November was a very busy month for the CMU Team. It was a month of excitement, highs, and sadly, some hard lows. It’s months like these that exemplify exactly why the CMU veterinarians and the Mobile Vet program are so invaluable to the elephants and surrounding communities.
In addition to all their usual responsibilities the CMU team was also quite involved in preparations for and hosting of the 5th Asian EEHV Working Group Meeting and the 19th International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium. The meeting and symposium ran back-to-back over five days in the middle of the month and was a huge success!
The November cases consisted of several cases involving youngsters. One little 7-month-old female presented with lameness in her front right leg which she was dragging as she walked. The vet team tentatively diagnosed her a radial nerve injury which could have caused the dragging. They then gave her analgesia, anti-inflammatory meds, laser therapy, and recommended acupuncture to help with her neuromuscular movement.
Calf receiving laser therapy on her stiff leg
Two other young calves presented with eye issues during the month. At the beginning of the month a 7-month-old little bull had swollen eyes with a laceration. After the vets were able to examine the calf and observed flies gathering near his eyes and the calf itching them repeatedly, they were able to rule out EEHV as a cause and suspected allergies. It took a couple follow-up visits throughout the month to discover a bacterial infection in the laceration that might have been contributing. The owners were instructed on how to rinse his eyes and apply antibiotic treatment. Later in the month, an 18-month-old calf also in the Mae Wang region was seen for lacrimation (excessive tears). The vets recommended an eye rinse for her one to two times a day to help wash away dust, dirt, and other possible irritants.
(Left) Calf with blepharitis (inflammation of eyelids) in both eyes. (Right) Other calf had lacrimation (excessive tears) in both eyes
Unfortunately, November also brought some difficult cases. On the morning of November 9th, a Mae Tang camp owner called for help concerning 8 elephants with colic ranging from moderate to severe. They had all eaten from the same plot of grasses. Another vet from the TEAA was asked to aid in the emergency response. They started fluid therapy in 5 elephants and provided supportive drugs including an anti-inflammatory, opioid, anti-gastric acid secretion, and vitamins. Two elephants were considered severe and transported to the hospital for more intensive care. The elephants at the camp continued treatment through the night and some got better, but the following morning two of them were sent to the team at the hospital at the TECC. In the end most of the elephants recovered with the constant care and intensive treatments, but two elephants died, one from intestinal torsion and the other from sepsis.
Obvious bulging sides of cow experiencing colic
The vets were called out for the necropsy and sample collection of a six-year-old calf in Mae Tang who had been depressed and not eating just the day before and died suddenly that morning of the 22nd. His death was attributed to EEHV 4 and is the first of the season in that region. The vets visited the rest of the young calves in the camp and all non-pregnant and weaned calves were given antihelminth and vitamin C. The veterinarian gave suggestions for management to the owner and the mahouts were educated about the importance of vigilant observation (especially of the young calves) for the detection of EEHV.
To wrap the month up Dr. Paan teamed up with several other vets to collect whole blood that was to be donated by a healthy female elephant. Thanks to the Mae Tang Elephant Camp the team of vets were able to collect 19 bags of 450mL of whole blood from a cow named Kam Noi. Whole blood donations are a very important component of treating seriously ill elephant patients with a myriad of conditions, including EEHV. These bags of donated blood can be spun down into plasma and then kept cold for the next several months and ready to use in the next critical case.
The veterinarian team for blood collection including: vets from CMU, a vet from Mae Tang camp, a vet from TEAA, and a vet from Lao PDR (internship) along with donor, Kam Noi
To support the work of the CMU Veterinary Team as they
provide life-saving health care to Northern Thailand’s elephants, please visit www.asianelephantsupport.org to make a donation.