Orca Update

On December 1^st we saw one right hind toe twitch and from then on the spinal reflexes began to gradually return. Small improvements are seen every few days. By now (mid January) he seems to be more continent. He also licks himself clean pretty well. We have not had to help him much with his personal hygiene for some time. He has started to show a little voluntary movement in his hind legs and he seems to be regaining some feeling in his hindquarters.

Orca is enjoying human visitors and is quite accepting of physical therapy; we have him roll onto his side for a treat and then we gently flex and extend each hind leg repeatedly. We cannot predict whether he will improve enough to have a reasonable life, and though his vitality is in his favor, his size may be a drawback. Due to his strength and good attitude we are giving Orca time to see if he recovers.

January 26^th Update:

Today Orca has presented us with a couple new improvements. Earlier in the day when Jill and Pat went in to visit, Orca actually wagged his tail a little for Jill. Later in the afternoon Monty and Pat went in to replace one of the foot wraps that had fallen off and he was being a pill, but he eventually rolled over for a tummy rub (and foot wrap) and Monty was able to stimulate a scratch reflex in his hind legs.

January 27^th to 29^th Update:

Over the past three days, Monty has picked Orca up by the waist to see how well he could hold himself up. Once his hind legs were under him Orca was nearly able to hold himself up for about half a second. Last week he was only able to exert minor resistance. Now he can nearly hold up his entire weight! Monty guesses about 90%. He cannot do this for very long, less than a second, he tires easily, does not make any "walking" movements and he still a long way to go, but it is a very nice improvement. However, he still drags his hind legs such that he gets sores on his feet if he is not wearing booties (which he loses from time to time), but he is definitely getting better than he was before.

Orca has a long way to go, is not out of the woods and needs as much support as he can get.

February 3^rd to 5^th Update:

On the 3^rd, for the first time, when Monty picked up Orca's rear, Orca was able to stand a few seconds on his own. He was very wobbly and quickly needed support, but this is the first time that he has been able to support his full weight.

On the 4^th & 5^th Orca made attempts to stand on his own, would get more than half way up off the ground before he tired, and he even make intention movements to take a step.

February 8^th Update:

Today Orca had a visit from Carrie L. Craddock, and Equine Performance Therapist from Ohio who also works on dogs. Orca was her first wolf. After they greeted for a few minutes and while Monty scritched his head and neck, she got to work on his back. He melted. Before long it was just Carrie and Orca, Orca blissed out in what looked like an endorphine haze while she worked on him. She must have worked on and off for an hour or more. At times Orca was just laying on his side, eyes shut enjoying all the sensations of a good massage. Carrie taught Pat and Monty several techniques so we can continue the work until she returns. Carrie hopes to make a return visit in a few weeks to see how well he has progressed -- and to make sure we are doing the massage correctly. :-)

February 14^th to 15^th Update:

Carrie returns for another visit and two days worth of massage work on Orca. She finds that he has made noticeable improvement since her last visit only a week before. He was also willing to allow a more intense and long-lasting massage session. For photos of Carrie at work click here.

March 2^nd Update:

Orca continues to improve and gain strength. Monty can now boost Orca up and keep him standing for nearly 10 minutes at a time. Orca is wobbly when up and periodically needs assistance to stay up, but his duration is certainly increasing. He has also occassionally tried to walk, but so far his ability to simply keep himself up is exceeding his ability to use his legs to actually walk.

Today when Pat boosted him up, Orca gave a bow stretch which is another good sign. He also allows us to stimulate his toes and massage sore neck and shoulder muscles which a couple weeks ago, he was more sensitive about.

March 14^th Update:

Orca began to walk the first week in March. On the eighth he stood almost all the way up and took a normal step, placing his paws pads down, with each hind leg.

On the eleventh he walked a little more interspersing normal steps with proprioreception, that is, enough awareness and coordination to place his feet pads down, with stumbling and steps taken on his knuckles. Pat Goodmann assisted him with his balance a little bit and also boosted him back to his feet a couple of times when it was obvious he wanted to try again but was getting tired. Two of the normal steps were taken without her help at all.

Friday the Thirteenth, Orca got up on his own and walked a little more. He crossed his hind legs, tripped, fell down and with Pat's assistance, stood for a minute and then walked around his pen for several steps, again interspersed with some knuckling over.

Orca has impressed us all with his great heart and willingness to keep trying. He still has a long road ahead but he is now striding down it.

March 24^th Update:

On Sunday, March 22^nd we went in to visit Orca. We found he had been hunting! The remains of a hapless, partly eaten garter snake lay at one of his favorite resting places. That morning, Kirsten, one of our interns reported seeing him stand up, using primarily his left leg. Yesterday, the 23^rd he stood most of the way up and took a step to greet one of the interns (Taryn?), but stepped on his knuckles. He also stood for a few minutes, supporting his own weight after Monty boosted him to his feet. This morning when Pat let him out, he stood up about three quarters of the way up and in that somewhat crouched posture, took four steps with his paws placed normally, pads down. After the rains last week, he seems very perky with the fair weather.

Wolf Park would like to thank Orca's many fans who have provided valuable advice and donations to help with his medical care.

We would especially like to thank Bob Fritz, APRL Company, P.O. Box 1853, Martinez, CA 94553, 800-440-7955 for donating a fantastic supplement called Peak II

On February 17^th Orca received a large box. What was inside? All kinds of goodies! Lots of treats in fact. Thanks Marilyn & Tenuk! :-)

Donations are always appreciated. With the addition of Orca's medical costs, these donations are especially helpful.

For those who have been curious about what supplements Orca is receiving, he currently gets vitamins B, E, some selenium and we've started him on garlic for flies. And of course Peak II.