Retirement Update 19 October 2020

As you may have read in the Exhibit Logs, we retired Denali on Friday.   Denali came to us in 2008 from the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake and has been an active part of the Exhibit Pack for 12.5 years.  From what we can see from the surveillance cameras, there was some dominance over the deer carcass that resulted in Denali getting a bite on his back right leg near his Achilles tendon and his paw.  The vet was here doing an assessment on Boltz and she advised that Denali needed a treatment of antibiotics, some rest to heal his pad, since these are notoriously hard to heal if activity isn’t restricted. With colder temperatures and snow predicted for the weekend, we knew activity was only going to increase with the younger pack mates and food possession, so we decided to move him into the East Side Retirement area permanently.  Another additional circumstance related to Denali’s overall health.  In May’s medical exam the vet identified one of his five biopsies showed a potential mast cell tumor, so this is an appropriate time to begin the next stages of his medical care.  Since this was not a forced retirement, meaning the other wolves didn’t force him out, there is some bark howling behavior coming from Grayson and Axel due to the change in pack dynamics.  Denali is transitioning to the new location, but in order for him to take his antibiotics, he is restricted to smaller meals twice a day.   We would like Denali to lose a bit of weight and want to make sure he is always willing to take his medication.  This was a bit of a problem when he was in the Exhibit.  He would gorge on a deer carcass, then become finicky about his daily meds.  Today is the 4th day of his retirement and so far the plan is working.  We anticipate Boltz and Denali can share the same area, but we need to wait for results from the recent tests on Boltz before we change anything in his life.

We are reconfiguring our gate system to allow for Grizzer to resume access to the front of the Pack Holding Area. As winter advances, we definitely want him closest to the heated building.  Until then, Grizzer is very content in the back habitat and Boltz is content in the Pack Holding Area enjoying the new cover hay placed by the wolf care staff over the weekend.

   

 

16 October 2020

The tension of the last 24 hours seems to have resulted in some dominance from Grayson towards Denali that made Denali less mobile and more vulnerable to the heightened activity of the younger pack mates, especially with the first ground covering snowfall of the season.  We made the decision to retire Denali this morning.  He will be in the East Side Retired Area, Boltz will be in the Pack Holding Area and Grizzer will be in the transition area and back habitat.  We will use this weekend to get everyone situated in the new arrangement and will keep the cameras off.  At this time, we do not know compatibility for the wolves to join each other, we definitely need answers on Boltz before we add any activity to his life.  I can tell you that all 3 have good cover and will have the full focus of the wolf care on duty.  Boltz is recovering extremely well, actually better than we expected.  When he was released back into the Pack Holding Area from the Wolf Care Center, the first thing he did was find Denali’s cached beaver tail and take it to the stump (he has become a stump eater lately, he doesn’t like dirt on his food). Grizzer has his favorite Back Habitat Den and the entire transition area.

  

 

 

Boltz update 15 October 2020

Bolz did well through the procedure that started with a drugging at 3:50 and the reversal drug at 6:22 pm.  He will have 2 shave marks, the lumbar area didn’t yield clear enough fluids for a sample, so the vet needed to go  higher on the spine.  She successfully got enough samples to run all 3 tests – The Neurologic RealPCR, Fluid Analysis with Cytology, and Aerobic and Anaerobic cultures and we got enough bloodwork for a full panel, CBC and the Degenerative Myelopathy DNA test.  He got a good dose of Cefazolin antibiotic to reduce the risk of the spinal injection site getting infected.

He is remarkably healthy considering this odd neurological issue.  His heart rate during the whole procedure was between 52 and 56 and his respiration was between 12 – 16…these are the vitals of a good cardiovascular system.  He’s resting on some blankets and pillows in the Wolf Care Center, although he prefers the cooler floor.  He has a very thick winter coat already.  I will stay with him all night and will transition him outside later tomorrow.  We will not have the cameras on through the weekend as we suspect he will need some time to adjust.  If you watch the cameras closely, you may notice that the noise of the camera movement does impact the wolves, even Grizzer who is hard of hearing, will lift his head when I zoom the camera.  We want to keep Boltz calm, he’s had a rough day.

13 October 2020

The Center offered a Photography Weekend, taught by our Wolf Care Staff member, Kelly Godfrey.  During the session, we asked participants to review the Center’s Ethogram and identify behaviors that gives us an assessment of pack dynamics.  Often when we do wolf care, the staff’s presence in the enclosure can create competition for attention and doesn’t give us true sense of dynamics.  Here are the results of their observations:

Denali – Still in the Mix:

Written by Dana Pond, Christina Rizzo and Sheri Kreager

This weekend, we observed Denali very focused on pack interactions and engaging in many social encounters with Axel and Grayson.  He played with his ears pricked forward (showing no submission).  Clearly stimulated, he would rise from a resting position to join in on the play sequences.  On several occasions, we also observed Axel “Invite Chase” (a behavior where a wolf rest down on the front legs, then springs upward and away).  Denali would willingly, all be it slowly, join him in a chase up the hill.

Photo by Ron Kalin – showing the pack rally with Grayson on the left, Axel on the right with the high tail and Denali facing them, wagging his tail.

 

Written by Bill Brandon, Deb Hyde

Grayson was the most vocal among the three wolves remaining in the Exhibit Pack.  He howled quite frequently on this particular day.  However, the other wolves didn’t seem to pay attention to him. No other wolf as observed returning his vocalizations.  Grayson’s howls were short duration, but he continued to howl for an extended period of time.  Perhaps he is missing former pack member, Boltz (wolf care staff should note, that the vet was on site to assess Boltz and Grayson has a particular bark-howl warning for the vet).

 

Boltz Update 12 October 2020

Boltz has been transitioned off of steroids so we can move forward with additional testing, including a spinal tap and bloodwork to be conducted on Thursday October 15th.  We will also draw enough blood to repeat a CBC, Full Blood Panel and complete the DNA test to determine if he has the mutated gene associated with Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) in dogs.  The Veterinarians required at least a week of no steroids before the spinal tap because of the tendency for steroids causing a higher white blood cell count.  But, transitioning off of steroids needs to be done slowly over time to reduce any additional side-effects.  Boltz had a bit of a challenge during the transition, but is now seeming to rest more comfortably.  This condition continues to be challenging to diagnose because he has moments where he has limited control over his back legs, then he has moments where he is mobile.  The symptoms don’t fit a clear diagnosis to point to one thing, which is why we are choosing to do the spinal tap.  We are going to concentrate on three tests, a Neurologic RealPCR, detecting any indication of one of the tick-borne organisms could be causing the neurological disorder. Even though we have tested for tick issues in bloodwork in the past, their presence may have been below the limits of detection in bloodwork but may be identified in spinal fluid.  The second test is Fluid Analysis with Cytology, which would provide details on proteins and more importantly cell types and appearance that could help identify cancer cells.  The last test is Aerobic and Anaerobic cultures, to indicate if there are other bacterial infections.  The procedure will require a full immobilization, so I will post after the procedure on Thursday to let you know how he did, but we don’t anticipate seeing any results until early next week.

6 October 2020

Boltz is feeling better today than he did over the weekend. His hind quarter mobility and stability continues to be the main symptom as we try to narrow down the influences of various treatments. He is alert, behaviorally interactive and defending ravens from his deer leg.  Other than responding to some external stresses that can be part of life on a public exhibit (vehicles, traffic, noise from garbage trucks etc.), he generally rests on or in the den or in the straw beds adjacent to the building.   His resting patterns are pretty consistently defined as long periods of rest.  This is good for his overall well-being and may contribute to healing.  We also believe that his ability to rest comfortably is a good indication that the condition is not painful.  It’s been our experience with pain issues (including Grizzer’s ACL issue), that there is a lot of repositioning to find the appropriate pain-free position.  When Boltz rests, he curls up in the hay and falls asleep.  As you may imagine, all of the events over the last month can impact a wolf’s trust. In an effort to help improve that trust, today during wolf care, he welcomed a trail of Venison Cakes as a treat and a motivator to get him comfortable with coming into more confined spaces and take treats from the staff.  We are planning for the next set of medical tests that will require an immobilization.  This time, it will be much smoother thanks to the move into the Pack Holding Area that is adjacent to the Wolf Care Center.  Because we used Glucocorticoids (e.g., dexamethasone, methylprednisolone, prednisone) in treatment, we need to wait for a bit of time before doing the next tests.  Glucocorticoids are known to increase the white blood cell (WBC) count and this is one of the key components needed to assess infection or the potential for other conditions.  I am using the surveillance images with the date and time stamp so we can track his posture, alertness and overall condition on a daily basis.

6 October 2020

Grizzer is responding well to treatment. He is weight bearing on both back legs and was moving around the various retirement areas this morning when wolf care arrived.  He cached three of his chicken legs, so he definitely is not feeling 100% by any means, but did take his medication in a butterball/Venison cake combination.  Thanks to all of you who contribute to the Amazon Smile in-kind donations, Venison Cakes are the ticket for getting a finicky wolf to take their meds.  I turned the Back Habitat camera on today, Grizzer is sleeping in front of the den.  We always know when he isn’t feeling the best, he will lay behind vegetation in some thick cover.  Today, he is resting more in the open, definitely a sign of progress.  It’s these subtle details that we term “Situational Awareness” that are critical for any wolf care personnel.

Boltz Update 5 October 2020

What a difference a few days make, Friday, we thought the prednisone wasn’t really helping, so we had a plan to slowly wean him off.  Over the weekend, Boltz’s transition off of prednisone had some issues.  While the Wolf care team logged their assessment as “looking better than a week ago” on Saturday, the Sunday check showed more instability.  They reported some swaying, stumbling and crossing of his back feet, which is symptomatic of Degenerative Myelopathy.  But, research has shown that DM is not typically impacted by prednisone.  So if he declines off when he is weaned off of prednisone, it may not be DM.  We are developing a treatment plan that includes additional testing, but we want Boltz to be stable before doing another immobilization.  We will also take the time to research all options that we want to test so we maximize the opportunity of this next medical exam.  He remains alert, has a good appetite and is very attentive to the actions in the Exhibit Pack, the wolf yard and with Grizzer’s movements.   As with Grizzer’s webcams, I will turn them on and off throughout the day.

Grizzer 5 October 2020

On Sunday, Grizzer developed a limp in his back left leg, but we suspect the issue may have originated with his back right leg. He had an ACL tear in that knee about 3 1/2 years ago.  In looking at the surveillance video, he seemed to be fine when feeding at 8:15 a.m., but by the looks of the image captured by surveillance on Sunday at ~8:19 am, he twisted his right knee, causing him to compensate with his left leg and he’s now experiencing discomfort in both.

Older animals can have some muscle and tendon weakness that impacts how they stand and move. One slight twist and it can cause inflammation and even a pinched nerve. We started him on an anti-inflammatory and may be turning the camera on and off for the next few days. It’s not that the webcam broadcast impacts him — it’s our preference to give him some space and not portray him when he struggles with issues.

The last time he had treatment for this knee was in April of 2019, where he had a 20 days treatment before we saw full improvement.  Being a year and a half older and at a colder time of the year can add more challenges.

I will keep everyone posted.

Grizzer Update 2 October 2020

In Retirement, Grizzer continues to do well. His thick undercoat has grown back, and he enjoys the colder weather we have been getting in Ely. Grizzer tends to sleep in the Transition Area at night, and staff have added more hay to provide a comfortable, warm, area for him to rest.
Staff have also increased Grizzer’s daily feeding from 3lbs to 4lbs, to provide some extra nourishment going into Winter. He is on a rotating schedule of different meats including beef, bone dust, chicken, and his favorite-pork. Grizzer also gets either a deer leg or a small beaver carcass on Saturday nights when we feed the Exhibit Pack their deer carcass.
Written by Wolf Care Assistant – Leanne Martin