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An online falconry journal (mostly)  Down to three more days of antibiotics. In the immortal words of Beatrix Kiddo: "Wiggle. Your. Toe." We're over the halfway mark with Gonzo's antibiotics and there's only a slight reduction of swelling near the tip of the toe, but the base is still swollen. She still doesn't seem to be able to extend it, just contract it, so she's often standing on a bent toe.I'm beginning to believe amputation is going to be required. I'll keep giving the medications until they're gone, then we'll visit the vet again and see what the feasible options are--if any. Current mood:  blank.
No improvement in Gonzo's toe, but it doesn't look worse. She tipped the scales at 1398g this afternoon (post-casting, pre-feeding). I probably could have flown her free as she was still very eager to eat. She got her usual quail (seasoned with hidden meds). Abigail (and you know she's in trouble because I typed out her full name) alerted me that her invisible fence isn't working. I put her in the back yard, drove off for 15 minutes to get food, and came back to find a rather sizable pit under the gate and an extraordinarily muddy dog zooming around the front yard. She is currently making a sad face at me from where she is sitting in the corner, sighing loudly, just to let me know that she thinks she has been punished enough. I'm not falling for it. Current mood:  quixotic.
Abi's fully recovered from whatever was bugging her. Gonzo, I'm not seeing any improvement yet. I hope I don't end up having to amputate her toe. Current mood:  hopeful.
Well, Abi's better. She gradually got more active through the day yesterday, no raspy breathing last night, and she's her usual self today. I think the bitch just wanted me to blow $40 on her and give her a car ride. :) Gonzo.... No improvement and the toe is still swollen and tends to curl under, but it's just been 24 hours since she got her first round of meds. Just gave her 2nd round. Hoping to see some change by Monday. She's cooperating by favoring her left (uninjured) foot while in the giant hood. Current mood: hopeful.
Gonzo's inside in her giant hood on a medicated perch. She's been there all day, got out for about 15 minutes to eat her quail (stuffed with meds), and back into her giant hood. Meanwhile, Abigail had raspy breathing last night and was acting as if she could barely move by the morning. Wisked her off to the vet. No clue what's up with her, but it wasn't fluid/muscus in the lungs. She seemed to do better as the day progressed, but she's still not her usual bouncy self. Appointment to take her back tomorrow in the AM just in case she gets worse overnight. Sheesh, guys. Gimme a break? I went to feed Gonzo this evening and noticed that his inside right toe--the big meaty front toe--was curled under when she put her foot down. I poked and prodded and analyzed and... yup. Swollen and something wasn't quite right with it. Called up Vet Pets and the doc with raptor experience just happened to be in, so I rushed her over and he squeezed me in before going home. The good news is that the xray definitively showed that it's not broken/fractured as I'd initially feared. That is remarkably good news. The bad news is that we're just speculating as to what the problem might be. Could be inflammation and/or infection from something. Could be a ligament (or is it tendon?) that was injured. Could be a sprain. Don't know. So she's getting an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory cocktail, fed up, and we'll cross fingers and see what happens. $265 well spent, I hope. Current mood:  distressed.
Normally I would never consider myself capable of giving out fashion advice, BUT.... Seeing as how there are a limited number of vacancies open for volunteers at the zoo, and seeing as the interview is what will determine whether or not you're allowed to volunteer, you might want to avoid wearing your mink fur coat and rabbit fur vest to said interview. Just sayin'. Current mood:  shocked.
Too windy to fly Gonzo today. Tossed her a quail. I also found that she'd manage to break a tail feather off. Ragged-looking tail on that bird. Don't know if it's worth imping the feathers back in. Of to campus again. Gonzo followed well and was enthusiastic in her quest to find something to eat. She even tore up a squirrel's nest, which I'd not seen her do before. (Unfortunately, nothing in it, but I whistled and called her in to the lure after she'd been tearing at it a while and it was obvious nothing was in it. Want to reinforce that behavior!) We got a couple shots at squirrels, but most seemed to be either gone (because of campus landscaping) or down their holes. There's a 3rd possibility for the lack of squirrels on campus: there was a pair of adult birds in the area screaming at Gonzo's trespassing. I also heard kestrels screaming, so maybe they're back and looking to nest again in the admin building. It's apparently getting to be that time of year! :) Gonzo finally managed to connect with a squirrel that was taking cover in the foliage of a smaller tree. She grabbed it, got hung up on her way down, and ended up hanging upside down for about 3 minutes, squirrel in her feet, before she released one foot and fell to the ground. No obvious bite from the squirrel, but that was sheer luck--the squirrel had one of Gonzo's toes in its mouth BEHIND the teeth. Lucky bird! |
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