Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

ultrasound

A trip to the clinic for Jody

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Earlier this year, we took Jody into the clinic to assess a lump developing on her foot. Unfortunately, the mass continued to grow after that procedure and cytology results suggested that further evaluation and testing was warranted.

We’re so lucky to have assistance from people like Dalila Fairchild, CRNA, who ensured that Jody was safely anesthetized and monitored throughout the exam.

Dr. Austin Hardegree assisted Dr. Erin with the foot evaluation and biopsy while Dr. Krystina Stadler, a veterinary radiologist, helped by imaging the foot mass prior to the procedure and following up on a suspected uterine fibroid discovered during Jody’s last exam.

While Dr. Stadler brought her own equipment, she also tried out our brand new Butterfly ultrasound unit, which we recently purchased though a grant from the Ruth Foundation. This user-friendly ultrasound unit works with an iPad (also purchased with the grant) and will help Dr. Erin with both general exams and emergency procedures. We are also grateful once again to Best Friends Mobile Veterinary Care for use of their digital x-ray – the only piece of equipment that we must still borrow. With more chimps joining our family as soon as next year we will undoubtedly be doing even more procedures, so we look forward to purchasing one of our own soon.

With the exam, biopsy, ultrasound, x-rays, and teeth cleaning done, we wheeled Jody back to the recovery room.

We’ll have to wait for these latest test results to see what, if anything, comes next. For now, Jody is sipping Coke and eating grapes in a sea of soft blankets. She will have to stay isolated for at least a few days to ensure that the stitches stay in place long enough for her incision to heal, but her friends will be able visit her regularly though the mesh.

An exam for Foxie

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As I type this, Foxie is recovering uneventfully from anesthesia after a full workup.

Diana mentioned a while back that Foxie hadn’t been feeling well, and while she did get her appetite and energy back it took longer than we would have liked and thus warranted further investigation. As many of you know, we’ve long referred to Foxie as “Tiny” due to her diminutive stature. She simply can’t afford to get too much tinier.

As always, we are grateful to Dr. Erin as well as the medical and veterinary professionals that volunteered their time and expertise to help ensure that Foxie stays well.

Anesthetist Dalila Fairchild intubates Foxie in preparation for gas anethesia
Anthony assists Dr. Erin with the dental exam and cleaning while veterinary radiologist Dr. Middleton performs abdominal and cardiac ultrasound
Foxie’s hand is taped to the x-ray detector so that the staff can stand safely out of the way during imaging.

We’ll know more once we run labs and consult with other specialists on the imaging, but so far we haven’t seen anything alarming. And her recovery from the procedure has been great – before she had even regained enough balance to walk, she managed to find and hold onto a Dora the Explorer doll. For the rest of the afternoon she’ll sip Sprite and rest up, and then hopefully get a good night’s sleep so that she can rejoin her family in the morning. Jody, in particular, did not want to leave her side this morning and will be relieved to be with her again.

More medical equipment

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Exciting news – we received an ultrasound machine! The machine (pictured below, on the left) comes courtesy of Pacific Vascular in Bothell, WA and is capable of doing cardiac, abdominal, and, as you might have guessed, vascular imaging. A million thanks to Pacific Vascular, to supporter Karen Gates and her son Jack for making the connection and advocating for us, and to Bob for giving us a tutorial.

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Providence Medical Center in Everett, WA has come through again, this time with a centrifuge (below, on the right). Thanks Dan!

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And Kittitas Valley Healthcare has donated both an endoscopy tower and a mayo stand. Thank you Judi and everyone at KVH!

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We’re still looking for a steam autoclave, a laryngoscope, and a portable x-ray machine. And ideally, we’d love to have a second, more portable, ultrasound machine for doing imaging inside the chimp house when the chimps aren’t under anesthesia (especially for Burrito). So if you know of any companies that might be willing to donate these items, please let us know!

The Veterinary Clinic

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It’s hard to believe, but the 2013 Out of the Box Gala Auction is just around the corner. These auctions have always played such an important role in funding the everyday needs of the sanctuary, but they have also been the starting point for some exciting projects through our Fund-a-Need program. Proceeds from the 2009 Fund-a-Need enabled us to build the greenhouse, which quickly became the chimps’ favorite spot year-round. And in 2010, we raised funds for Young’s Hill, providing the chimps with two acres of grass, sun, and sky.

The 2011 Fund-a-Need was the start of a different but equally important kind of project: an on-site veterinary clinic. Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest has always been fortunate to work with a large team of veterinarians to support to health and well-being of the Cle Elum Seven. Whatever happens, we know that we can rely on the expertise of Dr. Richardson, Dr. Nutter, Dr. Newschwander, and Dr. Zamzow, as well as Dr. Mensching, who is the newest member of our team. We are also grateful for the assistance of Mt. Stuart Animal Hospital, which provides us with diagnostic and pharmacy services. But to provide the chimps with the best care possible, we want to have the ability to perform surgical and diagnostic services on-site, and that is why we have begun building a mobile veterinary clinic – a simple, functional, and timely way to meet the veterinary needs of the Cle Elum Seven.

With the money raised in 2011, we have purchased a 38-foot trailer and have begun turning what was once a garage in the back of the trailer into a surgical and exam room.

Clinic trailer 4-10-13

Clinic 4-10-13

Project V.E.T.S. generously donated a dual surgical lamp, a microscope, and a wide variety of supplies. If you aren’t familiar with Project V.E.T.S., I encourage you to check out their great work through their website or Facebook page.

Now it’s time to finish what we started. With your help, we will install a shelter and hook-ups for the trailer and outfit the clinic with a full range of equipment, from autoclave and anesthesia machines to portable x-ray and ultrasound.

You can contribute to this project by attending the Out of the Box auction on May 4th in Seattle or by donating to the Fund-a-Need portion of the online auction. And if you have equipment that you would like to donate to our project, we’d love to hear from you.