Weekend Update

danny
Danny girl went to the vet today for another check-up. She has been here nearly a month now. She came to us after being found in a ditch. She had swallowed metal and was near death from metal poisoning and infection.

This was her original x-ray of the metal she swallowed:
original
It was such a big chunk of metal then. It has gotten smaller over time, and we’ve been trying to see if it will break up on its own so she doesn’t have to have surgery to remove it.

new xray
Look at it now! The metal has broken down into smaller pieces, and she is still on chelation medication to bind it and keep it from poisoning her. This is really great progress!

freckle beak
She will continue on medication to bind the toxins and go back in for another x-ray in another two weeks to see if the metal is gone. She still stumbles on her feet, but her mind is clear and she can get around on her own.

duck
I’m not sure if she has permanent neurological damage from her metal poisoning, but it doesn’t matter. If we can get the rest of this metal out of her she will have a great prognosis and a happy, healthy future. She gets around good enough to care for herself, and that will do.

snow
In other news, the whole flock has been cooped up for days while two big storms barreled through the Seattle area. Now I understand the term “cooped up,” because they got a little stir crazy.

thaw
But today the world finally began to thaw, and they came out of their coops into the big mud pile that is now our yard. The aviary needs some repair after the heavy snow collapsed some areas of the net, but that will wait a bit because we have two more wind storms headed our way.

petunia ramona
Petunia and Ramona really enjoyed doodling in the slushy mud puddles.

O'Malley
And O’Malley left his footprints in the melting snow.

Toro
Toro got some much-needed lap time (I needed it more than he did).

conver
And we had some good conversations about bugs and crows and a fat squirrel.

toony
Petunia had some lap time too, but she wasn’t as fond of it.

cindy
Cindy Buttons hopped up on her favorite perch (me) and directed all the afternoon bug hunting activities.

toto
She and Toro are good friends, and Olivia too (she’s hiding behind Toro).

sunshine
Even the new guy Miles came outside to enjoy some sunshine today.

fat squirrel
He was also interested in keeping an eye on the fat squirrel that Toro and I discussed.

swim
Then he had a nice swim in the outdoor tub.

Check out this video of he and the Ramona Monster sassing each other.

I love having Miles around because he makes the same sounds as Flapper did. I haven’t had a Flapper-sounding duck since Flapper passed away last March. It’s fun to have a low-bwah’ing, donkey honking charmer around again, though of course it’s not the same.

Miles is doing well so far, and hopefully his leg will improve. He did have a high white blood count, so he’s on antibiotics for at least 14-days, likely a month. Septic arthritis infections take a long time to clear up, but they usually improve quite a bit. He can’t stay forever, as we’re pretty full here and he’s too aggressive for Lester & Danny, and too vulnerable to put with O’Malley. But I like having him around for now.

weather
That’s it for now from the house of ducks & clucks. The snow is pretty but we’re glad it has moved on.

Quacks,

Tiff and the flock

21. January 2012 by Silly Human
Categories: Check-Ins | 7 comments

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