Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
One of the unfortunate aftereffects of the anesthetic drugs Burrito received for his exam last Friday is that his stomach has been a little upset. For a guy who normally loves food above all else, this is the ultimate cruelty.
Luckily for Burrito, and for all of us who love to watch him love his food, his nausea seems to have all but disappeared. Here he is enjoying his lunch this afternoon. Turn your volume up and listen for his periodic low moans of contentment.
Recently, Burrito fractured a canine tooth. We don’t know how it happened exactly – in fact, we only became aware of the injury when we noticed it pointing straight out of his mouth, perpendicular to his other teeth. As with other significant injuries, we began by administering oral antibiotics and pain relievers and arranged for our local veterinarian, Dr. Zamzow, to come take a look. Dr. Zamzow then consulted with Dr. Mensching, also a veterinarian and a member of our board of directors, and Dr. Bezner from Save the Chimps, to come up with a plan to deal with Mr. B’s broken tooth.
If you don’t know this already, I should point out that chimpanzees are remarkably tough. Believe it or not, Burrito never missed a meal, and didn’t even seem to favor that side of his mouth when chewing. It’s really hard to appreciate how stoic chimps can be until you witness it yourself.
Despite his own lack of concern about the injury, a broken tooth can present serious risks for more severe pain and infection down the road, particularly the canines which are large and deeply rooted, so we decided that it would have to be repaired or extracted by a veterinary dentist. But as you may know, Burrito is already being treated for symptoms of heart disease, and that makes decisions about medical interventions a bit more complicated due to the risks of anesthesia. But when an intervention is required, for whatever reason, it presents an opportunity to learn more about his overall health, so we gathered an amazing group of people to help with Burrito’s treatment. And it was all made possible because you helped us build an onsite veterinary clinic.
Before we can make any decisions about how the treat the tooth, we need x-rays. Yesterday, two vet techs from Valley Veterinary Hospital in Ellensburg came to the sanctuary with digital radiography equipment to get pictures of his teeth and jaw. These x-rays will be shared with a board certified veterinary dentist, who has agreed to come to our clinic to treat Burrito, whatever that treatment may be. And because of our concerns about Burrito’s heart, we were grateful to have the assistance of a huge team of veterinary cardiologists, anesthesiologists, residents, and vet students from the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, all led by Cardiologist Dr. Lynn Nelson.
After receiving anesthetic injections inside the chimp house, Burrito was wheeled to the mobile clinic where he was intubated and placed onto gas anesthesia for the procedures. The anesthesiologists were able to ensure his safety by monitoring his airway gases and reading his vitals using ECG, blood pressure, temperature, and pulse ox equipment. Dr. Zamzow drew blood for CBC and chem profiles and obtained an urine sample.
With such a huge group of people, teams worked in shifts as much as possible.
But the clinic turned out to fit more people than we had expected. Technicians obtained dental x-rays while the cardiology team began the echocardiogram.
This imaging of Burrito’s heart will help us evaluate his initial diagnosis and may potentially provide avenues for better treatment. It will also help us determine how well he might handle the anesthesia required for a longer dental procedure. We will share the information we obtain with the Great Ape Heart Project to help improve the lives of other captive chimpanzees.
When the tests were complete, Burrito was placed back inside into one of the front rooms to recover from the anesthesia. The girls had to wait outside in the greenhouse until he was ready to deal with all of their excitement.
After a few hours of rest, he was ready for visitors on the other side of the caging. Jody and Foxie were particularly concerned about their buddy, but eventually all of the girls came to groom him through the bars. For his safety, he was not allowed to return to the group until he was 100% recovered from the anesthesia.
Both the general and injectable anesthesia can upset the stomach and make you feel all worn out, so Burrito took an additional day to lounge around by himself, waited on at all times by his staff of caregivers.
With the help of some anti-nausea medicine, he was feeling good enough this evening to join the gang for a dinner forage on the hill.
In the coming weeks we will learn more about Burrito’s health from these tests, and the veterinary dentist will be able to decide the best coarse of action based on his x-rays and what the other tests tell us about his ability to tolerate prolonged anesthesia.
Exams like this aren’t easy on a chimp, and they’re pretty tough on the people who care about them too. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr. Zamzow, Dr. Mensching, Dr. Bezner, Valley Veterinary Hospital, and the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital for providing the best care a chimp could ask for. And to everyone who helped us build and equip our onsite clinic: You made it possible for him to receive this level of care. And I know you would agree that this guy deserves nothing less.
Most meals at the sanctuary go remarkably smoothly considering we have seven hungry and eager chimpanzees to serve at once. Occasionally, someone swipes someone else’s food or a scuffle breaks out, but more often than not, peace reigns.
That’s not to say that all the chimps always wait patiently, though. In this video, you’ll see some of the ways the chimps get our attention during meals and tell the server to please hurry up – hand clapping (Negra), vigorous head nodding (Missy), and blowing raspberries (Foxie). This video is longer than most of the ones we post, but hopefully it will give you some idea of what it’s like to be present at mealtime at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.
It’s here; the year’s longest day of sunshine (well, at least for us here in the Northern Hemisphere). The high temperatures the past month may have indicated otherwise, but today truly is the official beginning of summer. By this time of year, plants in the garden are bearing fruit, baby birds have hatched and are growing quickly and the rivers and lakes have warmed up enough to be revitalizing after jumping in.
As for life here at the sanctuary, summer is in full swing, especially in the gardens with all of the fruit and flowers.
I thought today’s blog would be mostly about how summer means vitality, growth, abundant energy, movement and all that means to be living life. And I was going to take photos of each of the chimps soaking up the long days of sunshine exploring Young’s Hill, eating wild plants and the climbing structures to take in the views. But, the chimps had something else in mind for today, which was a really good lesson for me.
It was as if the chimps were trying to convey to me that summer does entail abundance, energy, growth and all of those things I listed above. But, it can also mean making the most of lazy summer days by taking the time to relax in comfort, nap and soak up what it means to not have constant demands put on them to perform or to be used as test subjects. This was evident in the blanket nests we saw this morning when cleaning the various enclosures.
Here is one we found in the Playroom this morning.
Jamie took a some time to rest up this morning after venturing out onto Young’s Hill.
For Jody and many of the other chimps, summer time means endless wild snacks.
For Foxie, lazy summer afternoons mean napping with a close friend.
Missy sat grooming herself this afternoon…
…while Annie lie down next to her.
Burrito looking pretty relaxed in front of the camera.
And Negra sat in one of her favorite spots on the catwalk this afternoon.
Today also marks a special day for fathers. The Cle Elum Seven are fortunate enough to have loving, supportive fathers from all over the world who dedicate their time, energy and offer unlimited support in order to provide a safe and enriching environment for these chimps. Your love has helped these chimpanzees grow leaps and bounds over the past seven years in ways they have never known before. To all these fathers, we cannot thank you enough.
So, however you choose to spend your summer days, enjoy them to the fullest. And to all the fathers out there, have a wonderful day knowing how loved and appreciated you are for all the things you do to provide for those you love!
Burrito can’t get enough of playing with his human friends. This afternoon he kept volunteer caregiver Becca busy.
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored in memory of Jean Davidson. Today’s sponsor shared this lovely message about her gift for the chimpanzees:
“Jean was a wonderful friend who lived to celebrate her 100th birthday. She loved animals, and would have celebrated the seven chimpanzees I’ve fallen in love with!”
To our sponsor, thank you so much for thinking of the chimpanzees in honoring Jean’s memory. I think we would all hope to be remembered by our friends and loved ones in such a thoughtful and meaningful way. It’s incredible to think about the difference each life makes. The people one person can bring together in the most unexpected ways and whose life continues to make a difference to so many, even after they’ve gone.
In celebration of our sponsor, her dear friend, Jean, and of course, the chimpanzees, it seems fitting to revisit the joy that can only ensue with Burrito’s patented “Blanket Fling”:
