luna – May 22, 2012 12:00 AM

Part I: I know it is frustrating to not get regular updates on Peanut's progress. We want you to know that our efforts are focused on her, but with the surgery last Wednesday, the Fire issue on Thursday and the efforts to get the outdoor U-stream camera functioning, the logs had to wait until this midnight shift. Essentially, the issues with Peanut began early on for wolf care staff. Staff and the vets had many conversations about mobility and development as compared to Bolts. We did comparative analysis on food consumption weights and abilities to every previous litter the Center has successfully raised, but really focused on Grizzer and Nyssa as our barometers. On May 11th, Peanut and Bolts were in the auditorium for some exercise and Peanut rolled off one of the carpeted risers (I have video of Shadow and Malik and Bolts exercising in this area on Youtube this week). She didn't whine or cry out, just rolled, sat up and Bolts came over to greet her. But, staff immediately noticed that she wasn't weight bearing and brought her to the Ely clinic for x-rays. This started the process of a consult to the University of Minnesota which eventually resulted in surgery to repair a fractured femur. Did the fall cause the fracture or did she have an existing issue that made her weak and cause mobility problems? We don't know. What was most troubling and discovered during surgery, was the fact that her bones were very thin, which may have made normal pup a risk for her. Our efforts now are focused on determining the cause and determining the next course of action. We have tracked everything that goes in and comes out of this pup from the day we picked her on April 13th; Urination, Defecation, ounces of formula, kibble, meat, vitamins, high energy paste, glycoflex, calcium supplements etc.

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