Joe’s a star!

Saturday September 9, 2006 we had our fourth immobilization of Joe since he arrived at GH in March 2003, to address his on-going problems of regurgitation.  Each time we have detailed discussions of what we hope to achieve with the procedure, and what problems we’re trying to address.  After April’s procedure, when we discovered Joe had a stricture and ulcer in his esophagus, which was the likely cause of him having trouble keeping his food down, we decided to try a balloon endoscopy procedure. This is often done in human patients with similar problems (often caused by acid reflux and similar conditions) and a water-filled balloon is inserted to slowly expand the esophagus around the stricture.  Joe’s been on Nexium and Sucralfate, which have helped a little, but the continuing regurgitation was a source of concern, so we decided to do another procedure, while Joe was healthy, instead of waiting when his health might not be so good. Photo left shows one of the immobilization darts with the red tail, in Joe's arm, to help quickly locate and remove it.

As usual, we assembled a great team of vets, doctors and staff and every step was pre-planned to minimize the time Joe would have to be under anesthesia.  Our consultant vet, Dr. Rita McManamon and our facility vet, Dr. Francis Cipullo handled the routine examination of Joe’s overall health, including his periodontal disease.  The area around the canine we removed a while ago (Yellow arrow in photo right), was looking better than it had in April, which was a good sign it was healing nicely. Joe’s vital signs and response to the anesthesia were all good – something we are all extremely grateful for, since most 43 year old male gorillas don’t have such a hearty constitution as our beloved Joe.

Human medical doctor and gastroenterologist specialist, Dr. Michael Galambos, was in charge of the endoscopy, which is where a small camera is inserted down the throat (or colon, as in a colonoscopy), so he can get a good look at the esophagus to compare it with the way it looked in April.  Dr. G. (seen on the left holding the balloon endoscope) reported the ulcer looked like it had some new tissue over it, which would indicate it was healing (a good sign), but the stricture was still there, causing a blockage and stopping food from getting all the way down Joe’s throat and into his stomach (a standard digital camera held at the eyepiece captures what the view looked like (photo right).  Using a small balloon on the end of the endoscope, Dr. G. was able to carefully expand the esophagus around the stricture. A short video clip shows the inflation of the balloon in Joe's esophagus, and you can see the nurse adding saline to the balloon as Dr. G. carefully monitors things through the endoscope (the squeaking sound is from blowing up the balloon). The first four days after the procedure Joe’s regurgitation had stopped but by Thursday, a few of piles of regurgitated food were again found. In the weeks since the procedure, regurg piles, as we call them, have decreased substantially, so we’re cautiously optimistic we’re on the right track to help Joe.

Everyone had their jobs, and as the vets and doctors were setting up things for the procedure, I was helping by wiping off Joe (whose bladder and bowels release when the anesthesia kicks in), which is a very cool, humbling experience. As the vets were making sure the gas anesthesia was at the right levels, Joe was still moving a little, and his strength was amazing.  His finger and toe nails were really long and so I got to do my very first gorilla “mani-pedi” as I cut his finger/toe nails, using big clippers on hand for just that purpose.  Steuart was taking photos of the procedure, including medical photos which will be helpful in documenting the experience.

Joe always looks/acts so pitiful after coming out of anesthesia, but his recovery is amazing, and by Sunday morning, he was outside in his habitat, enjoying his breakfast as a cool morning mist came over the mountains, enabling me to get my own photo of our own “gorilla in the mist.”  As Kelly and I watched, Joe ate his breakfast with his usual enthusiasm, and for the first time in months, there was no head shaking or regurgitation, which was great to see!  Monday I went to visit Joe and brought him a watermelon, one of his favorites.  Joe took the watermelon, then threw the empty rinds back at me, “telling” me to leave, in his typical grumpy-bratty fashion.  I loved it.  My ol’ boy was back to himself!!   The photo collage here shows Joe after the procedure, the next day, and him giving me the “evil eye” two days later! A short video clip shows Joe using his treat tube.

From left to right, Dr. Cipullo, Dr. McManamon, Dr. Galambos

BIG THANK YOU:   Once again, Drs. Cipullo and McManamon were amazing and wonderful to work with, donating their expertise, experience and time to help Joe. Dr. Galambos has been a wonderful addition to our team helping us help Joe as well, and we’re grateful for all our teams’ great attitude, fun spirits and excellent talents to make this go so well. Furthermore, Dr. G. reported that an endoscope has been donated to Gorilla Haven by Piedmont Mountainside Hospital of Jasper, GA, and Olympus cameras donated the powersource for the procedure, so those are great additions to our medical equipment on hand for the future. Thank you to everyone!

GH Team assembled outside of Silverback Villa just after the operation

Oliver Under the Weather ... but Back on Track!

When the group of vets were here to work on Joe, they wanted to see Oliver too, but Kelly said he was acting like he didn’t feel well, so we nixed the chance to see him, disappointing some people, but in keeping with our general philosophy that the gorillas’ welfare is always our top priority. I went to see Oliver in the afternoon with Kelly and agreed he seemed a bit subdued, so I called Pete over and the three of us decided we’d closely monitor him. The night before I’d accidentally left a light on overnight, and we thought maybe he hadn’t slept well, or was stressed, thinking someone was coming back, so we hoped a good night’s rest would set him back to normal. 

Balantidium coli:

By Sunday, however, poor Oliver was clearly fighting something – so we started him on a regimen of medicines, and he recovered quickly, thankfully. Oliver kept putting a finger in his ear and licking it, and holding his head, as if he had an ear or headache or both.  Inspection of his left ear showed something funky, but after a few days it dried up and the finger inspections ended.  Fecal examinations of his stool revealed some balantidium, or b.coli, which is commonly found in primates, and left untreated can become a problem.  Most experts agree balantidium lives in its hosts (see sidebar) without any symptoms most of the time, but flares up during times of stress, so we wonder if Oliver's ear/head ache was the stress which induced the b.coli outbreak. We may never know. After a week, Oliver was back to normal, and whatever ailed him was gone, thankfully.  I'd been going to see him more frequently, offering him special treats trying to help get the terrible-tasting medicines into him (believe me, nothing worked - he was too smart!  You could trick him once, but not twice!). A short video clip shows him in a much better mood, the day after the above photos of him at his most pitiful were taken.   

Just a few days ago, I brought him some fat free cottage cheese with fresh raspberries from our garden, un-doctored with his medicine,  as well as some huge banana leaves from the trees growing near my writing cottage.  After eating all the goodies, Oliver casually got up and walked to the furthest part of the villa, where he retrieved one of his blankets, which was still folded, and he carried it back and sat down by the mesh in front of me.  As I watched, I fully expected Oliver to make a nest for himself.  Instead, he took the still-folded blanket and slid it under the mesh to me. I was stunned.  Was he thanking me by giving me something he treasured and valued?  I accepted the gift and wrapped myself in it like a shawl, as he watched, bemused.  Then I poked it back thru the mesh, and Oliver took it back and made a nest and relaxed for the rest of our visit.

Tragedies Continue with the GH Critters

Our new kittens Mango, Papaya, and Kiwi, were getting bigger and more adorable each day, when tragedy struck again on Sunday September 3rd.  Despite hours of affiliative play between the new kittens and our dogs and years of kittens growing up with our dogs, something happened, and we can only guess what it was. Mango must have wandered into the kennel yard, where I found his lifeless body soon after we assume the dogs’ play turned rough.  A couple days later, the dogs attacked Papaya, who I managed to rescue just in time.  We've had countless cats with the dogs and nothing like this has ever happened, but whenever you get a pack of dogs and one goes in “hunt” mode, the pack mentality takes over and the sweetest, gentlest dogs become killers.  Mango is buried near Ginger, Belle, Cicero, Cinder and the other GH critters who’ve died recently, and I’m still in a state of shock that our otherwise sweet dogs could have turned into killers to a critter they slept and played with.  Papaya is fine, and her sister, Kiwi are cuddle girls, remaining out of the dogs way now, which is probably a good thing.  The photo in the middle shows Papaya, groggy from her nap, and Kiwi, posing for a recent photo today, for this update.  The three photos on the right are common sights at GH, where the dogs and cats generally sleep, play and share food and cuddles.

Shelly sleeps with Rosy

Herb nuzzles Koko

Peanut Supervises Kittens