Mr Flapper Duck

Places Everyone

hello
Hello! Hello? Hey everyone, I’d like to take a family photo. Can you cooperate and get into your places for me?

good
“Is this good?”
That is pretty good, O’Malley. Yes. Oops. Simon? Can you back up a little bit?

eeps
“MOM! O’Malley is not posing. He’s chasing!”
O’Malley NO! Come back. Chewy, wait! Awww crud.

bug
“I am going on a bug hunt. Let me know when everyone else is ready.”
Okay, Chewy. I don’t think it’s going to work, so maybe I’ll just use this composite photo instead.

aah
Aaah yes, this is much easier. There we go. What do you think?

what
What is it, Flapper?
“Why didn’t you just do that in the first place, instead of making me stand close to O’Malley?”
I don’t know, buster. Good question.

ready
“I am ready for my close-up.”
That might be a little TOO close, Racquel.

better
“Is this better?”
Oh yes. That is very pretty, Racquel.

“You didn’t forget us, did you?”
Oh I’m sorry, crows. I wasn’t sure you’d want to pose with us since you’re wild.

this
“Is this my best side?”

this
“Or is this?”
They’re both very dashing, Mr. Crow. Thank you for posing.

Well we didn’t get everyone to pose together, but they all wanted to wish everyone out there a very happy new year.

And now that I have all of my family’s attention, I have a message for them.

letter
Dear feathered and furry family members:

Over the past month or so, many of you have not been feeling well. Simon stopped eating for a while, Chewy got a random infection, O’Malley had feather cysts and Racquel had a cold.

Now that you’re all feeling better and all doing well, please… PLEASE take care of yourselves. Or at least learn to take turns getting sick.

In December we had way, way too many vet visits. So let’s start the new year by resolving to stay healthy, okay? We’ll cut back on treats a little bit, get extra rest when we need it and stay out of the rain (this means you, Racquel). Don’t hesitate to let me know if you’re not feeling well, but let’s do all we can to stay healthy.

Lots of love,

Your devoted human
XOXOX

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

January 12, 2010|Chewy Magooey, Fuzzy Indoor Ducks, Mr Flapper, O'Malley Peepers, Petunia Peach, Rescues, Silly Human|6 Comments

The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Food

sweet
Sweet boy Simon went to the vet for an ultrasound this morning, to rule out any serious problems that may have caused him to lose weight. The good news is that they found nothing serious, and he has also maintained his weight of 15.7lbs for three weeks now.

The bad news was that Simon could not eat food from midnight last night until his appointment this morning, which he decided was cruel and unusual punishment.

Simon looked and looked for his food all night long, and would stand on my pillow to update me on the mystery of his disappearing food. Every hour or so, all night long, Simon gave me an update on the status of his missing food bowl.

“Where could my food be? I looked everywhere. It is still gone. Paw to the face. Are you listening? Poke poke. This is an important mystery we must solve. How can you sleep at a time like this? I will go look again and come tell you the status again.”

At least his appetite is better.

He was happy to be home from the vet and even happier to see that his food bowl had returned from the mysterious disappearance. He kissed his food and told his food how much he missed it, and then he ate it. Nom nom nom. Now he is licking his belly fur to get the vet cooties off before nap time.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

January 4, 2010|Fuzzy Indoor Ducks|7 Comments

Chewy, O’Malley and Simon, Oh My!

how
“How is Chewy doing?”
You’re very sweet to ask, Olivia.

snug
“Yeah how is he?”
Well, fuzzy butt… he is doing better.

thought
“I thought so. He still doesn’t want to snuggle though.”
That is true, Racquel. I’m afraid he won’t ever be a chicken-snuggler.

“Me neither.”
Awww… well I guess I’ll have to snuggle with Racquel myself then.

save
“Just save time to snuggle with me, okay?”
You got it, my Flappy Buster.

how
So how are you, Chewy?
“Me? I’m good.”

had
“I had to go back to the vet.”

“My number was 33.4 before, but now it’s down to 22.”

thibnk
“Theby menthb I’b gooble.”
What?

that
“THAT MEANS I’M GOOD!”
Oh! Yes, it does.

need
“I just need to get all these HUMAN COOTIES off of me!”
Ha ha good luck, Chewy.

Chewy’s blood work does show he is improving. He will need to do 10 more days of antibiotics and have another blood check to ensure he is all better. But he is definitely feeling good and eating well and acting much more like himself. It’s great to see him improve with simple antibiotics.

In other news, Simon wants everyone to know that he hates my singing.
really
“Please. Stop.”
Simon really can’t stand singing. He is eating a little better, but not good enough. We can’t decide if it is because something is really wrong with him, or if he just doesn’t like any of his 13 diet foods. Tonight he ate really well, because I gave him crappy Friskies wet food. That will cause rashes in him, but right now it’s more important that he eats well. He may start new medication tomorrow to see if we can continue to improve his appetite and get him eating better.

Lastly, O’Malley will be heading to the vet this Thursday morning.
what?
“What? No way. Why?”
Sorry, O’Malley. But we need to have you checked out.

mall
Remember nearly a year ago when O’Malley went to the vet for a fatty bump on his neck? Well now a year later he has several fatty growths on his chest. We think they are benign lipomas, which are literally fat tumors. They can be genetic or from bad breeding or other reasons. They generally aren’t life-threatening but they can get infected. As long as they don’t cause him discomfort, the vet will probably leave them alone. IF that’s what they are. But we need to confirm what they are and have them checked out. I have to say I’m a slight bit irritated that I caught this a year ago and then didn’t do anything more to follow up. Now O’Malley has a whole mess of these on his chest. I’m hopeful that it’s still not serious though, and thankfully he’s happy and active and eating normally. My status on this matter is “hopefully irritated.”

We’re happy Chewy is feeling better, hopeful that Simon will start eating more and hopeful that O’Malley’s growths aren’t serious. Olivia and Racquel are both doing well, and we’re happy for that, too.

And you, Petunia…
who
“Who, me?”
Yes, you. I didn’t want you to feel left out. So I want you to know you’re adorable and I love you and I’m happy that you’re healthy.

thanks
“Aww, thanks. Let’s celebrate with Cheerios.”
Good idea, Toony.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

December 22, 2009|Chewy Magooey, Fuzzy Indoor Ducks, O'Malley Peepers|9 Comments

Wednesday Chewy & Simon Update

choo
Today is Wednesday and Chewy wanted everyone to know that he ate his breakfast all by himself. He ate a TON of corn treats and some duck chow, too. Then he ate more corn. He did not need to be force-fed and he came out of his pen to play and look for worms.

We think he is stressed out by Racquel and Olivia, so they unfortunately got locked up in their night pen all day today, so Chewy could spend the day in the aviary with his wingman Flapper… without being chased by chickens who just want to snuggle.

We may build another partition in the aviary this weekend so Chewy doesn’t have to snuggle with Racquel and Olivia anymore. He needs a stress-free environment to recover from his infection. Maybe we will get Racquel and Olivia a big stuffed animal so they don’t miss their snuggles.

In other news, Simon ate a ton of food last night, too. We gave him his old food to see if he would eat it and boy did he ever. Even if it causes a rash again, the vet said it’s better to have him eating. So I think for today, both Simon and Chewy are doing very well.

It’s a good day.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

December 16, 2009|Chewy Magooey, Fuzzy Indoor Ducks|9 Comments

Simon Update

simon
Simon’s blood work came back very very normal. This is GREAT as his liver could have been damaged from losing weight too fast. His liver could still could get damaged if we can’t get him to eat better very soon, but for now… he’s in good shape. This is great news! He will stay on appetite stimulant drugs every day until he is eating a can of wet food each day. He takes pills just fine, and as long as he is eating on his own, I don’t have to force feed him again. Boy I sure hope he keeps eating on his own, because I will not survive if I have to force feed him.

This look he’s giving me in the photo above is the “please stop singing and never sing again” look. I was serenading him and he just hates singing so much that he paws my face and bites my chin to make the horrible noise stop. He ate several bites of food tonight at several different times, and also played with the laser light. Hopefully that means he’s feeling a little better.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

|Fuzzy Indoor Ducks|9 Comments

Chewy Update

update
I don’t have much of an update yet, but we did get Chewy’s blood work back.

wbc
Chewy’s white blood count is high, meaning he has some kind of infection. I have not discussed the blood work results with the vet yet, so I don’t know what any of it means. All the stuff in the “out of range” column is bad.

Tonight he came inside and I tube-fed him so he has some food in his belly. I also gave him his antibiotic. Tomorrow I will get to talk to the vet about his blood work results and also pick up some metacam for him (anti-inflammatories and pain medication).

Tonight after I fed him I put him in a carrier for awhile to see if he would settle down and rest. He got agitated and just wanted to go back outside with his buddy Flapper, so I let him go back outside. He seems strong and alert tonight, especially after I fed him. I will tube-feed him again in the morning and hopefully the antibiotics will start to kick in.

Then we can start to think about what caused the infection.

In other news, Simon is not eating well tonight, so I’m just about to force-feed him. Wish me luck… I think it’s going to be harder on me than it is on him.

UPDATE: Force-feeding Simon was the most asinine 8-minutes of my life so far. And my life has been pretty asinine. After I tried to force-feed Simon I did laundry and mopped the floor. Now I’m dressing and disinfecting my wounds.

I’ll share more when we know more.

Thanks for all the well-wishes.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

December 14, 2009|Chewy Magooey, Fuzzy Indoor Ducks|6 Comments

Chewy to the Vet

choo
Chewy hasn’t been feeling like himself since sometime Thursday night, so we took him to the vet this evening.

hide
He really, really hates to go to the vet, and he hides in my arms so he’ll be invisible. Chewy has been so healthy his entire life, that he hasn’t had to go to the vet much.

[Click the x-ray for a larger view]Chewy had an x-ray, just to be sure he didn’t eat anything metal. I was a little bit worried because I woke up Thursday night to find him standing in the kitchen, instead of in his regular sleeping area. Thankfully, his x-ray looks good. He also had blood work drawn tonight and was given some baytril and sub-q fluids to keep him hydrated.

choo
Chewy will go to his regular vet tomorrow, and his blood results should be back then, too. Hopefully he is just a little under the weather from the cold snap we’ve had and the stress of having to sleep in the dining room for a few days.

Flapper doesn’t like it when his best wingman isn’t feeling well, so we wish Chewy a very speedy recovering from whatever’s bugging him.

In other news, Racquel’s cold is finally better. But Simon has been having health issues too.

vet
Simon had to go to the vet on Saturday because he hasn’t been eating well. I know! Crazy, right? SIMON not eating?? He has been on a special drug for his rashes for about six weeks. He was also supposed to lose weight during that time because he is too fat. But unfortunately that drug for his rashes didn’t agree with him and he ended up losing way too much weight, way too fast. In six weeks he went from over 19lbs to 15.7lbs! That drastic weight loss can be very bad for a cat’s liver. So Simon’s blood results will be back on Tuesday and in the meantime he is on anti-nausea medication, pain medication and appetite stimulant to help make sure he eats enough. I think he ate enough today, but if he doesn’t eat better every day he will need to be force-fed until his appetite picks up again.

In addition to having both Simon and Chewy at the vet this weekend, we also finished up two final papers for two graduate courses that were due at 9pm tonight. Never a dull moment at Flapper’s house!

Thankfully it is warm enough for the ducks to be back outside, and I know Chewy prefers that. I’ll update more on both Simon and Chewy as we get more info, and in the meantime, send a few good thoughts if you have some to spare.

Best,

Tiff and the gang

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

|Chewy Magooey, Fuzzy Indoor Ducks, Silly Human|13 Comments

Simon the Cry Baby

Simon went to the vet today. He has been rashy for over 5-years, but right now it’s really bad. He is doing just fine, and has new medication. He also has a new grain-free food. But as you can see from the video, Simon is not fond of going to the vet’s office.

I swear this was worse on me than it was on him. Poor baby.

NOTE: He was supposed to lose weight but he managed to gain almost a pound. He weighs 19.7lbs now. He should weigh 16lbs.

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

October 24, 2009|Fuzzy Indoor Ducks|5 Comments

Twitchy Sleepy Simon

Simon is kind of twitchy when he sleeps.

Simon from tifotter on Vimeo.

I think he was dreaming about catching bugs in the aviary. Run run run run JUMP and CATCH!

Permalink|Comments RSS Feed|Trackback URL

October 13, 2009|Fuzzy Indoor Ducks|4 Comments

Well Hello There

Hi Petunia. How’re you today?
hello
“Well, hello there. Do you by chance have any treats?”

I do. I brought you some Cheerios.

“Excellent. Let me just get my…”

zoinks
“ZOINKS! I will take that Cheerio!”
Uh oh, that’s not a good idea, Olivia. I have some more for you.

kidding
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?! Oh, you’d better RUN!”
Whoa, look out everyone. Petunia is NOT happy.

what
“What’s going on? Did Olivia steal another Cheerio?”
Yep, I’m afraid so, Turk.

brave
“I don’t know if that’s brave or stupid.”
Good point. You have a little something there on your snout.

pretty
“Hey, Turk. You look very pretty with that feather on your beak.”
He does have a feather stuck on his caruncle, doesn’t he.

hee
“Hee hee he totally does.”

“Come back, Turk. We’re just kidding.”
He’ll be back. I put some Cheerios over there for him so he didn’t have to face the wrath of Petunia.

funny
“I think Olivia is pretty funny.”
Oh yeah, Chewy? Well you’d better not get any ideas from her. You try and stay on Petunia’s good side, okay?

“Good thinking. Okay.”

All the ducks, including the foster ducks and even the foster chickens, are doing well.

muppet
Racquel L’Oreal is growing some new feathers.
“Put me down!”

better
“That’s better. Now get me some peas.”
She is a feisty little muppet. She does not like Cheerios, but she does expect treats, either corn or peas. Some mornings she sings until I let her out of her pen, and she greets me with a song when I get home from work.

lap
Rex has turned into a lap duck. He never chases or bites anymore, and he loves to sit and listen to stories. Both Rex and Turk are molting their horrible old feathers right now, and starting to get beautiful new ones. They still have a few weeks of molting before they’ll be all dressed up in new feathers, and I can’t wait to see what they look like.

malley
Petunia and O’Malley are both doing well, and finishing up their molt. O’Malley is very, very cranky when he molts, so I try to steer clear of him except when he wants to cuddle.

choo
Chewy is sweet as a button, as always. Well, except when he’s chasing Petunia. He even likes to hang out with the chickens.

flappy
And Flapper is the light of my life, as always.

He likes Cheerios, too. But he prefers to eat them right off the spoon with a little rice milk or almond milk. I will have to get a video of him eating his Cheerios sometime soon.

life
Life is good in the yard right now, and that is always great for me. After such a busy season, it’s nice to have a few calm days, even if we still have a few rescues to place in permanent homes.