.

But since then we had a wolf, Taku, with an autoimmune disease causing skin lesions around his face, and a third wolf, Wamaka, who was losing hair on his hindquarters, as well as lesions of unknown origin, and loss of musculature. They both seemed good candidates for the nutrition the oil would give. As a matter of fact we could see no reason not to give it to all the wolves, coyotes, foxes and bears. Except for the expense factor. We called the company, Grizzly Pet Products LLC., explained the situation, and owner Harald Fisker generously offered to donate a supply for all our animals for two months. He said he really wanted to help wild animals. We can report that all the animals loved it, whether they needed it or not. The lesions have healed on both Taku and Wamaka and Wamaka’s hair has grown back. We look forward to sharing other nutritional success stories next time.