Lakota is doing well. There is a bit of a concern that she may have had a relapse with the ehrlichia infection. Staff noticed her a bit listless on Friday and not very interested in the deer carcass. This is very uncharacteristic for Lakota. A call to the vet suggested another course of Doxycycline antibiotics. Saturday morning's wolf check found her up, active and digging up a cache. Staff will closely monitor her condition.
Lakota's back to her usual self. It appears that the latest round of antibiotics took care of the bacterial infection. A big thank you to all who donated for her medical care. It's great to know the retired wolves are remembered. A big thanks to Susan Sweeny's Class that collected $85. Lakota loved the card… we read it to her since she would rather eat the card than read it. Other donors included: Robert Spix; Barb and Marc Farley; Paul and Chris Batiste; Phyllis Dale; Laurie Reed (mom) Reed Sattizahn (5 year old son who contributed $32 of his allowance for Lakota); Jane Hallauer; Rachel Santos; Sandra Lockwood; Gay Favor; Debra Shephard
The following was written by Pam Dolajeck, a participant in the Workin' for Wolves weekend – October 2004. As usual, Lakota greeted everyone with much enthusiasm. She seemed quite excited to see everyone. Saturday rained all day, with the Exhibit pack in the holding area while the pond rock hauling was completed. The wolves were very excited and quite vocal, including the retired pack. Lakota seemed more inquisitive than the rest. When the work was done in the retirement enclosure, Lakota greeted everyone with sniffs and licks and really didn't seem intimidated by our presence at all. She actually enjoyed the attention. On a side note, Lakota dug into the restricted area after the concrete slab was done. Jen Westland, Jim Williams and Matt Fetterer created a rock and plywood barrier that kept her out of the concrete for the night.
Lakota has been quite the digger lately. We're not sure if she's caching or just looking for something to occupy her time. She also has a fair amount of grass stains on her nose. She may be planning a subterrestrial lifestyle. She certainly has a tunnel system dug throughout the enclosure. The concrete pad laid by the Workin' for Wolves team has set up well, despite Lakota's help.
Lakota really enjoys cooler weather. She's been howling more frequently on the mornings staff come in and she's been more excited to see staff. An excess of roadkill deer this week (staff picked up a truckload from the Wildlife Science Center in near Forest Lake, MN) meant that Lakota had 2 deer to possess over the weekend. She was busy chasing ravens from her possessions.
One indication of animal health is the condition of their pelage. The retired wolves have as glossy of a coat as the main exhibit, probably due in part to the daily vitamins given to all the wolves at the Center. In this week's photo, Lakota is shown getting a coat check by wolf care member, Nancy Jo Tubbs, who also serves as Chair of the International Wolf Center Board. This is also a good opportunity for staff to look for an skin abnormalities or external parasites on the wolves. These checks are done daily by a team of approximately 7 handlers rotating checks.
On Thanksgiving morning, Wolf Care Staff Jen Westlund, Matt Fetterer and Jess Edberg came in at 8 am to do wolf care. They noticed Lakota was lethargic, a bit humped over and seemed to be suffering some discomort to the stomach area. Jen Westlund contacted the Vet, Dr. Chip Hanson and he came up for an examination. There was concern that there may have been an intestinal blockage, so she was chemically immobilized and brought to the Vet Clinic. Xrays, bloodwork and a scope of her stomach revealed no signs of a blockage, but her elevated temperature was a concern that she was fighting an infection. She was started on Intramuscular antibiotics twice a day for 7 days. Wolf care staff monitored throughout the weekend and more bloodwork will be done on Monday. She is up and moving around, but remains a bit lethargic and uninterested in food. Treatments are ongoing to deal with dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. She remains in the denbox resting most of the day, but twice daily, the curators dogs are brought on site to provide stimulus. She always gets up to see the dogs and seems to be improved after their visit.
The retired wolves are doing well with several straw beds available. While there may be concern about Lakota as the omega of the Retired Pack, she is doing extremely well and she actually spends a lot of time racing around the enclosure, play bowing to the other wolves, trying to initiate a chase.
Information Specialist, Amy Jacobs had her first visit in the wolf pen today, meeting the retired wolves. The wolves were very excited to greet her, Lakota had two or three episodes, excitably chasing around the pen, followed by shortness of breath. Staff are attempting to keep her from getting too excited, but this is Lakota's personality.
Lakota has been showing her tenacity in the retired enclosure. After a new delivery of pine bedding, she proceeded to mark MacKenzie's bed. MacKenzie hasn't slept in it since. MacKenzie's decided to sleep on the Cedar chips in front of the webcam instead.
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.