Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

wound

Teamwork

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Bite wounds are probably the most common injuries we see in chimps. Our treatment protocols for these wounds tend to be fairly conservative: administer analgesics for pain, clean frequently with antiseptic spray, and monitor closely. There are a few reasons for this. First, chimps have a superhuman (literally) ability to heal. Wounds that would send me racing to the ER for stitches will close up on their own in chimps with little to no treatment in a matter of days or weeks, remaining uninfected and leaving no visible trace once healed. Second, because of the frequency of wounding in captive groups, there’s always a risk of antibiotic resistance if antibiotics are over prescribed. And third, many forms of diagnostics and treatment require the chimps to be anesthetized—something we avoid whenever practical out of concern for their overall safety and well being.

Once and a while, though, there are wounds that require a bit more than the typical conservative approach—like recently, when Rayne received a bite to her third digit (middle finger) that resulted in some swelling. When the swelling persisted even as the wound appeared to heal, Dr. Erin wanted to rule out an underlying fracture. Thankfully, our Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) team was able to train Rayne to hold her hand in the x-ray box so that we could get some images without the need for anesthesia.

Here, Jenna asks Rayne to hold her hand flat in the box so we could get the first in a series of shots.

Jenna then withdraws her hand and Rayne holds hers still (while that other hand is trying to investigate the x-ray generator!).

The good news is that Rayne did not have a fractured digit. Interestingly, you can see an old healed fracture on her 2nd digit (index finger).

Though the swelling soon began to subside, PRT also made it possible to treat Rayne’s finger with a therapeutic laser to help encourage the healing process. For this, Rayne needs only to sit at her station marker and respond to Grace’s command to present the fingers of her left hand through the mesh. It was Rayne’s choice to pull up the orange ball and sit on it.

Sabrina is then able to program the laser, at Dr. Erin’s direction, and apply it to Rayne’s finger.

The only problem? Everyone wants a turn!

Positive reinforcement training requires a lot of staff time but these little opportunities to apply all that effort can really add up in the form of improved diagnostics, more effective therapies, and fewer trips to the clinic. Even if we learn that a chimp will require a more complex exam or treatment under anesthesia, we can often go in with a head start given the information we are able to obtain.

For her part, Rayne seems pretty happy to participate.

You want me to rotate my hand 90 degrees for a lateral view?

Here, you can laser my feet, too!

Just keep that juice coming.

 

A Trip to the Clinic for Negra

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The group of seven got into a fight yesterday and poor Negra sustained a significant laceration on her back side that required stitches. The staff got her isolated and Dr. Erin began mobilizing for the procedure. We are grateful to have been joined by Jim Repsher, PA-C, from Kittitas Valley Hospital who, with his background in surgery and emergency medicine, was able to tend to her wound while Dr. Erin, Sofia, and other staff gave Negra a full workup.

Negra handled the procedure well and got an ultrasound of her heart, x-rays, blood work, and a dental exam while receiving her stitches.

Diana ensured that Negra’s IV remained in place while Negra was repositioned for various diagnostics.

Sofia examined Negra’s teeth and gums.

Identification tattoos on each of Negra’s thighs serve as a stark reminder of her decades spent in various laboratories.

Negra’s caregivers often have to hold her arms to ensure that the various cuffs and catheters stay in place. These moments bring us some comfort, even if Negra is unaware of our presence.

Getting sutures to remain in place, especially in fragile tissue, can be a challenge with chimpanzees, who are prone to pick at them and pull them out. For this reason, we often employ distraction techniques so that they will direct their attention elsewhere while they recover. In some cases, we place shallow “distraction sutures” in areas away from the injury. Here, Sofia paints Negra’s fingernails so that she will have something else to pick at while she recovers. It’s a tip we learned from colleagues at another sanctuary and it certainly can’t hurt to try.

Before long Negra was back in the recovery room in a pile of blankets and stuffed animals, with her team of caregivers monitoring her closely.

By morning she was alert and ready for some juice.

She made a nest next to the caging and gave kisses through the mesh before eventually falling back to sleep.

That is, until Annie started spitting water on her to get her attention and make sure she was OK! Once Negra sat up, Annie was satisfied and let Negra go back to bed.

We’re pretty confident that Negra will have an uneventful recovery – after all, she lives her whole life on restricted activity! But she will remain isolated, with her caregivers watching over her and her chimp family next door, until Dr. Erin is confident in her healing.

The life of a chimp vet is never dull. For the last month, the staff have been taking turns doing overnight duty, sleeping on a cot in the chimp house foyer to monitor the newly integrated group of nine and respond in the event of a serious conflict. Friday night was Dr. Erin’s night, and I’m sure she was looking forward to a day of rest following her shift. The chimps had other plans, though. As always, we are grateful to have Dr. Erin caring for these sixteen chimps and four cattle and we hope she can get some rest today.

If you’d like to contribute towards the veterinary care of Negra and her friends, we have had (thanks to the folks who purchased these so quickly!) a dental scaler and a polisher on our Amazon wish list that would be a huge help the next time one of the chimps finds themselves in the clinic.

Building trust

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Providing medical care to chimpanzees is always a challenge, but it can be particularly difficult when they have been subject to decades of invasive medical research procedures against their will.

Years ago, we participated in a study that considered whether chimpanzees might exhibit abnormal behaviors that cluster into syndromes similar to posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in humans (you can read it here). Negra was featured in the paper as a case vignette:

A chimpanzee named Negra was a 36-year-old female at the time of the study. Taken from the wild in Africa as an infant, she has remained in captivity since that time. She was used in invasive research, including hepatitis experiments, and for breeding. Each of her infants was removed from her at an early age. During the period in which she was used in research, she was kept in isolation for several years. Approximately 1 year prior to the study, she was transferred to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in Washington state, where she currently lives with six other chimpanzees.

Negra met alternative criteria for depression and PTSD. According to reports, she had persistent depressed hunched posture, and she was socially withdrawn. Negra slept excessively during the daytime, and she lacked interest in play, food, other individuals, and grooming. She also demonstrated poor attention to tasks. She was described as slow and sluggish, and at times, she appeared anxious. In response to an unexpected touch, she would “threat bark,” scream, or run away. Compared with other chimpanzees, she demonstrated less variability in her facial expressions. Caretakers reported that her face was expressionless, “like a ghost,” for at least a month after she arrived at the sanctuary. She seldom, if ever, exhibited a play face. She was tested for a thyroid disorder and assessed for other medical causes of her clinical presentation, but all laboratory tests were within normal limits. Based on later reports provided by her caretakers, some of her symptoms have improved since she has been living in the sanctuary. She has become more interested in other chimpanzees, including grooming, and the variability in her facial expressions has increased.

Negra’s anxious response to being touched was not just a sad reminder of her earlier trauma; it was a serious impediment to her care at the sanctuary. Chimpanzees routinely receive wounds from fights, they develop dental problems, they get heart disease and diabetes and many other illnesses, and these things often require medical intervention.

There’s always a way to force medical care on an uncooperative chimpanzee, and sadly that is what’s required from time to time. But that can be stressful and even dangerous. They deserve a chance to participate willingly. Giving them that choice, however, requires a lot of time and energy on the part of their caregivers.

For years, CSNW caregivers (first Debbie and now Anna) have been working with Negra to habituate her to basic medical evaluations and treatments as part of our positive reinforcement training program. These efforts have paid off many times over, most recently when Negra received a wound to her back during a fight. Negra let Anna spray the injury with antiseptic solution and she allowed Dr. Erin to follow that up with laser therapy. In cases where antibiotics may be needed, Negra will even let her caregivers swab the wound to culture the infection and determine the best course of treatment.

For some chimpanzees, this kind of cooperation is no big deal. But chimpanzees are individuals – they have unique life experiences and they cope with those experiences in different ways. Negra has never given her trust lightly. It had to be earned through years of persistent efforts on the part of her caregivers.

It has certainly been worth it.