Hello everyone,
Everything I have written about so far has been a
life-changing experience in which I passionately invested my raw emotion and
dedication. I reaped the invigorating rewards of newfound medical knowledge,
understanding of human-animal interactions, or awareness of animal sentience. The
electrifying feeling from gaining any of these rewards is, for lack of a better
term, addicting. Even though I approach every veterinary or animal care task
with passionate dedication, it sometimes takes several days before I am
rewarded. This is why I have not written for the past week. I am finally ready
to write again.
On Tuesday, a calf came into the clinic that was in critical
condition. She had been born only 24 hours before—the umbilical cord was still
attached. She was a month premature, which meant that she was skin and
bones—much tinier than the typical newborn calf. She had chronic diarrhea and
was so dehydrated that her eyes were completely sunken into her skull. Her
temperature was very low, because as a premature calf, she did not have the ability
to regulate her body temperature. Her body was in shock due to the hypoglycemia.
To top it all off, she was very scared of us.
Janelle performed a fecal float, but did not see any
parasites, so we suspected that the diarrhea was caused by a nutritional
deficiency. The calf probably was too weak to stand when it was born, so it
could not reach its mother’s teat for milk. The other possibility is that since
the cow was a first-time mother, her colostrum (milk rich with antibodies and
nutrients needed by the newborn calf) did not come in for several hours. By
then, the calf was probably too weak to reach the teat.
It was imperative that we get fluids into this calf
immediately. Dr. Rogers inserted a catheter into the calf’s ear. After he gave
Cortisone to help with the shock, we attached the fluid line to the catheter to
administer IV fluids. We used Sabax Maintelyte With Glucose 5%, which would
provide the calf with electrolytes and the glucose needed to reverse the
hypoglycemia. We also administered fluids subcutaneously using Lactated Ringers
(also full of electrolytes). Because the calf’s temperature was so low, we
heated the bags of fluid before we administered them. We surrounded the calf
with blankets, hot water bottles, and heated sandbags to attempt to raise her
temperature. Dr. Rogers was confident that with a little bit of time, this calf
would make it. Luckily, the farmer brought her to the clinic in time.
Dr. Rogers delegated the care of this little calf to
Victoria and I. We were very excited for a project. We monitored the calf’s
temperature, urination, defecation, and energy levels. We changed her cage when
it was dirty and we changed the fluid bags when they ran empty. Unfortunately,
this little calf was scared of us and became upset if we took her out of her
cage.
Eventually, the farmer came back with some milk to give the
cow. She was able to stand briefly to talk the bottle and drank at least a
liter. However, this caused her to have terrible diarrhea an hour later. Dr.
Rogers decided that until her diarrhea improves, we should feed her very
little. We would feed her every two hours, alternating 500 ml of full cream
milk with 500 ml of electrolytes. By the end of the day, our little calf was
acting a bit more energetic and was readily taking the bottle, even though she
could barely stand and we had to support her during each feeding. I could not
wait to come back the next day to see if she had improved.
The next morning, she was lethargic again. The catheter had
stopped working in the middle of the night, so she had not received fluids for
several hours. We fixed the catheter and gave her the first feeding of the day.
After she had time to rest a little bit longer, I went back into the room with
her cage, sat in front of her door, and talked to her. This little calf had
stolen my heart. I was sure that she was lonely because she was away from her
mother, so I wanted to keep her company. After a while, she actually came
towards me! I cautiously opened the cage and pet her. She actually seemed to
like it. I opened the cage a bit more and she came forward. She sniffed me all
over—my hair, my shirt, my hands, my face—and made contented little grunts. Eventually
I had to leave to tend to another animal, but I kept stopping by the calf’s
cage throughout the day to give her some company. Throughout the day, her eyes
slowly came back, her energy improved, and she could stand for longer periods.
By the next day, she had improved even more! She was able to
walk on her own and eagerly came out of her cage to greet me. She still walked
quite slowly and unsteadily, but as Victoria and I exercised her throughout the
day, she became a bit steadier. Wherever we walked, she would try her best to
stay as close to us as possible. When we thought she was getting tired, we
would put her back in her cage and take turns sitting inside with her, stroking
her and talking to her. We kept her company constantly; babies are not meant to
be alone. The fact that babies need comfort is independent of species.
We moved her outside in the courtyard when it was warm
enough. To our surprise, she was scared of the grass! She stayed velcrowed to
our sides. We sat there with her for several hours. We got into a wonderful
little routine: we would feed her, she would hop around excitedly from the
influx of energy, and she would become tired and take a nap on our laps. When
she would wake up, she would just stand next to us, contently sniffing us while
we stroked her, until her next feeding. She would give me kisses by gently
sucking on my face and my nose. If I walked to the other side of the courtyard,
she would enthusiastically, albeit slowly, follow me to the other side, nudging
my leg for assurance that she had done a good job.
This was the first time I had nursed a baby animal, and I
found that it was incredibly satisfying. I loved this little calf. I loved her
so, so much. She thought we were her mothers. She wagged her tail when we
called to her and she never wanted us to leave her side. If, for some reason,
we needed to leave her in a cage for a bit, she would moo loudly and forlornly
until we returned to her. She needed love in order to recover from her
condition, and we were ready to give it to her. It was the first time I had
experienced what motherhood might be like—being near a newborn every moment of
the day, feeding her every two hours, and cleaning her when she was covered
with diarrhea. I felt a selfless sort of love that only a caretaker can feel
for a dependent. I cannot wait to feel this feeling again, when I have my own
children some day.
Yesterday, our little calf went home. It was very sad for
Victoria and I, who had dedicated the last few days to taking care of her. When
the farmer asked us if we had named her, we told him that her name was
Annabelle, after the calf in Annabelle’s
Wish, an American children’s movie. In this movie, a little brown calf
named Annabelle dreams of being a reindeer with Santa’s sleigh. Her caretaker,
a little boy, was left mute after a raging fire. For Christmas, Annabelle
selflessly wishes that her little boy could talk again in exchange for her own
voice. Santa grants her wish—Annabelle is muted forever. Annabelle grows older,
and one Christmas Eve, goes off to a field to die alone. Santa shows up just in
time and turns her into a beautiful, young reindeer. She joins his team and is
finally rewarded for her life of selflessness and love.
Both Victoria and I were thinking the same thing when we
began caring for this little calf. I suggested the name hesitantly, and then
Victoria immediately agreed. The movie had touched both of us when we were
younger. Of course, we had to keep this name a secret. It was against the
unofficial “rules” to name farm animals or strays, because then you can become
attached to them. We were already attached to this little calf; resisting
naming her was futile. We kept this name secret from the Provet staff until one
morning, Dr. Rogers asked us if we had a name for the calf. This was a big surprise
to us. We immediately said “Annabelle” in unison.
I miss our little Annabelle. I want to stroke her, to
breathe her in, to hear her little contented sounds. I want to see her little
tail wag when we feed her milk. I have thus decided that one day, I will
hand-raise a calf myself. Jack: be prepared to have a cow in your backyard.
Sincerely,