My little vacation stealer
My buster Flapper is at the vet today.
He is having issues with his cloaca/vent again. It’s always going to be a chronic issue for him, but this problem is timed perfectly to mess up my vacation. I will know at the end of today if he needs surgery or if he needs daily medication. If he does, I am screwed for my planned vacation this Thursday-Sunday.
And he will totally have to buy me dinner for my birthday. I hope he saved his french fry money.
But seriously, he’s actually doing pretty well. He looks great and his weight is perfect, too (3.12kb/6.87lbs). This is just a chronic issue from his previous surgeries that flared up at the exact wrong moment for me. Whatever it takes to make my little buddy happy is the priority though, so if I have to reschedule my vacation and spend my birthday with him, that’s what I’ll do.
UPDATE: The vet has cleared me to go on vacation, but I’m still thinking about it and may go, but shorten it. I won’t be able to decide ’til I see how Flappy is feeling. He does have some weird tissue and scar tissue inside him, but he is still able to poop on his own. He’s on pain meds and anti-inflammatories while we get biopsies of the weird tissue back and research if/how we could do another surgery on him if it’s necessary. The surgery that would need to be done just hasn’t ever been done in ducks. The vet is thinking about researching human esophageal surgeries for best practices to see if any of it can be applied to Flapper’s case. For now he’s just fine. I pick him up in a few hours.
8 Comments
Happy birthday! Sorry to hear that your vacation might be messed up, but Flappy’s glad that you’ve got your priorities straight.
Poor sweet Flap. I hope his boy parts aren’t too irritated. Keep us posted.
I couldn’t go either if one of my kids was sick. I’m sorry this came in between your plans, but there’s another time for everything. I’m sorry Flapper is having issues again, poor boy, I hope the doctor can make him feel better real soon.
I guess Malley, Flapper, Chewy and Petunia will have to make you a peas-pie this time.
Good luck Flapper, you’ll be fine in no time:-)
I suspect it was the secret plan of Mr. Smarty Flapperpants all along, just so he can spend your birthday with him.
You can’t really have a relaxing vacation while worrying about his health anyway, can you?
Like spidey says, with great power comes great responsibility….
Maybe Flappypants is just planning a glamorous surprise party for you and wanted to make sure you’d be around…
Tiff: How did you know that Flap was having problems again? by looking at his bum? or his poop looks different? I’m glad he is doing ok. Maybe he’s just jealous of the new ducks hanging around and needs more peas, fries and attention. LOL
Gosh, i’m away from my computer for a few days and I have all this Mr. Flapper website articles to catch up on.
Gayle: Flapper seemed to be straining to poop in the last two days. I was worried that he couldn’t poop at all on his own, but the vet said he didn’t have any blockages and he is pooping okay for now. He has scar tissue and narrowing inside of him from his past operations on his reproductive system. It’s bound to cause him some chronic issues unfortunately. He looked great tonight though, and was straining a little less after pain medication and anti-inflammatories. Hopefully that’s all he needed for now.
I originally made him an appointment for next Monday with the vet. But when he seemed to be straining, I decided I couldn’t go on vacation until the vet confirmed he’d be okay if I left town.
Your love for your duckies (indoors and outdoors varieties) is inspiring. You are a great momma, Tiff.
Tiff,
Thanks for doing the right thing with Jane and notifying animal control… I wish more people shared your love for animals.