Retired Pack Update 11 December 2020

We have seen an increase in social behavior between Grizzer and Denali.  Originally, when Denali was first retired, the bite wound on his paw caused him some discomfort and he wasn’t in much of a mood to interact. As he physically started to heal, we started to see a transformation in his behavior as well.  At first, we saw more interest in feeding with Grizzer, then we found them resting near each other.  One afternoon, we saw Denali approach Grizzer, getting him up for an enclosure walk.  In the last few weeks, there is far more than walking.  They have been play bowing, pouncing, running and tail wagging(their latest video is on our recent youtube).  It is great to see Denali back to this social behavior and good to see Grizzer keeping his mobility at 16.5 years old.  In honor of this activity, I am sharing an image of their past social interaction.  They have been pouncing, running and tail wagging for years and while we don’t know how much time they have, we know that each day will be filled with social behavior.

 

Grizzer and Denali as former Exhibit Packmates

Exhibit Pack Update – 11 December 2020

This week’s image was captured by Michelle Wagner from the Center’s Exhibit Webcam.  While we had snow early in the season, the recent dry spell has left ground frozen with no insulating value in the snow.  To make our wolves comfortable, we provide a layer of straw that insulates from the cold and the darker color absorbs the winter sun.  Axel is on the right and Grayson is on the left in this photo.  Recently, we fed a deer hide as an enrichment for the wolves and Grayson spend a fair amount of time plucking the hair from the hide and layered his straw bed with deer hair.  It certainly added an additional layer of comfort to the bed.

Retired Pack Update – 4 December 2020

We started feeding the retirees a deer leg on the weekends in addition to their regular diet.  This extra food supply has some additional behavioral benefits such as caching, defending food, carrying their possession and overall fulfilling the need of a carnivore.  But, as a special addition to these behaviors, the added food stimuli seemed to increase the social interactions between Grizzer and Denali bringing a hop back to their aging steps.  This is particularly rewarding to watch on Grizzer who has been struggling with some aging tendons in the last few weeks.  There is some truth to the advice that keeping active can improve mobility.  To see these two in action, check out this week’s Youtube posted at www.wolf.org

Pack Update – 4 December 2020

In conjunction with our webcam partners – Explore.org, I have started a new focus for our wolf logs.  Each week, I will be selecting an image from the Explore.org gallery that provides a glimpse into the lives of the Axel and Grayson in the Exhibit Pack.   This week’s photo caught my attention with Grayson on the left displaying a “T-1 Tail” indicating some heighted arousal while Axel displays a “Play-Bow”, going down on his front legs to spring up to engage or run the other way stimulating a behavior we call “Invite Chase”.  I also see that Axel’s tail is over his back as well indicating that he’s feeling pretty confident as well.  We certainly have witnessed Grayson gaining a bit more confidence since Denali was retired.  Anyone who watched the webcams or visited the Center during the “What’s for Dinner” program witnessed Denali charging Grayson off the carcass, giving Axel preferential treatment.  Without much effort, Axel was dominant over Grayson.  Now that it’s just the two of them, Axel is working on asserting himself with more frequency and more effort.   Behaviors such as this week’s photo are to be expected as each wolf tries to find their place without the influence of other pack members.  Other behaviors may include a Chin Rest – T- Block, Following, Chasing, Ride-Up and Avert Gaze.  All of these behaviors can be found in our Ethogram list of behaviors.  As the winter advances, we expect activity to increase and with the anticipated addition of pups next summer, we expect the posturing for leadership will settle into a more defined structure.

Preliminary diagnostic report on Boltz – 25 November 2020

There were no significant findings on the nerve/muscle biopsy that was sent to the University of California- San Diego.  The brain and spine showed no lesions that would have caused the neurological condition. This confirms the information that we gained by doing the MRI and spinal tap, which in itself is a significant component of this case as Boltz was the first wolf in our history that had both procedures.  The pathologist final report is yet to arrive.   I would say we had the best diagnostic team possible, but if I go back to the original discussion about Degenerative Myelopathy, the idea was, that if we ruled everything else out, that’s the likely cause.  The DNA test that we ran on Boltz showed the lack of the mutated gene for DM.  What I didn’t know (and now I do), is that the lack of the mutated gene wasn’t a diagnosis for DM but was indicative of a an animal being a carrier, not whether an animal had DM.  Our loss of Boltz is still fresh in our hearts.  The passing of each wolf is hard, but the lack of knowledge on the cause makes this particularly hard for staff.

Today, we take the time to remember Boltz, his legacy of knowledge and medical diagnosis that was a first for any of our wolves.  We also take today to honor Luna, who lost her battle to cancer on November 26, 2019.

RIP to these two, it was an honor to be one of your many social companions.

Pack Update 17 November 2020

In an effort to give Denali and Grizzer some additional enrichment, we chose to feed them 2 deer legs on Saturday night.  We knew that Denali might be more food possessive, but with he and Grizzer both getting a daily meal of between 3 – 4 pounds of meat, we thought the added food could be enjoyed by both.   While Denali managed to gather both deer legs on the initial delivery, Grizzer was able to eat some of the meat and proved that he is still capable of guarding food (check out our latest youtube to see him in action).  This was great stimuli for Grizzer and a good distraction for Denali who is still not quite settled into retirement.  We have noticed that Denali is standing on top of the dens trying to see over the fences into the Exhibit.  We decided to open the gate in the pack holding area to allow the retirees a full view of the Exhibit Pack.  Of course, we reinforced the shared gate with 1/4 plate steel and additional fence panels to avoid any chance that a gate would be compromised.  Grizzer likes the ability to see the arctics, but Denali is still a bit intimidated.  Grayson has been at the fence with a high tail posture definitely indicating that his rank has increased since Denali’s retirement.

Pack Update 17 November 2020

With Axel and Grayson being the only members of the Exhibit, we find Grayson’s dominance increasing.  For most of Grayson’s life, he has been lower ranking than his brother Axel, mainly due to Denali’s influence of controlling food resources.  Denali would allow Axel to feed without any issues, but would guard and drive Grayson away from food.  With Denali’s retirement, Axel and Grayson are exhibiting a lot of testing behaviors. According to the Center’s educators who get a front window view of the brothers on a daily basis, they recently observed two behaviors that demonstrate this testing process:
“Grayson went in for the world record of longest chin rests on Axel. Of course Axel responded to this with a drawn out ride up on Grayson. “
The peak activity seems to be during the morning wolf care sessions from approximately 8 am – 10 am and again during the last few hours of daylight from approximately 3 pm to 5 pm.  Viewers of our webcam may hear Grayson as he tends to display lone howls that switch between a low throated howl to communicate and a bark howl to identify a potential threat to the Exhibit.

Boltz Update – 12 November 2020

As you may have read in the Center’s press release, we euthanized Boltz at approximately 7 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2020. His condition really declined in the last week, not only physically, but behaviorally.

 

While the lack of mobility and swaying of his back legs didn’t seem to elicit a pain response, he began to fall more frequently, began dragging his feet and he started to struggle to get up.  Initially, his mobility would noticeably decline when stress would seem to exacerbate the condition.  So we modified the wolf yard access, cancelled programs and did whatever possible to keep him calm. Surveillance video was reviewed each morning to assess how long he rested and his posture upon rising in the morning.

 

In the last few days, we saw a decline in mobility that was independent with any external activity in the wolf yard that may trigger stress.  Our biggest concern was that he would seriously injure himself falling as the colder weather and snow on Tuesday created icy conditions.  The other concern that is equally important as the physical was the psychological.  This condition seemed to cause confusion and panic when he didn’t have the strength to support himself.  His struggles were heartbreaking and we were helpless to find him any relief.

 

Boltz deserved better than to struggle and panic through this decline.


Since this condition was first identified on Aug. 23, he had a Thoraco-lumbar and brain MRI, CerebroSpinal Fluid cytology, CerebroSpinal Fluid infectious disease assessment, protein tests, cancer cell tests, and a genetic screen for Degenerative Myelopathy and all were inconclusive. We assessed and used possible treatments in the absence of a diagnosis in hopes that we would see some response or improvement.  Despite our Veterinarians dedicated efforts, we had no improvement.  When the decision was made to go forward with the USDA Animal Welfare Act Euthanasia protocol, we consulted with the University of Minnesota pathologist to discuss all sampling that could be performed at the necropsy and made sure we did everything possible to find an answer.  We also sent nerve and muscle biopsies to a specialist at the University of California San Diego Neuromuscular Lab.  Their reputation has been described as: “…an international reference center dedicated to the diagnosis and study of spontaneous neuromuscular diseases in companion animals. Specialized testing performed in this laboratory includes evaluation of muscle and peripheral nerve biopsies by state-of-the-art methods, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence staining and immunoblotting for the diagnosis of various muscular dystrophies and other congenital myopathies.”

 

As is standard protocol for any wolf mortality at the International Wolf Center, we did allow all the remaining ambassador wolves to see and smell the body through the fence.  This has been a practice recommended by our Veterinarian years ago to help the other wolves process the loss of a pack member.  All the wolves showed interest, but Grayson had the strongest whining and licking response, and had a significant amount of bark howling throughout the day.  Staff spent time with Grayson to help calm him and also transitioned Grizzer and Denali into the Pack Holding Area where Boltz had been residing. Boltz’s body will be cremated at Pets Remembered in the Twin Cities and his ashes will be spread with his pup mate Luna’s, who succumbed to cancer on Nov. 26, 2019.

 

I am grateful to all of the people who emailed me with comments, suggestions and their own pet’s medical histories.  I wish we had more time to try every procedure, but without any diagnosis, we couldn’t let him suffer without any treatment nor continue with invasive procedures that had limited outcome.  We hope to learn of his condition through the final necropsy and tissue samples provided.  Boltz’s legacy will be to help us learn all that we can about his condition and serve the ambassador wolves to the best of our ability for generations to come.

 

– Lori Schmidt

10 November 2020

Despite an extensive amount of diagnostic testing, research and treatments, Boltz continues to decline from his neurological condition.  On his Monday morning vet check, the wolf care staff discussed quality of life issues and efforts are being made to keep him comfortable and calm as the next steps of the USDA Animal Welfare act protocol are addressed.

Boltz Update 6 November 2020

Boltz completes his treatment for Myasthenia Gravis on Sunday.  Unfortunately, there were no improvements seen in a week of treatment.  We are preparing the USDA quality of life assessment that includes a behavioral assessment of alertness, pain response, social engagement, willingness to take food, tolerance of ambient temperatures, lack of tolerance for environmental changes and climatic stresses, ability to rest and impact of medical condition to behavioral stress.  To accomplish this, we rely on our surveillance cameras, monitoring when he goes into the den at night, when he first rises in the morning and if there are instances where he rises during the night.  At this time, all video shows Boltz getting a good night’s rest, often entering the den by 10 pm and not rising until after 6 am.  Rest is certainly a beneficial component for his situation.  Weather today is causing a challenge for all the wolves.  The temperatures are expected to be record breaking in the high 70’s.  This is causing Boltz and even Denali a bit more agitated with the heat.