Mr Flapper Duck

Sam & Lily finally got the all clear from the vet today, meaning they don’t seem to have a contagious disease. So they can finally be around my ducks (and out of my basement). You’ll be able to see them now and then on Flapper cam as they recover, and of course in photos. They’re with me for at least the next few months, if not forever. Lily may be a little too loud for my neighbors, but we’re going to try it and see how she does. (I have great neighbors. Hi, neighbors!) I think a duck quacking is way better than a dog barking, but I’m biased.

Sam & Lily enjoy some treats on the lawn while O’Malley and Petunia gawk at them from the other side of the fence.

Sam came over to the fence to tell off O’Malley. I love this photo. You can almost hear O’Malley thinking “Oh no he did not just say that to me!” while Petunia smack talks back to Sam from the safe region known as the far-side of O’Malley. O’Malley sometimes reminds me of Oglethorpe, the orange pointy alien from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It’s an obscure reference, so here’s a video clip.

Lily is a beautiful girl with a big attitude.

She is missing a ton of feathers on her belly.

She’s also missing all the feathers on her head and neck.

And some down her back.

She’s way too thin, but she’s gaining weight.

She has a few swollen toe joints, and a few callouses that are like mild bumblefoot. We’re putting some blue antibiotic cream stuff on them.

Sam has some balance issues and possibly some neurological issues, and rocks back on his leg joints now and then. He has an infection, but it has been improving with antibiotics. He is underweight, but not as underweight as Lily. He’s also not missing as many feathers.

Both of them seem happy to be out and about in the yard, even if Flapper & O’Malley don’t seem too keen on them yet. Chewy is hilarious through it all. He just stays away and does his own independent thing like he always does. “Whatever… I’m busy” is his attitude.

I know Flapper and O’Malley will come around, and Lily & Sam will fit in… as long as Flapper doesn’t have to share his french fries.

I did notify animal control and asked them to check-in on the other animals from this owner for two reasons. First, the ducks had a parasite that spreads to other animals through feces. And second, Jane suffered. Jane suffered so terribly, over weeks and weeks. That isn’t my conclusion, that’s the opinion of the veterinarians who treated her. I have purposely left out most of the details on her history because the family deserves some privacy. They didn’t ask for a crazy duck lady with a blog to spew all about this online. But this is my blog. They can start their own. I have tried to just focus on Jane, because I cared for her day in and day out to try and save her, and I know all of you shared her struggle with me.

Frankly, there is no excuse for a duck to be in that condition. Ever. No matter what. There are always options, including humane euthanasia. When an animal is suffering, it’s not enough to do what you can, you must do ALL you can to help them. Here are the nanny’s OWN WORDS on Jane, written on Tue, 17 Mar 2009, when she originally asked for help for her:

“I wonder if you have contacts in WA regarding rehabiliation or rescue? I nanny for a family that has 4 turkeys and 5 ducks. One of the ducks has difficulty walking (over a week now) and this morning it snowed and he was the only duck shivering. I feel so bad for this duck and I can’t watch him suffer. I was told a previous duck had similar simptoms last summer and it eventually died. They thought the first duck had been stepped on by one of their goats but to be sure they did a round of antibiotics with it, tried soaking the sore leg, etc., and it still died. I am pretty sure this sick duck I am writting about is not receiving any treatment.”

I’ve been called an extremist and been told I’ve crossed the line by talking with animal control. All animal control does is drop by and check on the animals. I contacted them because that’s not my job, I don’t have time to do it, and I don’t want to regret not making sure those animals are fine. I only care about preventing suffering. And ducks. The end. There were two minor issues that animal control found, and both are easily remedied. Animal control is the agency that can follow up on that. I do believe the animals will be just fine, though I recommended they not keep ducks anymore. But that’s their decision and I’m not taking any more commentary on it, from anyone. I will say the minor embarrassment of having an animal control officer tour your yard is NOTHING compared to the suffering Jane endured. We should all be so lucky to suffer only minor embarrassment in life.

Lastly, I will say that this experience has been overwhelming for me. It was just about more than I could take and then some. I shared Jane’s story to help her, not to embarrass the family. At times I am sympathetic to their situation, and then I look at that photo of Jane and remember her dying in my arms and I get so angry I can hardly see straight.

Sharing Jane’s story resulted in more donations than I’ve ever seen before. I was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of everyone who donated to the over $800 in vet bills for Jane, Sam & Lily. People donated from all over the United States, Australia, the Netherlands and beyond. Some donated $5 and some donated over $100. All donations helped make a difference more than you know. These are tough economic times for most everyone, and people still donated.

Jane got the best chance possible because of people like you.

Thank you.

By the way, in case you were wondering, Sam & Lily are not returning to that home.

No comments on this post. Let’s let Jane rest in peace, okay?

Here’s the picture of Jane right after we picked her up:

And here’s the statute on animal cruelty in the second degree…

16.52.207
Animal cruelty in the second degree.
(1) A person is guilty of animal cruelty in the second degree if, under circumstances not amounting to first degree animal cruelty, the person knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence inflicts unnecessary suffering or pain upon an animal.

(2) An owner of an animal is guilty of animal cruelty in the second degree if, under circumstances not amounting to first degree animal cruelty, the owner knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence:

(a) Fails to provide the animal with necessary shelter, rest, sanitation, space, or medical attention and the animal suffers unnecessary or unjustifiable physical pain as a result of the failure;

Does waiting this long to take advice and seek medical care for a duck constitute animal cruelty?

What do you think?

Well… unfortunately Uno the senior dog we were thinking of adopting does not play well with cats. His petfinder profile has been updated to say this:

“I would do best though in a home with no cats or small critters – just too tempting to chase! I’m so excited to find my new family – I can’t wait to be your numero uno!”

I was hoping he could be our numero Uno, but Meelee would not do well with a chaser in the house. She’s too old and fragile. (Simon could probably use the exercise). So we’re going to hope that Uno finds another good forever home without felines.

Sorry Uno! I hope you find a forever home soon, buddy!

Mr. Dodo popped in to say hello and give us an update.

As you can see, these kids are “3 amigos” now. I can barely tell which one is Juno and which one is Mr. Dodo (I think Mr. Dodo is the one looking at the camera). Fling of course is always easy to spot with her super cute magpie markings.

Erin, Adrian & family say they’re getting along perfectly and seem really at ease together. Mr. Dodo walked in there like he was meant to be there all his life, and I couldn’t be happier to see him so settled and content.

Happy foraging, 3 amigos!

Today I was the mean lady who took Sam & Lily to the vet’s office for a check-up.

Sam was not impressed. He seemed a little hurt that I would betray him by letting strangers ruffle his feathers. He is a big lug of a duck, even though he is underweight.

Lily is a biter duck, so she didn’t take any $#!% from the vet today. She is way too thin, but gaining weight.

Both of them are doing okay, but not great. One of them… I think Lily… has some blood in her feces. We’ll get back some test results on Saturday, which will show if they have an infection. They had a negative fecal test today, which hopefully means the parasite medicine worked.

Unfortunately, Jane’s necropsy showed really, really bad stuff. So the vet is worried that she may have had a contagious disease. Because of that, Sam & Lily are still in quarantine and can’t play outside or be around other animals.

Jane’s necropsy showed she had:

– severe, extensive yellow fibrin protein all over inside her
– pericardia sac infection, with adhesion – heart sac was filled with gelatin-like fibrin
– hugely enlarged spleen – enormous
– damaged liver
– septic arthritis
– she was emaciated (starving)

There was no chance she’d survive unfortunately, but we couldn’t have known that until the necropsy.

I was hoping the vet visit would go better and that Sam & Lily would be pronounced healthy so they could go into the yard with my own ducks while they finish their recovery. But until we know more about how Jane got so sick, they’ll have to stay in quarantine. The vets said they’d never seen a heart look like that before, with gelatin around it.

Just a note: I am not a vet, so my vet explanations sometimes get a little jumbled. Please don’t take the description above to be word-for-word what the vet said. She used the right terms and said it intelligently. This is my lay-person interpretation of it. Also, I originally got the parasite written down wrong last week – the ducks had capillaria, not cryptosporidiosis.

Sam & Lily look so much better off than Jane did… I sure hope they don’t have a contagious disease. They were both very good kids at the vet today, and they look out for each other. Sam gets upset if he can’t see Lily, and I know he stuck by Jane ’til the very end.

Thank you again for everyone who has donated to help these ducks this week. You have really made a difference in the quality of care they received, and I could not be more grateful.

Jane passed away in my arms tonight at 9:36pm.

I was really pulling for her, and I know all of you were, too. She got the best chance she could have, but her little tiny body had been through too much neglect. I like to think that she helped save Sam & Lily from future suffering… even if she didn’t get to enjoy a happy future with them.

Rest in peace, sweet girl.

XOXOX