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We’ve noticed recently that Kenya has been favoring her right front foot. She had been periodically shifting weight between her front feet, but we recently noticed her keeping weight off of the right more than the left. She has recently also started to shift the way she places weight on it while walking, focusing the brunt of her weight on the heel of her foot rather than the middle of her pad. We’ve written before about the state of her feet, explaining that they will need substantial amounts of attention, particularly the pads. We knew from seeing her at the ecoparque that her feet weren’t in great shape, but we had to examine her up close in order to create a plan to tackle her care. 

Right now, it’s the dry season in Mato Grosso, so all of the elephants’ feet are hardened and difficult to work with. Generally, we wait to work on them until the rainy season begins and their nails, cuticles, and pads start to soften. Though she often stands in mud, which can help, Kenya’s feet might take extra time to soften, due to the years she spent in Mendoza, which has an exceptionally dry environment. Kat and Scott tried to do some basic trimming, just to get her used to the process, and to quote Kat, “It was like taking a carrot peeler to a rock.” In order to start getting her feet in shape for trimming and helping Kenya get used to regular foot treatments, we’re going to try to start training for foot soaks. 

Those of you who remember Lady know that she often got foot soaks in the treatment chute in the barn. Neither Kenya nor Pupy seem to care too much for being in the chutes for checkups, so instead of creating a concrete foot soak tub in one of the chutes, we’re going to try a foot soak bucket. Sometimes it’s effective, but sometimes the elephants see the bucket as a toy and decide to play with it instead. From what we can see, her nails are short enough that they should not be the source of her discomfort. We’re almost completely certain that the issue is her pads, which you can tell are years overgrown. We’re using topical sprays with ingredients meant to draw the medications into the tissue, but that by itself is not going to solve the problem. We’re also using topicals to increase blood flow in the area. Because the pads seem to be pretty tender, we give her oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and mild pain medication along with her natural supplementation. (Elephants are especially sensitive to certain medicines, so they only require small doses in many cases.) She’s still walking and being silly and vocal, which is great, and we plan to continue working with her over time. 

Photo (above) of Kenya in profile; photo (below) of Kenya’s foot