**NEW ARRIVAL**
Every time we think things calm down a little, they strike again 😢. Our Team left midday yesterday to fetch a 6 month old orphan. With heavy rain and hectic roads, the little girl arrived late last night. It has been a long & tiring night for rhino calf and carers. She paced & called for her mum non-stop, refusing bottles and the tender love & comfort the carers offer her. She is angry and stressed, understandably so!
Update – 28 February 2021
The past 24 hours has been very rough on baby Annie. Her restless, mistrusting behavior has turned into full-blown anxiety attacks, forcing us to remove her blindfold without her taking any bottles yet. She has had excruciating gut pain all night long despite sedatives and strong pain medication, the reason behind these colic spells still unclear. Our carers have been with her the entire night, preventing her from throwing herself on the floor and against the walls because of the terrible pain every 20 minutes. Now at dawn she is a little calmer and the little flicker of light in a very dark tunnel is that she has now accepted the comfort offered by her carers, seeking their touch and presence.
Update – 1 March 2021
We kept Annie under sedation yesterday morning as her colic was quite severe. An IV was run to keep her hydrated and to make it easier to administrate medication for pain and gut cramps. Late last night she started drinking electrolites and her hydration levels were looking good. Our carers however noticed that her eyes were congested and it looked like they were opaque. Dr Pierre did a checkup and immediately called eye-specialist as small ulcers were already forming.
Dr Gary Bauer paid our little girl a visit today and confirmed the diagnosis. Her eyes were treated and dr Bauer says that they should heal with the right medication. If left untreated they can cause total blindness. We also used the opportunity to try and get behind whatever is causing the colic. Dr Pierre performed a rectal examination and a sand test revealed a large amount of sand in her faeces, a possible explanation for the spasmodic cramps.
For now she is doing very well, drinking half strength milk and electrolytes with psyllium to bind the sand. The pain medication continues. She is already much better today than yesterday. The videoclip shows her first bowl after this mornings procedure. She is still under the effect of anesthesia.
