The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes by DVM Lucy H. Spelman Read Free Book Online Page B

we could inadvertently get milk flowing back up and around the airway into the wrong place—her lungs. As in any animal, that would be a serious and potentially fatal problem.
    We would eventually teach her to drink from a bottle and stop the stomach tubing. But how many days or even weeks would that take?
    Meanwhile, our veterinary pathology team had begun the postmortem exam on Immi. Annelisa and I stopped in to check on their progress frequently. To our frustration, the exam revealed no clear answers. When an animal dies unexpectedly, as Immi did, we hope to at least learn why. There are few things more frustrating than not being able to determine the cause of death. Sometimes a preliminary examination leads to a sudden “Aha!” moment in which an obvious answer is found, but that wasn't the case here. As the pathologists continued their work, moving from a gross examination on to the process of evaluating tissues microscopically, we had no definitive explanation for what happened. And we had very few clues.
    We agreed that the most likely explanation for a fatal illness that occurred so quickly was an overwhelming bacterial infection. If we were right about this diagnosis in the mother, what did we need to consider about the calf? We hedged our bets and added antibiotics to the emerging treatment regimen for Kayavak. As to the source of the infection, we began a series of tests to look for unusual bacteria in the food or water. It would take at least twenty-four hours before we'd have any results. Eventually, we confirmed that Immi died from erysipelas, an overwhelming bacterial infection known to cause rapid death in marine mammals.
    Immi's loss hit us all hard. She had been one of the aquarium's first beluga whales; Kayavak was her first calf. This pair of charismatic, intelligent, and highly social animals had also become Chicago's media darlings. The staff and public adored them. Together they represented the success of our beluga breeding program. Now one was gone forever and the other was in trouble. We also worried about the rest of the aquarium's beluga collection. We could only hope that what had killed Immi would not strike again.
    We took frequent breaks from Kayavak to look in on the rest of the whales. We also wondered what they sensed or understood about the events of the last few days. Experts who study elephants have observed a mourning process when a herd member dies. Was this occurring with our whales? Does a whale grieve as we do? We didn't know. But we did know one thing: we wouldn't let them out of our sight. We needed to reassure ourselves that everyone was healthy.
    Our second option for Kayavak was to foster her onto another whale, Puiji. As the night wore on, we paid particular attention to this female who had given birth a few weeks before Immi. Sadly, her calf survived for only a short time. We couldn't be certain, but Puiji would very likely resume lactating if presented with a calf.
    This option appealed to us for several reasons. Not only would the calf be drinking the real thing, she would have the companionship during her infancy of a mother whale. It's not surprising to see a beluga calf nursing well into its second year. Though Kayavak had hit every milestone, at five months old her natural weaning time was still many, many months away.
    But here too there were challenges to consider. Kayavak had never actually been in the same habitat with Puiji. The two might not bond. The adult whale could be aggressive or uninterested. She might not produce any milk. How much time could we give these two to forge a relationship before we'd feel compelled to intervene and feed Kayavak? And could we determine if the calf's nutritional needs were being met, when and if nursing began? Ultimately, this option left a lot to chance. We had to decide how comfortable we were with the idea of letting go. The calf's fate would be largely out of our control in this scenario.
    Another pool drop just