Neo arrived at our sanctuary
in September of 2008. He had some serious digestive issues that
need emergency care.
His food would get hung up in his crop on the way down to his gizzard. As a
result, despite eating, Neo was starving and could
barely stand up he was so weak.
In addition to his crop issue, Neo suffered from vocal chord
damage that occurred while he was abandoned on a pond. Our vet suspects he
swallowed something that injured him. As a result, poor Neo had no quack.
He
opened his bill to quack, but only a slight whisper came out.
America's Pet Store donated a special automated and timed feeder to help Neo during the first phase of
his recovery in which he had to have timed meals comprised of ground Mazuri
food. After three months on this diet we began chopping his food
rather than grinding it and then we began mixing in whole food.
As Neo began to grow stronger, we began to
realize that he had some serious neurological issues. He could not
walk in a straight line, but staggered a bit from left to right as he waddled
along. He also did not have the same problem-solving skills as other ducks and
we had to pay very close attentive to his eating patterns to
ensure he remembered to
eat regularly throughout the day.
With all these obstacles, Neo was still a sweet and gentle boy
who let us hold and pet him. He even fell asleep in our hands.
Unfortunately, Neo's neuro issues grew worse and
in late January he began to succumb to mild seizures and soon
after he became ill and was rushed to the vet for euthanization.
We held Neo in our arms and comforted him while he crossed over
to the other side.
For more information about Neo see our
October 2008 and
November 2008 and
March 2009
newsletter articles.
