Saturday, June 30, 2007

Tutti gets tucked up



Tutti was suffering from an insect infestation when he came to us. This is now under control and he is out of quarantine. He lost a considerable amount of hair on his crown and tail but this is now slowly growing back. He spends his day in a small enclosure in which he has sight of Schatov and Maniña and of course the outside world. He gets his fair share of sunlight, essential for a growing child. He is very young, probably about 5 months old. He seeks company. The highlight of his day is bedtime. He is allowed to share the bed with Schatov, who behaves like big brother. As soon as Schatov appears, Tutti makes happy noises and runs towards him. Not long afterwards they settle down for the night. Our new green parrot, ‘Tweetie Pie’ doesn’t want to be left out.
In our picture you can see the three of them together, Tutti tucked up with Schatov and Tweetie Pie settling down as well, and this is the line up for most of the night.

This week we received a call from and lady in Caracas about her monkey ‘Hugo’ could we take him? It was so urgent that she was going to motor down the next day. We heard no more. Hugo joins Willi in the Ghosts of Cañaote.

We are looking forward to Sunday. Our friends at Asoguau foundation in Valencia have organized an ambulance to visit us with no less than three Veterinary Doctors and support team.. They are going to carry out spaying and neutering of dogs in the area completely without charge. This is great work and I will report more on this event after the visit on Sunday.
I understand that Asogau have rescued a waif, a baby Howler of only 3 months. They have asked us to care for him and we believe he will arrive with them on Sunday. When will this terrible trade end?

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Rosita Houdina gives us cause for concern.


Rosita has given us some cause for concern. I have reported that she can easily pass through the wire of enclosure. She does this frequently during the day. Rosita goes on extended visits to Sussy and Schatov and Maniña. Recently she has added Tutti to her itinerary. What is more worrying is that yesterday she was seen walking along the high voltage security fence. At first I thought this was a visiting wild monkey. Her coat was puffed up and I did not immediately recognize her. This is the first time we have seen her at any distance from her enclosure. Fortunately, I have been cautious about using the high voltage equipment since discovering her wandering habits, and it was not switched on. We have been praying that she would put on a little more weight to prevent her escaping. Whilst it is true that she has put on a little girth she can still slip through. We have an alternative plan to construct a new home for this group with finer gauge wire. (MonaLisa, Rosita, Emma and Nancy). Having seen her on the fence yesterday has added some urgency to this project. We started the new construction in earnest this morning. My photograph shows her just exiting the enclosure; it is slightly out of focus. I will replace it with another when I have the opportunity.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

A little of what you fancy does you good?



I have included this item as I know that some of my readers keep small animals as pets. This obviously includes dogs, monkeys and parrots of various kinds.

Unfortunately this old adage about a little of what you fancy is NOT true of your pets. A small piece of chocolate can be seriously toxic to a small animal.

Chocolate contains theobromine, a compound that is a cardiac stimulant and a diuretic.

When affected by an overdose of chocolate, a small animal can become excited and hyperactive. Due to the diuretic effect, it may pass large volumes of urine and it will be unusually thirsty. Vomiting and diarrhoea are also common. The effect of theobromine on the heart is the most dangerous effect. Theobromine will either increase the animal’s heart rate or may cause the heart to beat irregularly. Death is quite possible, especially with exercise.

After their pet has eaten a large quantity of chocolate, many pet owners assume the pet is unaffected. However, the signs of sickness may not be seen for several hours, with death following within twenty-four hours.

Cocoa powder and cooking chocolate are the most toxic forms. A 10-kilogram dog can be seriously affected if it eats a quarter of a 250gm packet of cocoa powder or half of a 250gm block of cooking chocolate. These forms of chocolate contain ten times more theobromine than milk chocolate. A chocolate mud cake could be a real health risk for a small dog. Even licking a substantial part of the chocolate icing from a cake can make an animal unwell.

Semi-sweet chocolate and dark chocolate are the next most dangerous forms, with milk chocolate being the least dangerous. A dog needs to eat more than a 250gm block of milk chocolate to be affected. Obviously, the smaller the animal, the less it needs to eat.

Onion and garlic poisoning

Onions and garlic are other dangerous food ingredients that cause sickness in dogs, cats and also livestock. Onions and garlic contain the toxic ingredient thiosulphate. Onions are more of a danger.

Pets affected by onion toxicity will develop haemolytic anaemia, where the pet’s red blood cells burst while circulating in its body.

At first, pets affected by onion poisoning show gastroenteritis with vomiting and diarrhoea. They will show no interest in food and will be dull and weak. The red pigment from the burst blood cells appears in an affected animal’s urine and it becomes breathless. The breathlessness occurs because the red blood cells that carry oxygen through the body are reduced in number.

The poisoning occurs a few days after the pet has eaten the onion. All forms of onion can be a problem including dehydrated onions, raw onions, cooked onions and table scraps containing cooked onions and/or garlic. Left over pizza, Chinese dishes and commercial baby food containing onion, sometimes fed as a supplement to young pets, can cause illness.

Onion poisoning can occur with a single ingestion of large quantities or with repeated meals containing small amounts of onion. A single meal of 600 to 800 grams of raw onion can be dangerous whereas a ten-kilogram dog, fed 150 grams of onion for several days, is also likely to develop anaemia. The condition improves once the dog is prevented from eating any further onion

While garlic also contains the toxic ingredient thiosulphate, it seems that garlic is less toxic and large amounts would need to be eaten to cause illness.

The danger of macadamia nuts
Macadamia nuts are another concern. A recent paper written by Dr. Ross McKenzie, a Veterinary Pathologist with the Department of Primary Industries, points to the danger of raw and roasted macadamia nuts for pets.

The toxic compound is unknown but the affect of macadamia nuts is to cause locomotory difficulties. Dogs develop a tremor of the skeletal muscles, and weakness or paralysis of the hindquarters. Affected dogs are often unable to rise and are distressed, usually panting. Some affected dogs have swollen limbs and show pain when the limbs are manipulated.

Dogs have been affected by eating as few as six macadamia kernels (nuts without the shell) while others had eaten approximately forty kernels. Some dogs had also been given macadamia butter.

Luckily, the muscle weakness, while painful, seems to be of short duration and all dogs recovered from the toxicity.

Pets owners should not assume that human food is always safe for pets. When it comes to chocolate, onions, garlic and macadamia nuts, such foods should be given in only small quantities, or not at all. Be sure that your pets can’t get into your stash of chocolates, that food scraps are disposed of carefully to prevent onion and garlic toxicity and that your pet is prevented from picking up macadamia nuts if you have a tree in your garden. In doubt? Get the child to a veterinary at the double

Other potential dangers

• Pear pips, the kernels of plums, peaches and apricots, apple core pips (contain cyanogenic glycosides resulting in cyanide posioning)
• Potato peelings and green looking potatoes
• Rhubarb leaves
• Mouldy/spoiled foods
• Alcohol
• Yeast dough
• Coffee grounds, beans & tea (caffeine)
• Hops (used in home brewing)
• Tomato leaves & stems (green parts)
• Broccoli (in large amounts)
• Raisins and grapes. Grapes ok without the seeds.
• Cigarettes, tobacco, cigars

Friday, June 15, 2007

There is NO substitute for their natural foods.



We try to give our children the most natural environment possible and this includes the diet. This is where many institutional facilities fail to give monkeys the best conditions. There is NO substitute for their natural foods. Bags of ‘Monkey Chow’, will certainly keep them healthy but leaves, berries and flowers fresh from the forest will keep them healthy and happy.
In our picture you can see Maniña doing justice to a fresh delivery of leaves. Rosita Houdina has just popped through the wall to check out the quality

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Tutti Arrives



Yesterday afternoon we received a call from our friends at Asoguau Fondacion. Robert and Nathalie are well known to us for the excellent work they do with animals. They had received a very young Howler male and asked if we could find a place for him. We agreed to accept him here and in spite of the lateness of the hour, they traveled many miles to bring him to us. We were pleased to welcome Nathalie, Roberto as well as Maria and Gabriela.
He is of course very young to be away from his mother. Yet another example of the cruel trade in Monkeys that still persists here in Venezuela. His chance of survival without very special care is remote. He also has a severe skin complaint. I am showing pictures of Tutti and also of the infection affecting his tail. This is caused by tiny mites that actually consume his fur. He also has a patch of this on the forehead and the feet. The progress of the infection can be very fast with large areas of fur lost in only one night.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Maniña


Maniña is a very happy monkey but very sensitive. He likes to be with other monkeys but he has become very accustomed to human company. Both Maniña and Schatov are allowed into our house at night and they look forward to this because there is a late night supper to be had. One night last week their routine was broken. We had received a young Laurel parrot and we wanted to give her special care on her first night with us. The consequence was that Maniña and Schatov were not invited in on that occasion. The following day was a difficult one. Maniña was clearly upset. He did not respond when I offered him a monkey biscuit and turned his back on me. It took two hours of coaxing before he finally relented and jumped in my arms. I was forgiven but only after I promised not to do it again.

Marco enjoying Hicaco


Marco is really happy in his new home in Manrique with his wife Vicky. They are very much in love and she is pregnant. Our picture shows Marco eating Hicaco. This is a very seasonal fruit so there is not much time to enjoy it. The picture is a recent one and I am amazed how big he has grown in such a short time. He is a very handsom fellow.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Emma and Nancy


Emma came to us from ARFA, although we were well acquainted before that. When she was quite tiny, we paid her frequent visits at the Hidra facility that ARFA operated at that time. In those days, ARFA released Howlers into the wild and all the preparation and quarantine of the monkey was aimed at that release. She was called Moneta by the staff, who had fallen in love with her. She is a very aggressive female. She defends her surrogate baby Nancy, furiously. This has made pairing her very difficult. Her natural partner would be Schatov but since she adopted Nancy she has lost all interest in him and is actually aggressive towards him. I am hoping that as Nancy grow that her attitude will change.
Many years ago we hosted a female called Emma. She had a child here at Canaote. Finally she released herself into the wild. She had an outstanding characteristic. She loved to walk and run on two legs and could often be seen standing on two feet. Well this is unusual for a Howler. Moneta, as she was then known, exhibited the same stance. We decided to rename her Emma. We hope that in other ways that Emma will one day emulate the earlier Emma and have a child.
Our picture shows Emma and Nancy alongside her.