Through the Eye of the Needle

The last two weeks we went through the “worst” weeks in Pipke's life so far!

Like I told you in the last post, she refused to eat! It's now the tenth year that she has that same problem, twice a year (last year it was even three times).

She barely could stand on her tiny feet and lost all the weight she gained last time.

The other times that she was ill, we always went to the vet for probe feeding, but we are not eager to do that because that's every time such a heavy load for her!

It always seemed that she had a problem with swallowing and because of that the vet always started with probe feeding.

This time we thought: we do the grains in a cutter and crush them, but also now she had a problem to swallow them. Because that didn't work, I pulverized them and pressed them through a sift! Now it was almost like a powder and guess what.... when we presented this to her, she had some interest in it.

Every two hours (sometimes even more) we took her inside the house in the laundry room to give her this powder in lukewarm water.

So she started to eat again, every time a little more, she lost no more weight and at the moment she is stable but still much too skinny.

Sometimes she takes a grain by herself and that's a good sign.

I think next time I can continue her story with a “relieved” feeling!

Till next time

Oei...oei...ai...ai.....plop!!!

I have laid my egg! 

Dear readers

Welcome to my nest!

May I introduce myself.
I am a Belgian Dutch speaking house wife and I am not used to write in English. You must take into account that I had only one year English lessons, now almost 50 years ago. So, maybe this blog will sound (only “sometimes” I hope) ridiculous. If this is the case, and it will “perk up" your day ... that's good ... have a good laugh ... then I am glad!

If you can't laugh with my “Bloopers”... then please ... don't read further!

You must also know that I have learned to work with the computer and the Internet only one year ago.

That opened a whole new world for me!

So, I still have a lot to learn and I also don't know if this blog will work, but “the first step is the hardest” and I will try to do my best.

What I am planning to do with this blog?

First to tell the “full” story of my dear Pipke, a white crested female duck! I have rescued her at the moment that she hatched in an abandoned nest during a very heavy rainstorm! She is now almost 14 years old! First I will tell you her “short” story, later on I will tell you about her “adventures” (and she has several)!

So now and then I will add some photographs, so you can see her grow up.

My blogger friend Jen asked me to write a guest post for her blog* and there she published already the “short” story of Pipke! It is “she” who pulled me over the line and gave me courage to start my “own” blog. I must thank her for that.

How this all started.

In January last year I saw a wildlife documentary called “Raising Sancho”on BBC 1 .

This is the touching story of a giant otter cub called Sancho who was rescued and being raised by Brazilian naturalist Carolina Vargas. Sancho had to be bottle fed, shown how to catch fish and taught to outsmart the many predators of the Pantanal – the world's biggest wetland.

The story touched me very deep, because ... I also rescued a little animal and raised it!

In search of that program and more news about Sancho, I asked my husband to look on the Internet fore more information! (At that time I couldn't work with the computer.)

So I came on Jen's blog (Mountain Time), and she gave me more information. To be able to follow this interesting blog, I started to learn how to work with the computer and the Internet.

And now I am here, one year later and I still follow Jen's blog!

I will start the story of Pipke soon, I think very soon, because at the moment she is again very ill!

For the bloggers who know her situation already, for one whole month she was better but now again she's eating less and loosing weight!

Yesterday (1/24/09) we went to the vet for the 278^th time!! This time not yet for probe feeding but for vitamins and pain release injections. She is losing much feathers (which are no longer waterproof) and now she has also a bolt spot on her back.

I hope she will still “be here” next spring, but like she is now .... I lose the belief in her recovering because she has lost that “twinkle” in her eyes! She doesn't eat by herself, we must put her food in lukewarm water and then when we stir with our finger in the water, she starts eating.

Then she overloads me with cuddles, again and again, that is ... so sweet ... but also almost “heartbreaking” because we realize that “these” maybe “are” her “ last” cuddles!

I must try not to think on it and I hope, that next time I can start her story with “good news”!

As a small foretaste on that next time : see here her first picture only three hours old!

How could you “not love” this downy little creature!!

Pipke May 25, 1995

Till next time!

*UPDATE: blog is no longer available

To Jen,

Can you remember “these” words? (It was the start of something “ beautiful”!!)

“Someone alert the media.”........the rest...you can fill in!!

PS: I want to thank jim-irie for sending me the film about raising Sancho!