Veggie-Versary - Two Years

Today is our Two Year Veggie-versary.

It's a sort of a bittersweet reminder because we went vegetarian (and shortly after, vegan) when Napoleon was hurt. We were lucky that he recovered but were sad when he was taken from us just a few months later.

I still grieve for him and keep his picture as the background on my phone so I can see him every day.

I miss our little man. I'm not sure if we will have the opportunity to care for a rooster again. Jake the turkey is doing so well with the girls that we are afraid of upsetting the balance in the coop. But Napoleon had such a great personality that I miss having a feisty rooster around.

Napoleon, we have you to thank and credit for our awakening. Because of you we have brought more compassion into our lives and we feel we are saving lives with each meal.

Love you.

Napoleon Recovery - Clean Bill

Just a quick note. I'll update more tonight or tomorrow.

We're taking Napoleon for a final visit with an avian specialis tonight. His feathers are really sprouting now and we hope she gives him a clean bill of health. Our goal is to have him back in the coop in the next day or so. I know he is eager to be out and we hope the girls will not have a problem with him (or should I say them not give him any problems).

If all goes well he'll be out scratching around by the weekend!

Hedgehog Butt!

As I mentioned - Mr. Napoleon is on the mend. He's even regrowing most of the feathers on his back! We're going to keep him on the porch until they fully "sprout" but he's looking like he will get most of them back.

As he is right now, he looks like a hedgehog!

He's been very good about being on the porch and in his crate. I know he's bored but he's been wonderful. And I think he and our kitten have a new bond. They love to stare at each other through the windows.

But I'm sure he can't wait to get back out in the coop to see his girls and scratch around.

Napoleon Recovery - Day 14

It's been a while since we did an update on Napoleon. He is doing amazingly well. The biggest news is that he's started to grow feathers again. His back looks like a hedgehog! I think by next week he'll be ready to go back into the coop. He should be done with the antibiotics today but we'll keep him on the porch until his feathers really sprout and cover his back.

Then we'll have to see how he and the girls get on at their re-introduction.

Napoleon Recovery - Day 7

On Friday night we took Napoleon for a follow-up visit to the After Hours Vet. The good thing is that they are only open evenings and weekends, so we took Napoleon Friday night around 10pm, which worked out perfectly since he would be sleepy and easy to transport in the crate.

Let me just say the emergency vet late on a Friday night is a very depressing place to be.

All in all they said he was doing well, but the vet said that the green spots might be a bacterial infection. She wasn't sure so we decided to continue giving him the antibiotics. Since the vet admitted she is not an avian expert, she referred us to another vet in the town over. However, that vet is out until Wednesday. So that's where we will be taking him Wednesday night.

There was one big development yesterday. I walked out my door to do some errands. I was wearing a jeans skirt and some sandals and a black top. I looked out into my yard which goes pretty far back. About 50 yards or less out we have a pile of brush for a burn pile. Yeah, well, who was messing around in the brush probably chasing a rabbit or something???

IT WAS THE DAMN DOG! The same dog that hurt Napoleon.

I called out softly, "Hey Puppy." The dog looked up and took off at top speed back behind our property towards the woods which back up to our area. I dropped my bags and took off running down the gravel road which leads back to our neighbor's house which is up there.

Now, after I had come back from the taking Napoleon to the vet last week we had gone back to our neighbor's as he raises hunting dogs. And sometimes these dogs happen to get out. So, suffice it to say, these dogs were prime suspects to me from the start. But I couldn't prove anything and they had said the dogs had not gotten out.

Well, it just so happens they let the dogs out to run around and get exercise in their woods. But this dog happened to be going up onto our property since neither of us have any fences. When I got up to their house I had a little chat with the dog's owner about the whole situation.

Net result, we made it clear that not only do we not want their dogs on our property again, they would be paying for all the vet bill...which will probably end up being in the $700+ range.

It would be an understatement to say that I'm very happy we found and were able to prove whose dog it was.

Napoleon Recovery - Day 5

Hi there!

Napoleon continues to amaze us with his recovery. He's even tried to flap up over his barrier on the porch. He's getting restless and probably bored with being on the porch, away from his girls with nothing to scratch up or play with.

His back seems to be healing and he is walking better. He is getting an odd discoloration on the skin on this back, though. We are going to take him in for a follow-up vet visit tonight. We want them to look at his back and make sure he doesn't need more antibiotics.

We plan on taking him at night, since the vet is an after-hours vet anyways. This way, he'll be in his crate and sleepy. We hope!

More of the saga to follow.

Gruesome

So the pics are a bit graphic but you can see the level of injury Napoleon sustained. It's a bit hard to tell from this angle but his back is scraped raw and the puncture wounds are there. He's lost some of his balance too. Some of that is due to soreness probably but also because his tail feathers are missing.



The less severe puncture wound is the one you see here towards the back. The worse one is just at the edge of the feathers.



Given that he was in the dog's mouth when we saw this happening and that he was completely in shock and limp when we rushed him to the vet, it is amazing that he avoided broken bones or worse. That he is now standing, eating, drinking and crowing is even more of a miracle.

Let's hope he keeps on improving and that the antibiotics do their work!

Napoleon Recovery - Day 2

Just a brief update.

Napoleon is hanging in there. He's being very good on the porch and seems to like sleeping in the cat crate in the dog carrier.

He's even eaten some of his feed and been drinking water. We've been cutting down on the pain shots just to try and help space them out a bit but he's been getting his antibiotics regularly.

He's walking around and crowing although we are keeping an eye on his left leg because it seems a bit wonky. We're not really sure what's up - if it's just sore or if it is hurt more than we can tell.

Last night we zipped him into his crate when he had gone to sleep and left him on the porch. We probably won't do that again because the light wakes him up far too early.

His back is scabbed over, which I think is good. It helps to heel and keeps out any dirt, dust or buggies. Not that we are really getting many since the porch is screened in.

Napoleon is outside my window crowing right now. We did not give him pain meds this morning so we'll see how he does today. I'm going to go into work but may have to come home early if he starts having trouble.

Thank you for all your kind words and thoughts.

- Poochie