Good Afternoon,

I am writing this to you with a heavy heart. We wanted to let you all know we had to say goodbye to our sweet Pacey girl Wednesday afternoon. As many of you know she was living with a fractured leg, that couldn’t be mended. We were managing her pain as much as possible to give her a happy duck life as long as we could.

First thing Wednesday morning, when I was giving her daily morning medications and CBD joint massage, I noticed that her foot was limp on that leg. She was such a strong girl, she did the best she could to try to walk on it normally and her spirits continued to seem high, but we knew this wasn’t good. We put her in a small private spot on the grass by the pond with her food and water bucket while we contacted the vet. Meanwhile, she still managed to get herself in & out of the pond for a swim and preened and bathed to her delight. We loaded her, Gene and Nan up all together and made the trip over to Seattle to the specialty bird vet. They took x-rays and saw from the last ones they took about a year and a half ago, that Pacey’s bone in her leg was severely degenerating. The vet said with what he was seeing, there was no doubt Pacey was likely in a fair amount of pain and it would only get worse. She already was on a daily pain-killer injection, 4 other supplements, CBD oil rub and oral dose, and laser therapy once a week, which seemed to be managing her pain quite well and giving her the quality of life she deserved, until now. She was such a tough little duck. She did the best she could and was such a sweetheart. She was such a smart girl. She was Gene’s favorite girl, but also the most respected by everyone in the bird yard. People could easily recognize her from her spotted bill and she touched the hearts of everyone that got a chance to know her. Ducks being a pray animal, are really good at covering up pain, injuries, illness for a long time out of instinct for survival. She had been so strong and finally she wasn’t able to hide it anymore. We didn’t want her to live in pain and have to struggle every day. She had a great life with us and was so loved, and now it was time for her to be completely pain free and move on to forage the green grasses and swim to her hearts delight in duckie heaven. It’s one of the most difficult decisions to have to make, but we knew her time had come.

The vet was wonderful. There are obviously many restrictions with the Coronavirus outbreak, but they had a side private room where they allowed me to go in, so I could be with her. He allowed me to spend as much time with her as I wanted. She cuddled in my lap as we sat on the floor next to Gene and Nan. The vet walked me through all the procedures and said I could be present for all, none, or any part of the process. They first give an injection which basically makes them relax and go to sleep, so they are unconscious and can’t feel anything. After a few minutes they give them another injection which will then help aid in stopping their heart. The second injection, even though they can’t feel anything, the body reacts and it can supposedly be quite violent when doing so. Initially I was thinking I didn’t want to witness the second stage, but quickly changed my mind, deciding I wasn’t leaving her alone for any part of this. I will forever be grateful that I was able to hold Pacey through the entire process. I sat next to Gene and Nan and this gracious vet got down on the floor with us to give her injections. He would step out and let us have our private time together, coming back often to check in and answer any questions or concerns. After Pacey received her first injection, she almost instantly got a little sleepy and then slowly fell to sleep. In less than 10 minutes she seemed sound asleep and when the vet came back in he thought she maybe had already gone from just the first injection. He listened to her heart and there was just a very faint little beat still there, so he then gave the 2nd injection. There was no reaction. She went as peacefully as I could have ever imagined or dreamed of for her. Gene, Nan, and I all sat with her body for some time. Gene came over to see her and when she didn’t respond he walked back into his crate to be with Nan. Then they both just laid at the edge of their crate facing me and Pacey. When we were ready, the vet wrapped her up so we could take her with us. They made us a cute clay heart with her name on it and an imprint of her webbed foot that we could remember her with.

I got some raspberries and blueberries to give Gene and Nan for the long ride home.

It was heartbreaking to pull up to the bird yard and not have her with us. Eric, Luna, and Maya, Morgan, and Elen, were all there to greet us upon our return. Gene spent a few minutes calling for her, then it was about bedtime, so they all went inside to rest together.

Yesterday, Eric and Luna dug her a grave in our orchard under a beautiful blooming apricot tree, while Maya and I hiked up the hill to pick some wildflowers to set on top. Eric and I said our goodbyes and put her little body to rest. Losing a part of our family has been pretty tough on both of us. We miss her so much already.

Remebering all the little things….the night I got home, Eric had already started getting dinner ready for everyone and was talking about the bread for the medicine and how he wanted to wait to make it because he knows it gets hard and isn’t as good….then suddenly realized, we wouldn’t be doing it anymore, because it was medicine for Pacey. The girls always loved getting the crust from her bread as treats each night and have been confused as to why they are no longer getting it. Bread is probably the one thing we really stocked up on recently and now we have multiple loaves sitting in the freezer.

We miss her spunky little personality, her sweet face, her unique quack and her gentle soul. Rest in peace our sweet Pacey girl, we will love you forever. You were such a good little duck.

With Love,

Anna, Eric, and the rest of the fam

Our Sweet Pacey Girl

Lots of Animal & Other Updates

Happy New Year 2020!!