Christmas Miracle At Lighthouse

We had a real Christmas miracle today here at Lighthouse!!!!!

Two of our chickens were "Turkens." Turkens are chickens who have no feathers on their neck.
"Tom," was the rooster and "Prissy" was the hen." 

About two weeks after we got them Tom disappeared. We found feathers from Tom at the fence and knew that he had been killed by a coyote or raccoon or something. We were heart broken. 
Poor Prissy searched  and searched for him.

A few days later she laid an egg and started sitting on it. It was only one egg, and we were pretty sure it was not fertile since Tom had been gone for days.....but she continued to take care of her egg so we just let her be.

This morning.... Bud found a chick, dead, in the nest and one crushed egg shell.

We could not find Prissy and thought maybe she had "flown the coop" after her chick was born dead.

About thirty minutes later Bud heard "cheeping" that sounded like a baby chick. He ran out front and found a baby chick in our pond! 

Our one eyed cat, Lucy, 

 Click on the pictures to enlarge them. 

was heading for the pond, attracted by the sound, and Prissy came out fighting!! She charged Lucy and ran her back.

Bud grabbed the chick out of the pond before it drowned and called me out to see it. 

Now there was only one egg in Prissys' nest. And there was one dead chick. We could not figure out where the chick came from so we brought him inside to try to dry him off and figure out what was going on.

I took a couple of pics of this wet little guy under the Christmas tree and then we took the chick up so our two year old grandson, Joe, could see it.

Joe was fascinated and remembers seeing me release rescued birds. Anytime he sees a bird he will hold his palm up and point to it with his other hand....thinking the bird should come to his hand.

He even gave the little chick a kiss.

He was a little nervous at first.... 

....but we finally were able to convince him that he could hold it in his hand. 

He was thrilled!!

Then we took the chick back downstairs and set him/her on the ground where he started "cheep cheep cheeping." 
 Another hen started toward us and we figured maybe it was her chick.  But then Prissy came up the hill toward the sound of the cheeping and the chick ran straight to her!!

They turned and went back over the hill and Prissy started scratching around in the leaves showing her chick how to search for food.  

After doing some research tonight guess what we found out!!!! The chick was a TWIN!!!!!!!!!!! It is VERY RARE!!!!! 

Like I said...there was only one egg in the nest. Bud found the crushed shell this morning and a dead chick. There was only ONE shell. 
It is possible for two chicks to come from a double yolked egg. So that is the ONLY explanation. Most of the time neither chick survives. There is not usually enough room in the egg for either of them to create enough momentum to crack the shell. So this little guy is a REAL rare kid. 

We are calling him "Elvis," since Elvis had a twin that died at birth too.
Our little Christmas miracle!!!

Have a great Christmas and watch for those miracles!!!! They happen every day!!!

Update on Denny

You folks remember Denny. (blog post before this one) 

The little three pound street pup with over 500 ticks and thousands of fleas. He came into Lighthouse on Jan 25th. That was 16 days ago.

Here are his reports since then.

Jan 30th. Day 6

Denny is doing well. Still way too skinny but feeling much better!! His eyes are clear now with no "goop." He is a happy, tailwagging little guy. He was given his final dose of de-wormer today so his system should begin to catch up with itself.

Hopefully his skin problems will start clearing up now and he'll start gaining weight. He has only gained a quarter of a pound in the 5 days he has been here.

Denny February 1st. Day 8

February 3rd, Day 10

Update on Denny. Denny is doing GREAT!!! His skin still looks awful but he is SOOOOO happy and jumping around like a puppy should!!! He's gained a half pound and on a furkid this tiny that is quite a bit. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow!

Thanks for all the prayers. Please keep them going. We still have to have him tested for ehrlichiosis. I just want him to be a little less anemic before we draw blood.

February 4th, Day 11:

Denny Day Ten!! Here are some pics I took just a few minutes ago. Before and after his medicated bath. The pustules are all rupturing and draining and that's a good thing. It leaves sores but they are healing quickly and some of them are already beginning to grow fur. You'll see the scabs on his face in one pic and then bare skin in another (after his bath.) The fur comes off with the scabs. He is FULL of energy and has gained enough weight so I can't see his ribs anymore. I'm uploading a video so you can see him in action. He is one happy little guy. He got to meet Poas, the Doberman, through the fence today!!

February 6th, Day 13

Denny didn't fare so well with his vet visit today. 

He was doing great this morning. Playing, barking, happy. Ate really good. He was fine all day but when I went out at 2:45 to take him to the vet for his ehrlichia test his belly was extremely bloated. 

He was still running, happy, wagging, barking and playing so I got him in his crate and went to the vet office. Joray, my daughter, met me there and we petted him while we waited. 

He seemed fine except for the bloated belly. (He did pass a lot of gas on the way in the car.) When we got in to see the vet and I took hold of him to take him out of the crate he felt very hot. (He was not hot 10 minutes before.) 

The vet tech took his temp and it was 40 degrees. (104 fahrenheit) The bloated belly and the spiked temp came on suddenly. They rushed him to the back and bathed him with cool water. Once the temp was down they started trying to figure out what was causing the bloating. 

The vet tried acupuncture to relieve the gas. Didn't work. She then recommended an ultrasound. It showed nothing. 

I suggested we take him out to the back and let him move around some. Once outside he seemed happy and playful. We ended up giving him some pediatric anti-flatulence med. 

We then did his blood test for the ehrlichia but his immune system is still so messed up it was really not possible to get a "for sure result." 

He is now getting a new med to build up his immune system, anti-flatulence medicine, liver twice a day for the anemia along with his puppy food. 

Vet gave me two loaded syringes with med for his gas problem. One for tomorrow and one for Sunday. 

Please keep the prayers going up. Here are some pics Joray took of his little belly at the vets office today. He is in his crate now and seems comfortable.

February 8th, Day 15

He is doing fine. No fever. Only gets a "poochy belly" when he eats and then back to normal when he poops. He is full of life and loves to play and be petted. Eating good, drinking water, etc. His skin is healing now that all the pustules have ruptured. 

February 9th, Day 16

Here's a video I just did of Denny. He is playful, happy, and is eating well. I have cut down on the size of his meals and feed him several meals a day. 

He is getting his meds and they seem to be helping him. 

http://youtu.be/yhtevCxQ6gk

I'll keep trying to update as much as possible. Please keep saying prayers for Denny.

Meet Denny!!!

Hello Everyone!!

Meet Denny!!!

Five days ago a new furkid came to Lighthouse. He is a tiny little guy, (about 10-12 weeks old) and he is in pretty bad shape.

He was found on the streets by our friend, Dennis Easters, and brought here.

This poor little 3 pound baby was MASSIVELY infested with ticks and fleas. We pulled over 500 ticks off of him and the fleas were so numerous there was no way to count or even guess how many. I am going to say there were over two thousand.

His tail is broken in two places, he has postules all over his little body which are now opening and draining, and of course he has skin issues.

These are pics of the first day he arrived. 

We cleaned off all the ticks we could find but were still finding more for four days after. We gave him a Capstar to rid him of the fleas.

He got a nice warm bath and we cleaned all the tick dirt out of his ears. 

His eyes were goopy so we know he has some infections working in his little body.

He was pretty weak but he ate really well when we offered him food. 

Here are some photos after his de-ticking, de-fleaing, bath, lots of loving and a good dinner.

He is improving day by day and gaining strength. He has not gained any weight yet but hopefully will start once his de-worming is completed. 

He is very anemic, (how could he not be when he was being DRAINED by so many blood sucking parasites?) so he is getting liver three times a day, along with his puppy food, to boost him.

He is also getting vitamins and coconut oil. 

The pic below was taken on his 4th day here. You can see how tiny he is.

Here is a video of his 4th day with us. He got to meet Joe, our grandson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFmFO2DzZEY

We'll be posting updates so you can see how he is doing.

Catching up!!!

Hello Everyone!!!!

Yes, it's been a while since we posted an entry on our blog. 

We've been re-organizing and getting our house/shelter in order. 

So I'll just try to update on all that has been going on and post some pics!!

We still have the beautiful, moonlit nights reflecting off the Pacific and the Gulf of Nicoya. 

Some of you will remember dear, sweet Bess, 

who came here very pregnant and died after her C-section due to vet error. Here are a few pics of her precious puppies. We raised them all on bottles with the help of very nice friends who volunteered. They are in happy, loving homes now.

And our last blog post told about Kaylee, the photographer who came to take photos of the furkids. We still have not received them all but here is one she sent me right away of Milana, Mieko and Delilah. Great shot isn't it??

Our two legged kids are living here with us now (the reason for reorganizing and getting house in order) and of course they brought their four legged kids.

Here is our daughters cat, "Pebbles."

The toucans still come to visit and hang out in our trees.

We participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge. Here's a shot of our daughter, Joray, getting doused!!

Joe, our grandson, is growing up. He's a real lil' stinker.

His one year birthday

A friend donated a GREAT cat tower!!

And you folks remember little mercy. The little one who was so near death when I got her. 

SHE'S DOING GREAT!!!!!!! Just LOOK at her!!!!

And Dolly, the lamb who was blind, is now in a wonderful home!!! A huge farm where she has playmates and loving people to take care of her. 

She was smaller than our cats when she arrived here.

She grew up healthy and strong and we cured her blindness with drops of Mariola honey in her eyes each morning and evening.

While she was still here she wrecked the car by knocking the motorcycle over on it.

Sometimes we save up enough money to have the groomer come and groom the furkids.

Donna

Mieko

Milana

And of course there's always treat time....

And thunder storms are always a little scary.

And our Christmas card for this year.

Then we got Chloe back. Chloe was adopted from Lighthouse 9 years ago after her original owners abandoned her here and moved back to the US. 

Her adopters have now decided to go back to the US and cannot take her with them. She's SUCH a sweetie and is anywhere from at least 12 to possibly 20 years old. She has some problems but she will live out her life here with us as a much loved member of the Lighthouse family. 

Our back yard, the doggie playground, is looking pretty with the Bouganvilla blooming. 

Found some great buys in doggie clothing and costumes at the Ropa American store. (Goodwill store) 

It's been busy but that's just what it's like here at Lighthouse. We hope everyones' Christmas and New Year was wonderful.

We'll post again ...soon...we hope!!