Luna has activity like no other wolf hon site. She is always busy with something or somebody. If she's not jaw sparring with Boltz, she's sitting on Denali or attempting to grab Aidan. If every other wolf is resting, she finds a deer hide to toss in the air, digs in the straw or chews on a bone. She's started to shed, but has a strange pattern of hair loss. She's shedding all of her neck hair first, then it seems to be progressing down her back. Her undercoat is making her appear very white, I assume she will return to a darker appearance. Her photo on the recent cover of the International Wolf Center magazine is striking.
Luna continues to challenge our staff on new and innovative ways to deliver 40 grams of nutritional supplement. At this point, the new protocol includes offering her a tray of meat varieties to see what she's willing to eat on a given day, then once she's committed to eating, the supplement is hidden in several meatballs. Patience and time are the requirement for this job. Luna continues to enjoy the larger carcass feedings on Saturday night as well as a mid-week feeding of beaver or moose heads. We have been a bit challenged in the recent heat spell, with the growth of her winter pelage, the black color phase definitely heats up faster than the other wolves. Luna took her first swim in the pond, which is good for cooler as well as muscle development. She is gaining weight, but definitely slowed down when temperatures reached the high 80's again. Luna is far more active in both feeding and interactions on cooler days.
There is no doubt that Luna has become conditioned to avoid nutritional supplements, which makes the twice daily treatments a challenge. But, we have to remember, the challenges of getting Luna to a healthy adult size in the next 3 months are critical to her having a healthy adult life for the next 14 years. Late nights and long shifts are worth it. As you can see from her weight, she has gained and we would be extremely happy if she were to continue this growth pattern. Luna continues to develop a strong predatory drive and is active with carcass feedings and pack rallies, especially led by Aidan.
Observations from the Working for Wolves participants:br> Luna and Boltz were down for a snooze after wrestling with the moose hide. They are bedded down on the straw near the building wall. Aidan checks on them and then goes to the moose hide displaying a lot of scent rolling. When Aidan starts pulling on the moose hide, Luna gets up a (little stiff) and joins Aidan and eventually Denali. The adults back off the hide and Luna wings again. Within an hour, Luna retreats to the main den, but by 1:30 am, both pups move to the straw by the eaves, and rest comfortably there until 6 am.
The text for today will all be the same for each wolf. Why? Well, for the first time in my nearly 27 years of wolf care, we are sump pumping the water in the wolf yard. The snowmelt and day of rain has left a 10 inch deep layer of water. This usually happens in April, when temperatures are near 40 and the ground is still frozen, but in April, we know it will drain in a week. It is January and the weekend forecast is for temperatures in the single digits Fahrenheit with a wind chill and more snow coming. If we let this pond freeze in the yard, we will have a serious safety issue for wolf care working on slick ice. The wolf enclosures all have good topography and other than wet from the rain, they have no issues with standing water. They’re just standing on the edge of the fence watching us pump and sweep as the roof keeps dripping. Hence, I don’t have a lot of time to write wolf logs. All wolves are doing well and the warmer temperatures have been kind to Luna.
After four weeks of twice a week Adequan injections, we see improvement in Luna's gait and mobility. We are now going to wean her down to a maintenance dose once a week and see how she progresses. We see her limp and hop on her back leg, but this is usually after she's been too active chasing with the pack or when she's slept for a long time (Sunday post feeding days are an issue). We see limited indication of pain response. Of course, wolves have a much higher tolerance for pain, but when we look for a pain response, we look for more aloof, reclusive behavior, eyes that are not bright and alert, a wolf not interested in feeding or competing with the rest of the pack… Instead, we film Luna, who does guard her food, but she also dangles from Denali's neck, chases Boltz through the den, watches (and remembers) every food cache in the Exhibit and tosses every hide that she can find. On occasion, she steals the gloves of staff and runs the Exhibit trying to elude staff. This is not what we expect from a pup who's feeling any discomfort.
During this cold spell, our biggest concern is Luna and how the metal plate is affected by cold temperatures. She is very active, running, jumping, wrestling and scent rolling, and seems to be most affected by long periods of rest. The Vet Care team will continue to discuss the long-term management of her situation and the wolf care staff will continue to watch for any signs of discomfort. At this point, she is doing better than we could have hoped and we know, as the days get longer, the sun angle delivers more heat from the sun every day. January is our most challenging month and it's already the 20th.
In the past week, we have had at least 3 nights with the temperatures lower than -20 Fahrenheit. One of those nights included a -34 below day. We are concerned about the metal plate in Luna's leg, but other than showing a frosty face, she was running, jumping and active like any other day. We have maximized the straw available on these cold nights and all wolves have ample insulation for bedding. It does appear that most of the pack sleeps together in the den at night resulting in extra body heat. She continues to show limited issues.
The logs will be the same this week. We had snow on Monday that required a lot of effort to gain access to all the gates, water containers and dens. Thanks to Danielle and Linda for helping in that Monday morning check. We also had to redistribute straw beds for all the enclosures, a task that can only be appreciated during the spring Working for Wolves program when we have to remove all that straw. We are very pleased that Shadow and Malik are back to their usual invite chase behaviors and both have fully recovered from the gastrointestinal virus that occurred a few weeks ago. Grizzer is more social than ever and staff continue to have relaxing checks on a daily basis. Most of the extreme sub-zero weather is behind us and even if we do have a cold night, the days warm up quickly. Rank order traits are starting to emerge in the Exhibit Pack with Luna showing Denali that she will jaw spar despite his over-towering height advantage. Fortunately for Luna, Aidan watches from and pins Denali if things get a little intense. Spring fever starts kicking in for staff and wolves alike as the warm days of March seem to stimulate some strong social behavior (at least for the wolves).
We got some great news from the University of Minnesota nutritionist who has been working on Luna's case since May. She thought the x-rays looked fantastic with bone density much improved. Luna was spayed on Wednesday the 18th and is currently in a 5-day activity restriction, but with the heat going on right now, we're all in an activity restriction. We do not have a definitive plan for Luna yet, we plan to neuter Boltz next Tuesday, take some x-rays while he is sedated to get the best view possible, then compare her x-rays to his. This will tell us comparatively, the status of her bone density and will help the risk assessment process when determining if Luna can join the Exhibit Pack. We have consulted with other facilities, even one who had a bone density issue on a pup who joined the pack, and in their experience, the adults are very tolerant of pups and didn't have any issues. With our wooded and rocky habitat, her bone density assessment is more related to the risk of a fragile bone structure that may be vulnerable to fractures in uneven terrain rather than social activity with Boltz or the adults. I will post a brief explanation of the introduction plan in next week's logs after next Tuesday's set of x-rays on Boltz.<br> Luna's weights since last week's logs:<br> Date Days Old Weight in LBS.<br> <li>7/14/2012 112 32.1<li> 7/15/2012 113 32.18<li> 7/16/2012 114 33.07<li> 7/17/2012 115 33.07<li> 7/18/2012 116 33.95<li> 7/19/2012 117 34.39<li> 7/20/2012 118 33.06 The lower weight on the 20th may be in response to the spay.
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