mblack03
In the Brooder
- May 16, 2020
- 24
- 16
- 26
Hi!!
Some of you have probably read my last few threads regarding my little handful; and to those who haven't, nice to meet you!
My previous threads have all outlined my journey with my 5/6 week old mallard, Moe.
Moe has slipped tendon, and will not be able to live a normal duck life.
At first (as documented by my Slipped Tendon Troubles thread) I felt very hopeless. Moe was from a flock of rescues, and upon hearing the news from our vet that little could be done, I felt so hopeless for her future and guilty that I won't be able to give her the life I know she would have loved.
With that being said, Moe is not saying goodbye.
I left off my most previous thread by saying we needed some time away and that we would look into surgical options that my vet recommended to us. Both the vet and the surgeon told us that either operation we go through with tends to have little to no results, which I appreciated being told upfront. Though that prior night, I spoke to my mother about what we could do for Moe if the surgery is too much (which was our only concern at the time).
Our vet told us that despite her slipped tendon, Moe is perfectly happy and healthy. It's so silly to say goodbye when she's being such a trooper. At the time when I was speaking to her, I felt out of options and truly alone in my fight for her.
Then she sent me this thread.
It absolutely changed my entire night, my entire attitude.
I was so overwhelmed I didn't know how to respond; my mother told me it's nonsense to put her down. She essentially told me she would be taking Moe in as an assisted living/disabled house duck so we can make her life comfortable and happy despite her injury. This is also something the surgeon recommended, so we feel by doing this we are making the right choice.
We will continue to bandage the leg, and as she gets more comfortable in her new life, may invest in slings or even a wheelchair. Since she will be living with my mother, Moe will be seperated from her siblings. This has wracked me around emotionally (again, I wish I could've helped provide her the life she wanted+deserved) but we currently are looking into options for a friend with plans for the three to see each other every week. We're getting her a wadding pool and reusing an old dog house for when she gets bigger and more comfortable outside+her new life. I'm so beyond excited and ready to take on this new stage of Moe's life, this second chance.
Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Again, we are dealing with a possibly lifelong leg injury.
As brought up in my last thread, Moe's webbing began to swell. As of Monday it completely fell; but today I've noticed her left foot may still have some remaining swelling going ft. some discoloration in her webbing to boot. We'll continue to soak her foot with epsom salt as that seemed to work best + her anti-inflammatories. Because the slipped tendon is on the left leg, I'm getting increasingly worried about her right.
After a 15-20 minute splash in the bath, I noticed her right leg seemed to give out. She chirped pretty loudly and immediately fell. I would've been more frightened, however I saw this happen Monday in a similar way after a bath with her siblings (and mind you I was a blubbering, hysterical mess. I was so worried she had ANOTHER hurt leg
). I'm worried if one day her right will just completely go lame from overuse, however I hope as she gets older and hardier she'll build up strength and we'll also get into a routine that benefits that leg.
I'm not with my mother this week, so it's been hard managing everything practically by myself (my father is usually fairly apathetic towards these kinds of things and tends to be very rough with the ducks- I'm too nervous to have him help me administer her oral anti-inflammatories
), as well as I trust her judgement way more than mine.
Besides all of this, Moe is doing great. I've been a little worried about her not eating and drinking as much today. however as mentioned earlier she did have a swim and is probably tired.
Moe has been standing and walking fairly decently!! Recently she's been resting her left foot under her when she lays; she still has a slap-walk going on but it's a lot better than what it was!! The swelling is still an issue as I don't think she can comfortably fold her webbing in, but hopefully soon we can get it back down.
This is definitely a new challenge for us.
I've been on an emotional rollercoaster recently, worrying about this, fretting about that; hell I think I care more about her needs than I care about mine, but next week when we get her setup, I'll have an extra set of hands that cares just as strongly as I do and a lot more time to myself. This week's been a rollercoaster, and as much as I love my little Moe I would really like to have the other half of my bed back.
If anyone has any further resources/threads/advice for assisted living, disabled, or even house ducks that I can look into, I would beyond appreciate it. I realize this isn't exactly the life I had hoped for her, but regardless I'm so filled with joy that we're giving her this chance.
You can't spell home without Moe, after all.
Some of you have probably read my last few threads regarding my little handful; and to those who haven't, nice to meet you!
My previous threads have all outlined my journey with my 5/6 week old mallard, Moe.
Moe has slipped tendon, and will not be able to live a normal duck life.
At first (as documented by my Slipped Tendon Troubles thread) I felt very hopeless. Moe was from a flock of rescues, and upon hearing the news from our vet that little could be done, I felt so hopeless for her future and guilty that I won't be able to give her the life I know she would have loved.
With that being said, Moe is not saying goodbye.
I left off my most previous thread by saying we needed some time away and that we would look into surgical options that my vet recommended to us. Both the vet and the surgeon told us that either operation we go through with tends to have little to no results, which I appreciated being told upfront. Though that prior night, I spoke to my mother about what we could do for Moe if the surgery is too much (which was our only concern at the time).
Our vet told us that despite her slipped tendon, Moe is perfectly happy and healthy. It's so silly to say goodbye when she's being such a trooper. At the time when I was speaking to her, I felt out of options and truly alone in my fight for her.
Then she sent me this thread.
It absolutely changed my entire night, my entire attitude.
I was so overwhelmed I didn't know how to respond; my mother told me it's nonsense to put her down. She essentially told me she would be taking Moe in as an assisted living/disabled house duck so we can make her life comfortable and happy despite her injury. This is also something the surgeon recommended, so we feel by doing this we are making the right choice.
We will continue to bandage the leg, and as she gets more comfortable in her new life, may invest in slings or even a wheelchair. Since she will be living with my mother, Moe will be seperated from her siblings. This has wracked me around emotionally (again, I wish I could've helped provide her the life she wanted+deserved) but we currently are looking into options for a friend with plans for the three to see each other every week. We're getting her a wadding pool and reusing an old dog house for when she gets bigger and more comfortable outside+her new life. I'm so beyond excited and ready to take on this new stage of Moe's life, this second chance.
Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Again, we are dealing with a possibly lifelong leg injury.
As brought up in my last thread, Moe's webbing began to swell. As of Monday it completely fell; but today I've noticed her left foot may still have some remaining swelling going ft. some discoloration in her webbing to boot. We'll continue to soak her foot with epsom salt as that seemed to work best + her anti-inflammatories. Because the slipped tendon is on the left leg, I'm getting increasingly worried about her right.
After a 15-20 minute splash in the bath, I noticed her right leg seemed to give out. She chirped pretty loudly and immediately fell. I would've been more frightened, however I saw this happen Monday in a similar way after a bath with her siblings (and mind you I was a blubbering, hysterical mess. I was so worried she had ANOTHER hurt leg
). I'm worried if one day her right will just completely go lame from overuse, however I hope as she gets older and hardier she'll build up strength and we'll also get into a routine that benefits that leg.I'm not with my mother this week, so it's been hard managing everything practically by myself (my father is usually fairly apathetic towards these kinds of things and tends to be very rough with the ducks- I'm too nervous to have him help me administer her oral anti-inflammatories
), as well as I trust her judgement way more than mine.Besides all of this, Moe is doing great. I've been a little worried about her not eating and drinking as much today. however as mentioned earlier she did have a swim and is probably tired.
Moe has been standing and walking fairly decently!! Recently she's been resting her left foot under her when she lays; she still has a slap-walk going on but it's a lot better than what it was!! The swelling is still an issue as I don't think she can comfortably fold her webbing in, but hopefully soon we can get it back down.
This is definitely a new challenge for us.
I've been on an emotional rollercoaster recently, worrying about this, fretting about that; hell I think I care more about her needs than I care about mine, but next week when we get her setup, I'll have an extra set of hands that cares just as strongly as I do and a lot more time to myself. This week's been a rollercoaster, and as much as I love my little Moe I would really like to have the other half of my bed back.
If anyone has any further resources/threads/advice for assisted living, disabled, or even house ducks that I can look into, I would beyond appreciate it. I realize this isn't exactly the life I had hoped for her, but regardless I'm so filled with joy that we're giving her this chance.
You can't spell home without Moe, after all.
