Dr. Paan and the team were busy during October again, visiting elephants in Mae Wang, Mae Tang, Mae Rim and Hang Dong districts of Northern Thailand. October’s cases were mainly made up of wound care, mild lameness, lameness caused by a wound, and a dental visit thrown in to mix things up.
A female elephant in Mae Wang had a pre-existing tail injury which the doctors returned to check on in October. Upon examination, it was noted that the tail was not healing as well as could be hoped. The tip of the tail had become necrotic and as the tissue was being cleaned away a piece of bone was visible through the tissue and pus present. The necrotic tip had to be removed all together. Two weeks later at her follow up appointment, the cow’s tail had recovered quite nicely with no more pus or necrosis. It is expected to heal completely.
A piece of tailbone protruded from the wound
Another highlight was the CMU vets visiting a male elephant in Mae Tang who was stiff on his right front leg. The vet at the camp where the tusker resided had requested the CMU team bring their laser therapy equipment, which they did on October 10. About a week earlier, the mahout had noticed a small swollen nodule on that leg, and now the elephant was stiff. The vets determined that this nodule would eventually turn into an abscess, so quick treatment was necessary. Using the thermal scanner, the team was able to determine where other areas of swelling and inflammation were located on the leg. Luckily, there weren’t any other areas of inflammation found on that leg, so the vets decided to start laser therapy on the nodule to
stimulate the cells and relieve some pain for the elephant. Another laser treatment was done a week later, but by that time the abscess had burst. However, after the second round of laser therapy, the elephant was walking normally, and seemed to be in less pain.
Dr. Pann applying laser therapy to an abscess causing pain and lameness
Later in the month, the team went to Mae Rim to perform some traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, on an eight-year-old female elephant that the vets were following up with who was suffering from lameness. The team couldn’t perform the acupuncture with needles, since the elephant
wouldn’t stand still, so they went to plan B and used laser acupuncture. Due to the high power and heat coming from the acupuncture machine, the elephant was a little frustrated, however, the vets finished the procedure within 5-10 minutes. Laser therapy was also performed on the lame area for further treatment. The team will perform the laser acupuncture 1 time per week for a total of 6 weeks.
CMU Vet applying laser acupuncture technique with help of guest expert
To support Dr. Paan and 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.