Sometimes I’m given the task of obtaining urine samples from some of our animals for veterinary purposes. Some of our animals require routine urinalysis so that we can monitor the progression of various issues. Most of the time I spend my time trying to get urine from our three Red-ruffed Lemurs, which is surprisingly easy to do. For the most part the Red-ruffed Lemurs will pee in a cup for me! Some animals, like our former goat Chummix, are aRead more
Posts tagged: #Chummix
Another Difficult Goodbye: You’ll be missed Chummix
We started the blog over 5 years ago. Our goal was to bring you into the life of a Keeper at the Museum. Death is a part of life. Some animals die on their own, others are euthanized. In fact our very first blog post was about saying goodbye to Moo. As we’ve written previously, some days are tough and some days suck. Today has been one of those days. I’ve written in the past year about Chummix and his “old goat disease“. We’ve been monitoring him and the keepers have been workingRead more
A Veterinary Visit
This past Thursday our Farmyard veterinarians were here to check on the critters. Dr. Cannedy and Dr. Mozzachio arrived early on the chilly Thursday morning. Full physicals will occur in April, but Lightning needed some blood taken to see how his Cushing’s disease is progressing. While here, our old goat Chummix got checked out and so were the pigs. Miss Piggy looks great according to Dr. Mozzachio, but she took photos so she could compare body condition in a month or so.Read more
Big Word of the Month: Flehmen Response
Whatever you call it, if you have a pet cat at home (especially if it’s a male) you’ve likely seen this face before. It goes by many variations of the same name: Flehmen Response, Flehmen Position, Flehmen Reaction, or simply Flehming. Flehmen (pronounced: FLAY-men) Responses are used by a wide variety of hoofstock (ungulates) and many cats (felids). Males and females, adults and babies, all exhibit this silly facial expression. The silly look on the animal’s face helps toRead more
Chummix the goat/duck/rabbit
Earlier you would have seen the rabbits in their outside enclosure. However, a lot is going on in the farm yard. The rabbits have moved to the other side of their barn and when the duck goes in for the night he now stays on the rabbits old side. This morningChummix had to temporarily go into the ducks enclosure because of all the new construction and repainting that is going on in the farm yard. Chummix didn’t seem to mindRead more
Gatorade for Goats
Well, not for all goats, just Chummix. According to Dr. Cannedy Chummix is sick, with “old goat disease”. Chummix is watched closely, and has been for some time now. About six months or so ago Chummix lost a lot of weight. He was checked for all the typical diseases, and Dr. Cannedy has seen him three or four times since then. Chummix still eats and does his usual activities… he’s just old. Chummix is currently a shadow of what he used to be, and looks likeRead more