Cookie and Baby Elsa
Cookie was rescued from a New Jersey auction with a bun in her oven.
There was a problem soon after Cookie gave birth. And it was a problem which, left unchecked, would have resulted in Elsa’s DEATH.
Poor momma Cookie would not allow Elsa to nurse. Sadly, this is not uncommon and can happen for many different reasons.
Elsa needed a lot of help, we knew it would take a miracle for such a young donkey.
But without milk and colostrum from her mother, Elsa would have died. So Cookie and Elsa were rushed to the hospital where Elsa received IV antibiotics and plasma transfers to develop her immune system. She also received milk replacement as the staff attempted to create a bond between mother and daughter in hopes cookie would soon let Elsa nurse.
These procedures meant that Elsa had a long stay in the hospital.
Eventually, with patience and coaching, Elsa got 25% of her milk needs from nursing from her momma. But that wasn’t enough for her to survive … so we gave here the remaining 75% through milk replacement formula.
And the best news of all came after all those hard weeks of work and prayer … Elsa was going to survive!
Yes, the IVs, the plasma transfers, and the milk replacement formula did save Elsa’s life
The best part came when Elsa returned home. She and her developed a closer bond.