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Jun. 10th, 2006
Metronidazole
Jun. 10th, 2006 11:22 amSaturday 10:27 am
I got out of bed this morning super-extra early (yes, I do usually wake up before 6 but choose to stay in bed) because we'd bought the amoeba-medicine for the chimps and, since they have to get it one hour before eating and they usually get their bottles at 6:30 am, it was necessary to stretch a little to get them their first morning dose.
It was still dark when I unlocked the door into the kitchen, and explained to Valentin, one of the caregivers, about which chimp was to get how much medicine and at one time.
Even though only two of the four actually have amoebas, we still have to give all four kids medicine. I had my little syringe ready (5 ml) and I was pretty used to one-hand-loading it after all those feedings for Tate.
So, into the depot I went, Metronidazole in hand. I was thinking I might have to force-feed the kids, but they seemed to think it was tasty, delicious, and fought each other for second helpings. I hope human children are as easy!
Shege was a bit of another story, since she needed 20ml, which was 4x the 5ml syringe. She resisted at first, but I think the hunger of being denied food early in the morning made her a lot less picky.
I will say that administering drugs and going over dosages and times with the caregivers really filled me with veterinary spirit. It definitely made me feel more confident about my thoughts regarding veterinary school.
I got out of bed this morning super-extra early (yes, I do usually wake up before 6 but choose to stay in bed) because we'd bought the amoeba-medicine for the chimps and, since they have to get it one hour before eating and they usually get their bottles at 6:30 am, it was necessary to stretch a little to get them their first morning dose.
It was still dark when I unlocked the door into the kitchen, and explained to Valentin, one of the caregivers, about which chimp was to get how much medicine and at one time.
Even though only two of the four actually have amoebas, we still have to give all four kids medicine. I had my little syringe ready (5 ml) and I was pretty used to one-hand-loading it after all those feedings for Tate.
So, into the depot I went, Metronidazole in hand. I was thinking I might have to force-feed the kids, but they seemed to think it was tasty, delicious, and fought each other for second helpings. I hope human children are as easy!
Shege was a bit of another story, since she needed 20ml, which was 4x the 5ml syringe. She resisted at first, but I think the hunger of being denied food early in the morning made her a lot less picky.
I will say that administering drugs and going over dosages and times with the caregivers really filled me with veterinary spirit. It definitely made me feel more confident about my thoughts regarding veterinary school.
(no subject)
Jun. 10th, 2006 04:18 pmThat's something I'd prefer never to have happen again...
I was sitting in the office when a guy from ICCN walks up with another guy carrying a chimp on a chain. It's tiny, and male, and puts things in its mouth and bites down hard.
No,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lauren_lief, he didn't get my thumbs...
Very traumatized, though. He was called "Johnny" but, since we've named all our other chimps after the locations they were brought in, I named him "Gari" which is Swahili for "car" since he was confiscated out of a car heading into Rwanda.
I brought him over to the house this afternoon after calling Eddy, the vet from MGVP, to come and check Gari out. He seems generally okay, but he's extremely malnourished and definitely has the big African inflated "i have worms" belly.
He seems generally friendly, though, with a definite preference for men over women. You can almost always tell what sex "mothered" an infant chimpanzee. Maybe if a woman had mothered Etaito he wouldn't derive such pleasure from smacking me in the boobs or stomping on them.
On an entirely non-boob related note, it's so disheartening to have another chimp come in. Maybe in a previous mentality I'd have thought it was exciting, but to see this tiny little guy, who has NO hair on his neck, btw, because of the chain/collar he's probably worn for the last 6 months or more, shitting himself in fear because he doesn't recognize another chimpanzee... a conspecific!
Balume, by far our best caregiver, is bonding with him now and trying to earn his trust. He'll calm down infinitely more if he has someone he knows will protect him. He'll spend the night with him tonight and maybe tomorrow he'll feel brave enough to mingle with the others.
Gari's already been forced into socialization by Okeysha, our Houdini, who managed to squeeze through the window bars and terrorize Gari, who shat all over the floor in response. When I left the house, they seemed to be calming down a bit, though, and Gari was actually letting Okeysha get within 3 feet of him without screaming.
He has a bit of a funny face -- eyes like Etaito, but his teeth are awful and he ends up hanging his mouth sort of like an old toothless man. I took lots of photos (so did Carol, actually) and I'll try to upload them tomorrow from the office once people are off my bandwidth.
I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed, but oh-so responsible. Everything was up to me, today, and feeling responsible for the safety and well-being of my kids only endeared me to them more. I'm working on the AWARE website (redoing it) and I'd ask that once I've got PayPal up and running that people consider donating?
You'd know for sure that none of the money is going to me ;) I used to hate it here, but over the last couple days I've felt like I'll never really leave Goma for good.
I was sitting in the office when a guy from ICCN walks up with another guy carrying a chimp on a chain. It's tiny, and male, and puts things in its mouth and bites down hard.
No,
lauren_lief, he didn't get my thumbs...Very traumatized, though. He was called "Johnny" but, since we've named all our other chimps after the locations they were brought in, I named him "Gari" which is Swahili for "car" since he was confiscated out of a car heading into Rwanda.
I brought him over to the house this afternoon after calling Eddy, the vet from MGVP, to come and check Gari out. He seems generally okay, but he's extremely malnourished and definitely has the big African inflated "i have worms" belly.
He seems generally friendly, though, with a definite preference for men over women. You can almost always tell what sex "mothered" an infant chimpanzee. Maybe if a woman had mothered Etaito he wouldn't derive such pleasure from smacking me in the boobs or stomping on them.
On an entirely non-boob related note, it's so disheartening to have another chimp come in. Maybe in a previous mentality I'd have thought it was exciting, but to see this tiny little guy, who has NO hair on his neck, btw, because of the chain/collar he's probably worn for the last 6 months or more, shitting himself in fear because he doesn't recognize another chimpanzee... a conspecific!
Balume, by far our best caregiver, is bonding with him now and trying to earn his trust. He'll calm down infinitely more if he has someone he knows will protect him. He'll spend the night with him tonight and maybe tomorrow he'll feel brave enough to mingle with the others.
Gari's already been forced into socialization by Okeysha, our Houdini, who managed to squeeze through the window bars and terrorize Gari, who shat all over the floor in response. When I left the house, they seemed to be calming down a bit, though, and Gari was actually letting Okeysha get within 3 feet of him without screaming.
He has a bit of a funny face -- eyes like Etaito, but his teeth are awful and he ends up hanging his mouth sort of like an old toothless man. I took lots of photos (so did Carol, actually) and I'll try to upload them tomorrow from the office once people are off my bandwidth.
I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed, but oh-so responsible. Everything was up to me, today, and feeling responsible for the safety and well-being of my kids only endeared me to them more. I'm working on the AWARE website (redoing it) and I'd ask that once I've got PayPal up and running that people consider donating?
You'd know for sure that none of the money is going to me ;) I used to hate it here, but over the last couple days I've felt like I'll never really leave Goma for good.