malik – Oct 12, 2004 12:00 AM

Malik's knee seems to be getting better. We called a vet care meeting last Monday to discuss the plan if his condition worsens. Working with wolves is much more complex than just the veterinary issues of repairing a knee. The social dynamics of a wolf pack dictate the course of treatment. Some facilities have seen wolves expelled from the pack for treatment as short as 4 hours. A careful plan must be made for immobilization and recovery that doesn't make Malik vulnerable. The hope is that he can continue to get better on his own. The entire exhibit pack is scheduled for an immobilization in May of next year, when the pups will be neutered and spayed. We plan to get a scope of the knee then, but if it declines earlier than that, we will implement plan B. What is plan B? Well, it will involve the immobilization of both Shadow and Malik, so they can wake up together and stay together during Malik's recovery. If the brothers stay together and have no separation issues, we don't think the pups will be as likely to single Malik out. The pups typically don't reach sexual maturity until about 18 months, so the hope is that they will respond submissively to Shadow and Malik through this time.