Kham Meun
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Kham Meun, our lone male who of 50
years old had not been well for some time. He was taken
to stay at the Lampang elephant hospital and was there
for two and a half months. Their staff did the best they
could for him, but sadly he made little improvement
during his stay. Since we have recently been blessed
with the arrival of our new onsite elephant vet, Dr.
Pac. It was decided that the best thing for Kham Meun
was to bring him back home so he could be surrounded by
the elephants and humans here that are his friends and
'family' and that maybe this would boost his morale.
Upon Kham Meun's arrival Malai Tong, Faa Sai, Tong Jaan
and Mintra rushed to the medical center to welcome him
back with lots of squeaks, rumbles and trumpets that
went on for hours. They inspected every inch of his body
paying special attention to the places where he had
pressure wounds from leaning against support posts as
well as his existing problems. It is thought that Kham
Meun has a fractured front right foot joint but it is
very difficult to confirm as an elephant's leg and bones
are very thick and it is difficult to get a good image
with either an x-ray machine or a portable ultrasound,
both of which were used. His leg is extremely swollen at
the joint. He also has a toenail infection on his front
left foot, which appeared after the right leg injury.
This has made it very hard for him to bear weight on
either front limb. Overcompensating with his back legs
to take the pressure off of the front ones has been
quite exhausting for Kham Meun.
Kham Meun injured his wrist joint right at the end of
his annual musth, and as a result of this injury and the
lack of mobility that goes along with it, he has not
been able to regain his former strength, muscle tone or
vitality. He is receiving 24 hour care from Dr. Pac, who
is doing a great job, along with volunteer vet techs and
vet nurses, but despite the good care and special needs
diet, Kham Meun seems to be getting weaker. We are
hoping for the best, but we are starting to think he is
in too much pain and is so weak that he might not pull
through. We were hoping that we would be able to give
you an update that would have news that Kham Meun was
getting better, so we had waited for him to be back at
home for a little while. Though his pressure wounds are
healing well, he is still below optimum weight and has
been suffering from diarrhea.
06 Jan 10 We have just had the saddest news to
report. Kham Meun and Rara died today. More details
later. |
