In this last post in the series of “Virginia Bear Updates” we’ll talk about her treatment. Administering Virginia’s daily medicine takes a bit of time, but fortunately the team has figured out a routine that works well. Below is my bucket of grapes and dried fruit, along with syrup ( and my stool to sit on while giving meds). If you want to see Kate preparing and giving Virginia meds, click here. (This is a link to a 30 minuteRead more
Posts filed in: Bears
Virginia Bear Update–Post #4, Sedation and Safety
We left off the last Virginia bear update with her being wheeled into the room to get ready for the work that was to come. The first part of getting Virginia “seen” by the team of specialists was getting her to sleep– or sedated. Our bear crate has a variety of doors and little “windows” we can use to help make this happen safely. The general plan was reviewed with the team, and then we began: I “called” Virginia toRead more
Virginia Bear Update- Post #3, People
You saw in the last post, Transporting Virginia, how many people we needed. Probably about 20 Museum staff helped. Tasks included preparing the crate, gathering materials for securing the crate, creating the actual “catch” plan, scheduling bodies for lifting the crate, or actual moving of the crate, as well as a few people tending to all the internal and external communicating this effort required. Once in Raleigh, there were probably over 50 people at the College of Veterinary Medicine atRead more
Virginia Bear Update- Post #2, Transport
The last post about Virginia ended with us needing to make a plan to get Virginia off the cliff. We gathered our bear crate out of storage and began planning. Numerous ( I think 20) people began working on all the details needed. My notes outline for this project is 6 pages long and it’s called CLIFF CATCH CRATE. (I like alliteration). In general, the points below were those to focus on. crate security and functionality securing crate in positionRead more
Virginia Bear Update, Post #1
I mentioned the end of November that we would have a series of posts about Virginia’s health condition, her recent challenges, and her trip offsite for diagnostics. I’ll set the stage today for what’s to come in the blog posts BACKGROUND: how did we get to today. TRANSPORT: how do you get a bear that won’t come down the cliff to the house, and then, how do you get her offsite for her medical appointment. PEOPLE: just how many peopleRead more
Virginia Bear Update: laser and more
Readers know Virginia has extensive osteoarthritis. She receives multiple medicines and laser treatments to help. Some photos (and video) below. We’ll be doing a series of posts in December about Virginia’s recent challenges, and her trip to the NCSU Vet School for a CT scan. Read more