Poppy spent some time hunched up, in shock, in the dog crate. She accepted some Nutridrops, drank water from a syringe, ate some corn and a little bit of posh-cat-food fish. She stayed hunched up.
A little later I offered her some yoghurt, which she ate. More water.
Much later, she did an almighty, stinky, runny, poo. I took her out of the crate, and cleaned and disinfected everything. She was suddenly very awake, and was marching up and down by the back door, pecking on the glass. I popped her back in the crate but it was obvious she wasn't happy there. I guessed she wanted to go and sit in the nest box of the Cube - she had been on the verge of going broody yesterday.
It was raining outside. We moved the Go so that we could see it from the kitchen and she could see us. We put an old cube cover on it, and put her in there. I put a proper drinker, with Avi-pro-laced water in, and some pellets. She went upstairs and stayed there.
Later, I went to check on her and found that she'd laid an egg. I took her out of the Go and put her o the garden table so I could inspect her. I found teeth marks on her back, and she had lost a lot of feathering. I couldn't see any blood or lumps out of her, but I called the Vet to ask for antibiotics. We got an appointment for late this afternoon.
I found a small, all, box, and we took her to the Vet. He examined her all over, and confirmed that the bite marks on either side of her back were where the fox had tried to grab her. There were no puncture wounds, and, because of this, he said he would prefer not to give her antibiotics as they can cause problems in themselves.
He warned me that the shock might bring on pneumonia, in which case she would need antibiotics, but he agreed that I wouldn't need to bring her in again if that was the case.
Back home, I popped her back in the Go run with some cucumber, grapes, fish cat food, and water. She drank a lot.
After a while, I opened the run door so she could wander around the garden. She went straight to the corner of the Pampas grass where the Girls liked to congregate in the afternoon while waiting for their evening corn.
Meanwhile I swept the main run. It was full of feathers, and I'd rather get them cleared now than have to face it in a day or two. I couldn't get to the Cube run though, we really need to detach the Cube and I just can't be doing with that right now.
Finally, I scrambled an egg for her. She ate most of it, very quickly.
She's currently still by the Pampas. I'll put her in the Go Run in about half an hour, and then we'll bring her inside the house later on. I don't want her outside overnight, partly in case the fox comes back. He wouldn't be able to get to her, but he might scare her to death. Literally.
I'd like to bring one of her sisters, Gorgeous, back from the allotment. I can imagine that might cause her more stress than being on her own at the moment., so I'll have to play that by ear. Maybe tomorrow. Or Friday. Or so.
My lovely little girl.
