It is with sadness that I have report to you that Spaulding, our exhibit gray fox for the past ten years, was euthanized on Monday, November 26 upon the recommendation of Dr. Lewandowski, Chief Veterinarian at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
Spaulding had shown symptoms of distress on Saturday and was taken to the zoo. Chest films showed lungs and pericardial sac full of fluid and his enlarged heart barely visible. Needless to say, Spaulding was in respiratory distress. Intensive treatment with oxygen tent therapy and large amounts of diuretics brought some relief and improvement by Sunday morning enough so that Spaulding ate some medicine laced meatballs. However his condition deteriorated on Sunday night and into Monday. He wouldn't eat and thus wouldn't take his medications. He again was in distress. Dr. Lewandowski felt that if we pursued herculean efforts, perhaps Spaulding would recover and linger a few more months. But the reality of the congestive heart failure is that he would be in intense pain, stressed by constant handling to administer medications, and he would have zero quality of life. Based on his assessment, I gave the go-ahead to euthanize Spaulding and permanently ease his suffering.
I want to thank Nikki McClellan, Melissa Terwilliger and Joe Dell'Anno for quick action on Saturday, identifying the problem and getting him to the zoo. He received world class care over the past three days.
Spaulding was a scrappy little fox with a great personality. Coming from a fur farm where he was kept under horrendous conditions, he was obtained by CMNH in 2002. In the move from the Raptor Center, where he was temporarily housed, to his exhibit, his leg broke. Upon treatment he was discovered to have metabolic bone disease, a condition that would lead to a lifetime of arthritis, dislocations and dental problems. This condition was a result of the abhorrent conditions of the Grand River Fur Farm where he was kept in darkness and fed a nutrient poor diet for the first year of his life.
And yet in spite of all of that he was a great exhibit animal, very responsive to training and enrichment and very interactive with visitors, often spending time in the very front of the enclosure, curious at passers-by. For ten years he was an outstanding ambassador for the Museum, educating and entertaining our visitors, giving them insights into this little known Ohio canid and only tree climbing member of the dog family. I will always have fond memories of him joyfully rubbing his back in the otters' towels, provided as enrichment, as well as lounging from the top of the artificial tree in his exhibit.
And in the end I am appreciative that he was able to spend his life with us, rather than be housed in a crowded wire cage suspended from the ceiling of a low dark pole barn, where his only use to his master was as a source of urine.
He will be missed.
Harvey
