Freddie’s Felines

10/23/2024

Feeling utterly heartbroken and defeated today.

In rescue, we always know that not all can be saved…but we still always try anyway. And when it ends up that one cannot be, our hearts feel like we failed them even though our brains know that they likely never had any other option from the beginning.

Mercury went over the Rainbow Bridge today, and I am gutted. That’s the simplest way I can put it.

She had reached an amazing 5.5 # and had been filled out, healthy, and thriving, just like her brother Freddie who is currently 7.5 # and now solid as a tank and safe to get his dental done in the coming weeks. She has been eating extremely well once we determined that canned Friskies was her jam, and got 6 meals per day just like Fred. She had begun playing with toys, the green glitter puff ball being her absolute FAVORITE toy on Earth, to the point she took it to her hiding cubby with her all the time to sleep next to her like a teddy bear. She was very much a night owl, and since I work remotely 3rd shift, I would hear her playing for hours on end — the balls inside the track pyramid going haywire, the jingle balls being chased end to end in her room, you name it. She was having a blast and it brought me so much joy to hear her going bananas, likely with the first toys she’s ever had in her 5-7 years of life. She was still extremely unsocialized and terrified of humans, although had made progress. She allowed me to gently pet her while in her cubby, or pick her up out of her cubby to set her on my lap and pet her while she’d bury her head under my arm while I just sat and talked to her, or just tolerate my presence in the room while I watched movies on my phone or listened to audiobooks. She also was super patient and tolerated any medical treatments or medications, and also didn’t mind me gently trimming her nails. She had become SUCH a beautiful, healthy, thriving lady and was making such good, albeit slow, progress that I felt she was ready to list on Petfinder for a long-term foster-to-adopt type of home with a single person.

But 3 weeks ago, something changed. Going into details would take more energy than I currently have and re-traumatize me after having gone through it, but basically she was diagnosed with repeated, unceasing, and uncontrollable back to back petit mal seizures that were leaving her in a severe post-ictal state each time, also back to back, resulting in disorientation, ataxia, tremors, severe nystagmus, urinary incontinence, and confusion/fear — which left her screaming bloody murder 20+ hours per day no matter what was given or what was done for her. You could hear her screaming across our 3600 sq. ft. house, through 2 floors, and even outside. She was screaming/yowling even through heavy sedation.

They seemed to go away for a couple weeks after initial presentation 3 weeks ago, then a few days ago they came back even worse. We tried Pheno, Diazepam, Gabapentin, etc. and we were not able to get them sufficiently under control no matter what dose or combination we tried over the last several days.

Ultimately I had to make the decision to let her be at peace and free from the abject terror she was going through. We do not have the funding to bring her to VCSG for an internist work up as everything comes out of my personal pocket and I am still paying Freddie’s bills, and the odds were very low that we would be able to get any different diagnosis other than idiopathic epilepsy anyway, and they would prescribe the same things Shane was already treating her with.

The general consensus is that she was too ill and underweight before, and as backward as it sounds, a brain needs to be “healthy” and have normally firing neurons in order to have seizures. When she was a near-death skeleton, she was too sickly for her brain to misfire. Now that she had become healthy with good weight, she lapsed into epilepsy. Who knows if she had this before with her deceased owner when/if she was ever healthy.

I feel angry that we worked so hard to bring her back from literal death, and got her to such a healthy, happy place after she spent YEARS being miserable and starving and neglected……only for her body to try to kill itself anyway. In my decade as an LVT, and Shane’s 24 years as a DVM, we’ve never seen a cat suddenly end up this way with no other symptoms and not respond to any treatment at all. Those screams are going to live in my mind for the rest of my life.

I am so sorry baby. I loved you. I am hugging your brother extra tight tonight.

Photos taken of Mercury literally 24 hours before her rapid decline. She looked so beautiful and healthy. I ordered private cremation and a beautiful urn. She will be part of our family forever.

08/07/2024

Mercury has gained 1 # now! Her eating absolutely took off through the roof for the past 10 days or so, as we discovered Friskies is the brand she really likes. She eats 1/8 to 1/4 of a can every 4-6 hours and literally licks her plate clean every time. Her fur is now soft, her face and eyes are so clear and bright, and she is becoming more active — sitting in the window, scratching her claws on surfaces, etc. She is also still nibbling dry food. Look how good she looks compared to 1 month ago!

07/31/2024

Freddie has been thriving and doing well. So well in fact that he decided to remove his own NG tube in one deft paw grab yesterday. 😏🙄 Thankfully he didn’t really need it anymore so we snipped the sutures and finished taking it off. He is eating better now than he ever did even before he became sick, which is fantastic. He has gained 1.2 # in the past month and only has about 1-2 # to go until he reaches his ideal body condition. And he played for the first time ever today! Check the video!

Mercury is still doing well but still slow going. She has only gained 0.5 # in the past month, mostly because she had that week of being off feed that required intensive care, but also because she is incredibly picky, doesn’t eat much dry, and refuses every wet option I offer. HOWEVER — we finally found a winner winner Friskies dinner! We discovered yesterday that she likes Friskies Prime Filets, and eats every morsel then licks the plate crystal clean. She is now 5 plates into the Clean Plate Club so I feel she will now finally start gaining more. Thank God. She has around 4 # to go until she reaches her ideal body condition.

Slow and steady wins the race though, can’t go too fast with these guys or they end up with refeeding syndrome, which may be what happened to Freddie despite how careful and measured I have been with them. No real way to know. But we don’t need any more medical emergencies, these two have both had their turn so let’s be done now. LOL!

Freddie is most likely a foster fail and staying with me. My heart was so broken from the loss of my Reggie, and he has helped fill that void so much. Mercury will be available for adoption one day, as they are not at all bonded, but many months from now. I haven’t even begun socializing her as her physical condition needs to get sorted and stabilized first. She has a lot of work ahead and may never be a very outgoing, social cat. She will likely need a one-owner home, no children, no other pets or maybe one gentle, quiet OSH like herself, and someone who is OK with her mostly being a beautiful decoration who tolerates some gentle love here and there. But that is a ways off still!

07/27/2024

Currently at VCSG while they get Freddie ready to bring home! He is now eating on his own, doing well, defecating, and passing the gas that built up in his colon. We’re leaving the NG tube in for now as he tolerates it very well and it will keep access open for fluid and medication delivery, plus in case (God forbid) he decompensates again it would be hard on him to have to place it back again. I am guarded since literally like 7 doctors, 5 of whom are boarded in emergency/critical/internal medicine plus a radiologist, all have zero idea what the actual diagnosis was or why this happened, but am also very hopeful. ❤️

07/26/2024

PLEASE, PLEASE READ:

My name is Jen Whitaker. I’m a Licensed Veterinary Technician, my husband is a Veterinarian. I am also the Director of Freddie’s Felines, a cat rescue located just outside Chattanooga in Rock Spring, GA.

3 weeks ago my rescue took in 2 Siamese/Oriental Shorthair cats from a severe hoarding and neglect situation. For years they had been kept in a hoarding home piled to the ceiling with junk, infested with thousands of fleas, filled with tapeworms, never provided a litterbox and just allowed to defecate all over the home, and starved nearly to death — they survived by scavenging food from the dog that was left scattered on the floor and scraps of food leftover from the owner, whom themselves eventually died in the home. Upon intake, the male, Freddie, weighed 5.1 # and the female, Mercury, weighed 2.9 #. Both were skin over skeleton and nothing more, the female being the worse of the two.

Over the past 3 weeks, Freddie has gained almost a full pound and had been doing very well. He was eating well, using the litterbox, had formed normal stool, and his fur even began getting soft and developing the glittery sheen his breed is known for along his paws. He was becoming beautiful, and his outgoing, affectionate, snuggly personality was a joy to interact and cuddle with. Mercury needed more work as she was worse off and not at all socialized, but has been slowly making progress.

It was quickly becoming apparent to me that this was likely going to be a foster fail, that Freddie was going to become my heart cat — long awaited after losing my Reggie over a year ago. Freddie sleeps on my chest/shoulder every night, spends every work shift on my lap snuggled in his blankie (I work a remote position with Banfield), sits on the edge of the tub while I’m in the bath, and follows me literally EVERYWHERE in the house. He gets along famously with my 3 girl cats and loves my 7-year-old daughter to pieces, doing a “somersault” into her lap every time she rubs his belly and then hugging her arm with his paws while she rubs his tummy and he purrs like a freight train. He is everything my heart and soul has so desperately missed after suddenly losing my Reggie to HCM over a year ago.

Unfortunately, Freddie started becoming ill a couple days ago. It began with soft stool, then diarrhea. Then suddenly he began severely vomiting foam everywhere, 3-5 times per hour, entirely stopped eating — even refusing his beloved Temptations, and began being antisocial. So we took him into work, ran bloodwork which looked OK, and took some x-rays which both my husband and one of our associate doctors evaluated and both determined there was no indication of a foreign body obstruction nor any other obvious cause for the illness other than some ileus and gas retention, likely due to enteritis. So he was brought home on several medications and SQ fluids.

24 hours later, Freddie showed signs of worsening condition. Weakness, severe nausea resulting in drooling everywhere despite being on injectable Cerenia and Ondansetron, and the inability to swallow any liquid medications or syringe feeding. It became quite critical, so I rushed him to Veterinary Care and Specialty Group in downtown Chattanooga. VCSG repeated the radiographs and bloodwork, and determined that while there was no obvious foreign body, there is a slight chance of one they cannot see or a possible intussusception in a very unusual place, causing severe ileus (a total stop of all large intestine movement) and enteritis (intestinal inflammation) resulting in severe gas distention of the colon. We have no idea why this is happening nor any definitive cause, so we have to hospitalize him tonight on a variety of IV fluids, medications, and pain meds, until their board-certified criticalist arrives in the morning and can do an abdominal ultrasound to hopefully get an answer on what is going on and what needs to be done.

Here is where the issue is:

My husband is currently in Cleveland, OH for his other job, and thus not here to do surgery if Freddie needs it. I cannot afford $10,000 for VCSG to do the surgery. Unfortunately the extreme inflation crisis in VetMed does not magically skip or excuse its own people, and as a Vet Tech, I do not make much. I have already spent $3700 that I really did not have — I borrowed $1000 that my 18-year-old son has worked hard to save up for his car, got approved for $1700 on CareCredit, and spent the last $1,000 to my name — just for the rads, bloodwork, ultrasound, and hospitalization for tonight only. So I desperately need help covering his upcoming hospitalization/stabilization so that if he needs surgery, he can be kept alive and stable until my husband lands in 36 hours and can do the surgery at our own hospital. The minute his plane touches down, he will meet me there and get it done. But we have to keep Freddie alive and going until then. That is his only chance, otherwise he survived 5 years in hoarding and starvation hell, just to get sick after all they put him through and be euthanized 3 weeks after rescue, and my heart will be absolutely destroyed.

Please, PLEASE help any way you can.

Venmo:

GoFundMe:

https://gofund.me/7b558b5f

Donate directly to VCSG over the phone:

Veterinary Care and Specialty Group: 423-591-0270

My name is Jen Whitaker. I’m a Licensed Veterinary Technician, my hus… Jen Whitaker needs your support for Save Freddie: Urgent Veterinary Medical Help Needed

07/21/2024

Mercury started at 2.9 # and is now 3.4 #. Freddie started at 5.1 # and is now 5.9 #. Getting there! He’s currently snoozing and toasty, all tied up in my robe while I work. 🤣

07/13/2024

Mercury is Rising!

Our girl is still eating well on the Temptations dry food and Temptations treats. She refuses any other types offered even though she has a literal buffet set out. Today she also finally ate a bowl of wet food: Tiki Cat velvet mousse tuna and mackerel. She liked this food the first day she arrived, before she stopped eating, so I was hopeful she would eventually be willing to eat it again. She is still on maintenance SQ fluids to ensure hydration, as well as Mirtazapine to keep her appetite going. The Convenia and ointment worked wonders on her eyes and upper respiratory symptoms, those are now resolved. One day at a time, we’re getting there!

Freddie, her brother, has been thriving since the day they arrived. Eating well, playing, very outgoing and social. Unfortunately he does have to be re-trained on using a litterbox as the hoarding house they came from did not have one and the animals just eliminated all over inside the house. But he has only had 2 accidents, his natural instincts have led him to the litterboxes most of the time! He eats very well and has joined my resident cats for social interaction, but gets fed separately to ensure he eats everything himself. He has gained half a pound so far. Both still have months of rehabilitation ahead of them but they are willing to fight. 💛

07/09/2024

Mercury is now eating on her own again!

Yesterday morning I moved her back into my master bathroom for a few reasons, the primary thing being that those reasons outweighed the sense of security that bed and stuffed animals provided her. I had initially felt that taking them away and moving her to that bathroom is what caused the inappetence and refusal to eat, but now that we had a good system of meds, successful syringe feeding, and fluid administration, I felt it was a better option and she could move back without risk. She also has finally started eliminating (urine/f***s) again after coming back from the brink of death, and I need to monitor that output.

So I set everything up, included 3 types of “cheap” dry food that was more like what she was used to in the hoarding house, and also created a safe hidey-hole using a carrier with a heat pad, covered in a blanket and towels, with one tiny entrance flap, so she would feel safe and secure. We continued with her syringe feeds and fluid administration as well as Mirtazapine and Cerenia. She was also given Convenia 3 days ago, and started on Neo-Poly-Bac w/ Dex for her eyes.

I went in to syringe feed her breakfast this morning, and found that she had eaten 7 Temptations from the counted pile I left near her. That’s the first solid food she has voluntarily ingested in a week. Fed her syringe meal, she ate 35mL. Gave her morning fluids, 60mL (she’s on maintenance rate now). I noticed she is becoming ever so slightly more comfortable with me, and even got 2 meows out of her — first time I’ve head her voice.

Left her be until this afternoon, when it was time for another feed and litter scooping. Went in the room, and low and behold, I see a dent in the middle of the Temptations complete adult food bowl (not treats, the food they actually make now)! A pretty good sized dent at that! No one else is in here with her so only Mercury could have eaten this. Lemme tell you, I jumped for joy!

I am going to continue with the fluids for now because she still really isn’t drinking, but holding off on the syringe feeding for now as long as she is willing to eat her own solid food. I have counted out most of the pieces and also arranged the food in a way that it will be easy to see if she has nibbled some. I just need to be sure that her intake is enough.

One step at a time for this little girl. It took years for her to end up in this condition, it will take time to get her out of it. 💜

Pics for tax, showing how small she is. That’s a 60mL syringe next to her body. 😱

07/05/2024

Update on Mercury: Thank you so much to those who donated! Unfortunately we weren’t able to raise enough to get her seen and treated at VCSG yesterday, so we made do with continued syringe feeds and she thankfully did well. She has perked up and is voluntarily eating 20-30mL per feed every 3-4 hours. It’s a mix of canned Critical Care/Recovery A/D, Churu Kitten, and water, blended into a smooth soup/slurry. She has transdermal Mirtazapine on her ear, and also gets Cerenia and Ondansetron orally, mixed into her syringe feed. She came in at 2.9 # and has now crested the 3 # mark to an improved 3.2 #, so slowly but surely we are getting there. This race is always a slow one.

After her 4pm feed yesterday, I sat with her on my lap as I always do, petting her and talking to her to help with socialization and mitigating any negative association with all the medical care I’ve had to do to her. The sunlight came in the window at the perfect angle where a big bright patch landed on the bed right next to me, so I layed Mercury in the sun patch and layed down next to her. Together we layed in the sun for 30 minutes, and I could tell she absolutely loved it. Her face was so content and peaceful.

Mercury still is refusing to eat anything on her own, and I think it’s mostly just the extreme level of fear she has. We gave Gabapentin on the 3rd and 4th due to fireworks, and even though we only dosed her at 50mg due to her tiny weight, it was still a bit too high and I believe that is why she stopped being willing to eat syringe feeds, stopped swallowing, and became so weak she couldn’t walk. That is what I mistook for her declining as I’d never seen Gabapentin do that in all my years in VetMed and rescue. As soon as it wore off the next day, she was back to what she has been, her current “normal”. I reduced the dosage to around 35 mg for last night and she was much better and much less sedated. 35mg is an abnormally tiny dose for a cat, and speaks to how tiny and frail this girl is.

Today our practice is open, so we’re able to access and bring home the things we need to potentially place the NG tube if she goes downhill again and stops accepting syringe feeds, and we’re going to try to get an IVC in place (wish us luck with her body condition…oof) for fluid boluses. She gets a good amount in her syringe feeds, but having venous access is going to be better. Also less poking for other meds, fluids, etc. I got paid today so I set aside funds in combination with what’s left from donations after the expense of meds, fluids, supplies, etc. that will be held for emergency use if something changes and she needs ER care or hospitalization.

One day at a time! This one will take months of effort, and so worth it when you look at that face and realize how much she deserves a chance at a real life and happiness.

07/04/2024

Hello my lovely Freddie’s Friends! We have been on hiatus for much of the last year, although taking in some high priority cases occasionally. Boy, do we have a rough one right now, and I am here to beg for your help.

Freddie and Mercury spent the past 5+ years living in a nightmare. They came from a severe hoarding and neglect situation. Infested with thousands of fleas, starved nearly to death (their sibling, the 3rd Siamese, didn’t make it out alive), and kept in absolute clutter and squalor until their owner eventually passed away. I drove 5.5 hours one-way to pick them up from Macon, where the shelter staff met me halfway after driving all the way from Mitchell County.

Freddie, the male, has a 3 out of 9 BCS but is still strong and eating well. He lived downstairs with the owner and is well socialized and outgoing. Mercury, the female, lived in the upstairs of the home and was essentially left to exist semi-feral amid ceiling-high piles of junk with no food. She has a BCS of 1 out of 9, and is in horrendous physical condition. The worst I have ever seen.

When she first arrived, she was eating well on her own for 3 days, but has since stopped. Syringe feeding was initially going well but that too has now become too much for her to tolerate as she has no socialization and is terrified. She just wants to hide buried among the stuffed animals in her room and any noise or movement makes her bolt. She has become very weak, very dehydrated, and unfortunately has come to a point where she needs a feeding tube placed and potentially hospitalization if she has any chance of surviving. Unlike a healthy cat who stops eating and has some leeway, she has zero body fat and zero “buffer zone” to try to get her going again. She will likely die or require humane euthanasia in the next 24-48 hours without immediate intervention. And because it’s a holiday, our hospital is closed and the only option is for me to take her downtown to VCSG, the emergency hospital. This means it will be incredibly expensive and as usual, our rescue has zero funding. I just paid down our ongoing Freddie’s Felines bill at our hospital by $1500 — my entire paycheck spent — and have $-35 in my personal bank account until Friday.

PLEASE help me save this girl. She didn’t deserve this — no cat ever does — and I am trying to save her life so that she has a chance to see what life is like when she can be healthy, happy, and in a loving home one day. Donations can be made via our PayPal link (no PayPal account needed, it’s a secure checkout just like any online store or charity donation portal):

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ACZSG7JXDSZTW&ssrt=1715355904446

03/14/2024

Yearly reminder.

𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣. 𝗕𝗨𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚. 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥. 𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦.

Or ducklings in general, without properly researching first and preparing.

𝙄’𝙢 𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙮 ’𝙖𝙡𝙡...

This 3-week-old Pekin baby was purchased at Tractor Supply as a tiny duckling along with her sister because she was “just so cute” and they “planned to release them later”. Except the family that bought them had no idea what they were doing. Then when they got really big, loud, and stinky, they panicked and contacted me to take them in, like dozens of people do every year.

Had they done their research prior to buying these babies, they would have known the following:

❶ Ducklings require supplemental heating for the first 2 weeks as they cannot maintain their own body temperature. It starts at 90°F then tapers during the second week. Normally their mother would keep them warm.

❷ A poultry feed with 20% protein is appropriate for most duckling breeds, EXCEPT Pekins (𝙥𝙚𝙩-𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙). Pekins were originally developed in China beginning 3000 years ago, and imported into the U.S. in the 1800’s. The breed was specially bred and designed for meat production, and subsequently have a much faster growth rate than other breeds. As pets, they should be raised on 16% protein layer feed to prevent them from growing too much, too quickly. Too high protein during development causes deformities of the legs and wings. She was also fed “Quacker Snacks”, a horribly unhealthy commercial snack sold for ducks. Any duck snacks should be things like grapes, certain fruits and veggies like peas, native plants like clover, and mealworms. And for the love of Duck: NEVER. EVER. FEED. BREAD.

❸ All ducks require niacin to be added to their diet, or they become deficient. It’s easy to do, just order a supplement niacin powder specifically made for ducks online, or in a pinch you can temporarily
add a bit of brewer’s yeast to their food. Without this, it causes severe deformities of their legs, especially in Pekins. They also require grit to be added if fed a diet high in vegetation as ducklings, rather than commercial duck food.

❹ Ducklings grow VERY fast. Those adorable teeny tiny babies will be 3-5 lb. teenagers within 2-3 weeks. Pekins can weigh as much as 9 lb. by 3 months. And like teenagers, they will become LOUD and constantly demanding food, water, exercise, etc. by cheeping and quacking loudly and incessantly until they get what they want. Our house is 3600 square feet, and I can hear our ducklings in our bedroom (and they are kept alllllll the way downstairs in the shop).

❺ Ducks do not have a sphincter muscle like mammals do. You heard me right. They don’t have a bu****le. They have a cloaca, which is one opening for everything — both reproduction and waste elimination. Because they have no muscle control, their waste does not accumulate before giving the urge to eliminate. The uric acid (similar to urine) and f***s they produce just comes out whenever it gets to the end of their digestive tract. Thus ducks p**p constantly. No, seriously, it’s CONSTANT. They eject waste about every 2-5 minutes. This waste is very odorous, and quickly builds up in a small area.

❻ In addition to the above, ducks also take in a lot of water while they eat. Water helps them get dry food particles down into their crop, and helps digest it. As a result, they expel a lot of moisture in their waste. As the waste builds up and they continually walk all over it, they end up trampling it into a nasty soupy p**py mess. If that isn’t bad enough, they constantly shake their heads whenever they are eating and grab too much food or water in their bills. This flings a watery food mess all over the walls of their pen and all over their dishes, nest boxes, lamps, etc.

❼ Ducks have no sense of their surroundings, and walk all over every single thing in their environment. They don’t care. They plow through their food and water bowls, drag bedding and food and p**p into swimming areas and water dishes, etc. They turn a clean pen into a nasty disaster within 2 hours max.

❽ Ducks sold at farm stores are domestic breeds. After being raised in captivity, they CANNOT just be released into the wild or dumped at some random pond or lake.

The first reason is that they do not reach young adulthood and independence until they are around 3-4 months old. Before that age, they would be staying with their mother and learning how to find food, where to roost at night, etc. Ducklings raised in captivity are used to being fed. They may nibble on different things outside on their own, but they have no idea how to survive and find enough food. When night comes, they do not know how to find safe places to roost and become very easy pickings for bobcats, coyotes, owls, hawks, etc. I’ve even lost young adults to our local bobcat that I thought were fully mature at 4 months but were not ready yet. They need to be penned up and protected at night for at least 6 months, preferably lifetime. Pens need to have gaps/holes/mesh no bigger than 1”. I’ve literally watched a bobcat pull a fully adult duck through a 3” gap. It was absolutely brutal and a horrific way to die. Also: Predators are everywhere. We live in a nice upper middle class family subdivision, and I see owls, hawks, foxes, coyotes, and bobcats on our security camera footage constantly.

Second, indiscriminate releasing of captive domestic ducks risks intermating with wild species and contaminating/diluting populations of native species of ducks. They can and WILL breed with other species of duck.

Third, it’s literally illegal.

❾ Ducklings at farm stores are generally sold uns*xed, meaning you have no idea what you are getting. Their s*x becomes evident at around 6-8 weeks, when they develop their adult voices and begin getting secondary s*x characteristics (tail feathers, bill structure, overall feather coloration, etc). If you plan to keep your ducklings, you now face the prospect of ending up with all drakes (males). When s*xually mature, drakes will constantly fight with each other if there are females present — even if they’re just wild female ducks. They will attempt to drown each other, rip each other’s feathers out, etc. If you end up with one female and multiple males, they will not only fight over her, but they may drown/kill her by constantly mounting her at the same time.

On the flipside, hens (females) have INCREDIBLY loud voices, and are *extremely* demanding. My 2 personal hens come up to the house at exactly 6:30am every day, and call, call, call, call, call endlessly until I go down and feed them. The same happens at 5-6pm every evening. If I’m late, they nibble and nip my hands and feet while scolding me as I put their food out. They’ve now taught my 2 teenage hens to do the same thing. I can hear their loud calls inside the house no matter what room I’m in, even through 3 closed doors, and there is no ignoring it or waiting it out. Ducks are insanely stubborn animals and will never stop pestering you and yelling until they get what they want.

❶⓿ Ducks can live up to 20 years, and are very loving, social, intelligent, funny, affectionate animals who feel genuine emotions and bond with their human caretakers. They make wonderful outdoor pets for someone who is well-prepared and has developed the proper research and education to be able to provide for them. Unfortunately even for unprepared individuals, ducklings will bond to you and view you as their parent figure. To be abandoned by their “parent” at a random unknown pond or lake somewhere, while still a baby at just a few weeks old and nowhere near ready to be independent, is completely terrifying. Most of these babies find a place to lie down and/or hide and just sit there, waiting for their “Mom” to come back, as this is what instinct tells them to do. Almost all of these ducklings will starve to death, die from hypo- or hyperthermia, or be picked off by predators, or killed by established adult ducks/geese with no parent to protect them. Buying baby ducklings then releasing them before they have reached young adulthood at 6 months is absolute cruelty. So is dumping domestic adults.

𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦, 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗕𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔 𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗗.

So back to the two Pekin ducklings I took in. They were purchased from Tractor Supply by someone’s older teenage kids, then after 2 weeks they realised how big, loud, messy, gross, and stinky they are and needed to get rid of them. Their mother works with a neighbor of mine, so she told the family about me and asked me if I could take them. First ones of the season...but there will be more. There always is.

They kept these babies in a high-sided kitty litter pan. Maybe 18” by 24” max. No room to hardly move let alone stretch their wings, legs, necks, and properly groom. They fed them a 20% protein poultry crumble and did not provide niacin. I have no idea if they provided external heating. As a result, one got lucky and seems healthy for all intents and purposes. But this sweet girl is a disaster. Her legs are badly deformed, bent, and twisted inward. She cannot walk or stand, just somewhat hobbles a bit whenever her big webbed feet don’t pin each other down. 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. Her wings are torn up with broken bloodfeathers and scabs all over the tips, because she repeatedly and constantly falls over and has to catch herself on them. Her feet are covered in scabs and wounds from dragging and pressing against the ground in abnormal ways. She struggles to get to any food or water, and cannot groom herself. 3 times per day I bring food and water to her where she lays in the nest box, and carry her to a warm water pool where she can bathe with my assistance, since she cannot swim or brace herself.

But this is not a life for this duck. She cannot do what her sister and the other ducks do, she will never forage for insects when the lawn is rainy, never swim in the lake out back and dunk her head, never take a nap on the shore in the afternoon sun. The other ducks will never stay and socialize with her so she will always be lonely. Her quality of life is incredibly poor.

At first Shane and I pondered whether we could surgically repair her legs, break them and then splint them in a correct placement, or perhaps amputate them and raise her as a house duck. (𝗜’𝗺 𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗩𝗧/𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘆 & 𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻, 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗗𝗩𝗠/𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗻.)

But after doing a lot of research and repeatedly examining her issues and her overall health, that quickly became a non-viable solution. It became very apparent that the kindest and most loving thing we could do for this girl was to let her be free from her pain and misery.

So today I held her close while we gave her the familiar blue injection into her wing vein. I kissed her snuggly, fuzzy head, my tears running down the length of her smooth, soft orange bill, as I felt her body go limp in my arms, and her strong heartbeat under my fingertips get slower and slower until it finally stopped. It felt like an hour but was barely a few seconds. A feeling I have felt more times than I ever care to count.

She was not the first, and she will never be the last until people STOP buying these innocent animals on impulse, or so that their kids can enjoy them like a toy for a fleeting holiday, then dump them somewhere and absolve themselves of responsibility while sentencing these animals to death.

𝗢𝗥 𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 Tractor Supply Co., Rural King Supply, Blain's Farm & Fleet, 𝗘𝗧𝗖. 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗝𝗢𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗪 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 $𝟭𝟬.

Unless you are prepared to give a duckling a forever family with an appropriately researched and prepared home, diet, enclosure, etc. then just admire them in the store and walk away. They are not toys or temporary holiday presents or something you buy on a whim. They are not something you get to snuggle and enjoy for 2 weeks then get rid of.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣.

If you would like your kids to enjoy some ducks, chicks, or bunnies for Easter, take them to a petting zoo or ask a local duck or bunny keeper if you can borrow one for that morning. There are also a wide variety of stuffed ducks out there! Alternatives abound.

𝗦𝗔𝗬 🅝🅞 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗢 𝗜𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗟𝗬.

(4/27) ♥️𝗪𝗛𝗢𝗔.♥️ 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟭𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗢 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝟲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀/𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲/𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬 (𝟰/𝟮𝟳/𝟮𝟬) 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟯 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝟯 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻-𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗲𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀. 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝟯 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘂𝗽. 𝗦𝗼 𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁.

𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲, 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴!

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝔽𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕖’𝕤 𝔽𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝟱𝟬𝟭(𝗰)𝟯 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗮 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆/𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀 & 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲-𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 -- 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀/𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘀, 𝗻𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗱/𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱/𝗶𝗻𝗷𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲𝗱/𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻!

𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝗮:
𝗵𝘁𝘁𝗽://𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗽𝗮𝗹.𝗺𝗲/𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘅-𝗱𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱! 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗻𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝘁! ❤️🐾🦆