She arrived at the facility as a fawn, torn from familiar surroundings
by conditions and events beyond her control. She was young and scared,
alone and injured and paralyzed. People were handling her, a cause
for fear in her young life of but a few short weeks. Yet somehow,
those eyes that were full of new sights, the mind that could not
yet comprehend the events, understood that here there was a chance
to live. And from those eyes, came a simple question, "Will you
help?"
She had white muscle disease, a condition fatal in all but a minuscule
number of cases. Yet her heart had the fight and her spirit was
of such conviction that she would not allow herself to die. The
battle for her life was on. What had been tried in the past to save
animals in this condition had not worked. So with blind determination,
some guessing, a lot of good intention, and pure aggressive love,
the volunteers went to work. The more they did, the more she asked
for help; and the more she responded. Whatever it was we did, she
fought with us and had the will to let us try more. And all the
while a bond of trust was forming. Yes, she must have tired of the
continuous prodding and sticking and medicines and all the other
things she did not understand, but she allowed us a glimpse of her
resolve to live. She was given the name Nutmeg to match the gentle
coloring of her breed and the spice of life that reflected her drive
for continued existence.
Day by day she strengthened, defying odds, stealing our hearts,
flaunting the fact she should have died and not caring that she
was making history. Then one day she stood and took her first steps.
A small creature, a life formerly of the wild, was now standing
in our world with the quiet grace only a deer can muster, to now
be known as Miracle.
She
was given the freedom of the inside of the building during quiet
times, and she gave to us her trust. As is normal in this type of
facility, other deer came in. These were not to survive due to severe
injury or trauma. However, Miracle, allowed to roam free, would
lie next to them providing what comfort she could, conveying to
the injured deer a sense of safety and a promise of medical assistance.
She was paying us back for all that we had done. The money and time
spent was now in balance.
All too soon it was time for her to grow up as a deer, free of
human interaction, and she was placed in the pen with her companions.
She grew to a beautiful example of what a deer should be.
Then tragedy struck. An injury befell her through a set of circumstances
that no one could foresee nor have prevented. A badly slipped disc
in her neck, a life threatening condition, caused her to be unable
to hold up her head and robbed her of the ability to walk. Yet even
in the pain that she must have been in, she maintained the dignity
she had always shown and still showed the trust that she bestowed
on us. She let us know that she was willing to fight for life if
we would help her one more time with our knowledge. The medical
tests were done, and the decision was made that all looked good
enough to try and fix the problem. Doctors were lined up and all
was in readiness. The trust was still in her eyes as they closed
when the anesthesia was administered.
Surgery was started, but due to massive complications, no cure
was to be effected. She had no miracles left to give us. At this
point the only thing to do was to give her the dignity of a peaceful
and quiet sleep.
But this not the end of our lady. Through her courage as a spotted
fawn and her patience with our trial methods, she allowed us to
find a possible way to stop white muscle disease. We will unfortunately
need another deer with the same affliction in order to again use
the same methods as we used on her. Should the same methods prove
effective on future victims of this terrible situation, then not
only will her life had a great meaning, but she will have indeed
lived up to the name she rightly earned:
Miracle.
White Muscle Disease, also known as Capture Myopathy, is a condition
caused when an animal is restrained or pursued for an excessive
amount of time. It is much like runners cramp but more severe. A
Deer will continue fleeing from a predator, in spite of the pain,
to the point of exhaustion and collapse. Unless treated within the
first few hours after onset, lactic acid builds up in the body and
begins destroying the muscle tissue, causing lameness, kidney failure,
and eventually death.
After Bob wrote the above article, two
fawns came to Sarvey suffering from the same deadly muscle condition.
We are pleased to add that Miracle's spirit does continue as the
treatments developed while caring for her proved to be effective
and successful for them as well.
;)