Family Time

Family Time

I've been up all night and still can't sleep. I have less than two hour until I leave for the dentist. I hate dealing with health problem especially those that keep me awake. At least I have a very special companion who's notarial. She still sleeps at night but at least not all night so I have company some of the time. She is an adorable sleeping baby too. She is asleep on my lap right now. Too cute. She needs the all the extra stimulation and attention as her brain heals and she grows. Did you know a study proved rubbing a baby animal's spine cause brain development. Touching her and giving her loves gives her a reason to grow healthier. I see it in her eyes. I believe disabled animals even the wild guy need extra love and attention. Beside raccoon live in families. She is alone without me and I am her family. I have pre-exposure rabies vaccines to safely handle raccoons. At least someone around here can sleep!

Look how big I am! Home sweet home!!!

My sister's wedding went amazing. Stressful and over whelming as a brides maid and the sister of the bride but Mr and Mrs Josh Johnson were both happy and seeing my baby sister happy is what was special to me. To night laying in bed exhausted as I watched Baby Coon beside me helping herself to her bowl of dog beside me all I could think is its great to be home! I was only gone a very days yet she looks as if she has grown while I was gone. She is looking and acting healthier every day!!! I took these pictures a very moments ago. Look how big she got. I'm lucky she's still go to my friend who cared for her most of the time while Peaches was still here and I was busy with her. This meant she was happy with her while I was gone. With her dogs she did not get out of her pet carrier much. She missed the excessive and attention and of course me. Even with all the business I really missed her too!!! I can't say it enough we are both glad to be home!!!

Humans Can Learn from Big Brother Coon

The more people I meet the more selfishness I see. Everyone from animal rescuer to the religious types. They all go on about how they care about animals and/or people but in the end ultimately all they care about is themselves. I realize this is not true of all but it is true of way to many who supposedly care. I recently had the pleasure to meet a baby raccoon who put selfish humans to shame. I call him Big Brother because he was just that an amazing big brother to a very sick Baby Coon. When I fist met them Baby Coon was completely immobile and was terrified of everything and everybody with one exception she trusted her Big Brother. She was in this state because the distemper virus was killing her by destroying her brain. I'll never forget the first opportunity I had to feed Baby Coon and Big Brother. First I held her as I offered her lunch. Big Brother had been eating out of a dish for at least a couple weeks by this time. I then placed her back in their pet carrier and poured him his food. The first thing he did was dash for her to make sure she was alright. Baby Coon could not yet keep herself clean so he groomed her until she was clean all over. After he was satisfied that she was content he ran to his food bowl and scarfed down the entire bowl in a couple seconds. Since she had to remain where ever I put her as soon as he was done eating he returned to her side and cuddled up to her. They both fell asleep all snuggled up together. He was still a young child raccoon yet he loved his sister so much he put her needs before his own. I see so many people talking about their values yet never living up to them. Yet here is a raccoon that never said a word but rather let his actions speak for themselves. Over the couple of weeks that followed Big Brother grew and became much more active. His little sister remained immobile and very ill. At that point it was no longer safe to keep them together. Big Brother is now healthy and preparing to be self selfish raccoon in the wild when he is grown.
Baby Coon has since been treated with two medications that between the two of them have saved her life and given her a quality of life which keeps improving by the day. She's no longer scared of everything. In fact she craves attention from me. Baby Coon now shows me the same love Big Brother showed her. I've been sick lately and Baby Coon as stuck by my side and kept me well groomed. Seeing the difference Big Brother made in Baby Coon's life remind me of my neighbor who had a negative impact on her disabled little brother. Sandy is Richard's only family when he was a toddler abuse caused brain damage. He is a child in a mans body. Sandy's boy friends doesn't like Richard so she turned her little brother to the streets. He began prostituting himself for food and a place to stay. I wish Sandy had taken a lesson from Big Brother Raccoon and not abandon the only family she has over her own desire to have a live in boy friends. This story was not written to criticize Sandy or any other specific person but rather to make the point that we can all learn from special animals like Big Brother and Baby Coon.

My Bed

I'm so sick I have not stopped throwing up long enough to fall asleep. I can at least take comfort in the fact that at least my bed is not going to waste in my absence.

Playful Baby Coon

Baby Coon is learning how to play just like any other little one does. She is very creative. I've watched her play with an empty medicine bottle, a spay bottle, and even my shoe. It's wonderful to see her behaving like a normal baby developmentally even if she's behind. Peaches never was able to play. I'm happy to see Baby Coon making progress beyond what Peaches was able to in her life time.

Baby Coon Trys to Walk!!!

Baby Coon is determined to walk!!! Baby Coon is standing up and attempting to walk repeatedly. She almost has it but her back legs just don't cooperate. Like most animals with mobility problem her arms work better than her legs. Peaches was the only animal I ever had who's back legs worked better than her arms. At the end of the step she topples because she can't quite control those darn back legs. With her determination and constant progress she will be walking in no time. To think just a couple weeks ago she could not move at all unless she was carried. I am so happy for her. I always want my raccoons to be as Mobile as possible for their own quality of life. Her being such a fast scooter is great but her walking will be amazing! Even for those her can't be released I like to see them as self sufficient as possible. She's on my lap eating frozen yellow turnips I cooked for myself in the microwave (her favorite) as I type. I'll keep you all updated on her progress. View her first attempts to walk on her YouTube play list: http://youtube.com/my_playlists?p=FA65F2F085E028E4

Treating Distemper

Baby Coon is a baby raccoon who has canine distemper a disease that distroys the brain. In this post I'm going to talk about a couple drugs that are new to treating distemper who have saver her live and give her quality of life. Tamiflue is what saved Baby Coon's life along with other distemper coons I've cared for. Although the Tamiflue can stop the virus I've found in raccoons who had distemper in the later stages where they already suffered allot of brain damage Tamiflue alone does not give them enough of a quality of life by itself. In cases like that (Baby Coon is one of those cases) Nerotin/gabipenton improve brain function by leaps and bounds. An animal like Baby Coon will never be release-able and will most likely stay on it for life but she leads a happy life and I believe she will be a good educational raccoon like Peaches was. Before tamiflue the distemper virus was rapidly killing Baby Coon. After being treated with Tamiflue the virus was halted and she stopped getting worse. The problem was even for someone like me who avoids putting animals down when ever possible I could not even rationalize keeping her alive if she was not going to improve. She could not move at all. Where even I sat her is where she remained until I picked her up the next time. She was terrified of everyone and everything. Since she had to be held every time she ate and was cleaned she was frequently terrified. Since going on the nerotin(name brand)/Gabipenton(generic) I've been pleasantly surprised. Her results have been bigger and faster than Peaches. Of course Peaches was also battling serious organ damage. Everyday she does new things she couldn't the day before. She can stand up and has gotten really could at scooting around the room. She find food and drinks I leave out or that drop on the floor and helps herself. I don't have to hold her for her to eat I place her head in the dish and she eats on her own. She's using her hand to need, scoop food into her mouth and play. She licks her hands. Peaches was never able to use or lick her hands. Peaches was eventually able to walk but never used her hands that way Baby Coon can. Baby Coon picks special place to sleep where she is not exposed and feels safe. Baby Coon now loves being handled. Any raccoon on this drug long term needs their liver tested through blood work yearly. If anyone wants more information I would be happy to share in more detail.

Special Moments

The little special moments in life are what's the most important in the end. I was typing on the computer with my right hand and holding Baby Coon like a baby in my left hand. She reaches her hands out for my right hand and pulled it to her chest and held my hand there as her looked deep into my eyes. Nothing in life is better than moments like that. She doesn't let me forget how much she loves me.

Baby Coon as shown a lot of improvement in the last few days. I can now put her head in her bowl of food and she eats it without me holding her. She is scooting all around the bedroom and stands up frequently. She's laying on my lap as I write this entry. A lot of mommy and me time is important to her. She's very social. Even when she's not hungry she scavenges for food on the floor. She tries to eat things like grapes but she can't chew them up even if I cut them up. She nibbles on everything. Baby Coon is nibbling on my leg as I write. She like to groom and be groomed. She is good with her hands. Sometime for over an hour she needs on the bed and licks her hands. She'll be walking in no time at this rate!!! Her recovery is happening much faster than expected.

Baby Coon eats squash

Baby Coon still has a seizure every few days, but that's not bad at all for one with distemper. She continues to improve her brain function. The other night her tummy was full on dog food so she should not even have been hungry. Her favorite spot is snuggling with me on my chest. She crawled strait for my mouth for about six inches. She then began smelling and licking my mouth. I realized I had just eaten frozen squash I cooked in the microwave. I put a spoon full by her mouth. She held the spoon up with her hand and slowly, steadily licked one spoon at a time clean. A little bit spilled on her hand. She then licked her hand clean. I've never been happier. Peaches never was able to use her hands. Peaches never licked her hands in her life. To see Baby Coon under three months able to do things Peaches never was able to do in her life is so exciting. For several days she's been sharing my yellow turnips and squash. Frozen squash and yellow turnips have turned out to be her favorite food to this point.
Peaches had no medical treatment during her first two months in captivity. The first wildlife rehaber to care for her dripped milk into her mouth because she could not suck. For two months Peaches gained absolutely no weight as her organs shut down. Baby Coon was just as sick minus the neglect. She was tubed by her rehaber and gave her basic medical care. Baby Coon's original care giver did not have the time to give her all the special attention she needed that's why I'm working with her now, but didn't neglect her. Baby Coon had an advantage Peaches never had. Baby Coon is not damaged from being neglected her or left her to suffer for months. It is believe Peaches died of the organ damage she suffered as a baby. Baby Coon has a chance at life Peaches' didn't have.

My Dream Baby Coon

It never takes me long to fall in love. Every time I look in her eyes I feel a connection like none other. Baby Coon has such soft hair and gorgeous eyes, Like Peaches Baby Coon want to always be with mommy. To feed her I hold her and her food dish in one hand and use the computer with my other hand. She is a slow eater. She enjoys her food one lick at a time for a half hour. She sits up all by herself and uses her hands to scoop her food into her mouth. Her favorite spot to pet is her head. She loves to be combed too. When she gets tired as babies often do she fall asleep in my lap. Yesterday she stood up for the very first time. I gave her a bath last night. She loved it! What a special personality and cute figure. I could not have ask for a better baby she is my dream come true. I could not love her more for I already love her the most!!! I'm so happy for her. As I watch her improve I see how happy she is to be making such amazing progress. I can't wait to see her first steps!

Growing Strong In Peaches Foot Steps

For about a two months before Peaches died Anne Head of our bat project began caring for four baby raccoons. One was a little girl who had the distemper virus destroying her brain and her healthy big brother. For connivance our vet named her Baby Coon until she can get a unique name that suits her. Her symptoms were very similar to Peaches at her age. Baby Coon has an advantage over Peaches because she didn't suffer from severe neglect for her first couple months. Before she was given medical treatment she exhibited extreme anxiety in every situation.
I'll never forget the first opportunity I had to feed her Baby Coon and Big Brother. First I held her as I offered her lunch. Big Brother had been eating out of a dish for at least a couple weeks by this time. I then placed her back in their pet carrier and poured him his food. The first thing he did was dash for her to make sure she was alright. Baby Coon could not yet keep herself clean so he groomed her. After he was satisfied that she was content he ran to his food bowl and scarfed down the entire bowl in a couple seconds. Many humans spend their entire lives making their personal needs their only priority. He was still a young child raccoon yet he loved his sister so much he put her needs before his own.
Over the couple of weeks that followed Big Brother grew and became much more active. His little sister remained immobile and very ill. At that point it was no longer safe to keep them together. Big Brother is now healthy and preparing to be self selfish raccoon in the wild when he grows up.
After being medicated Baby Coon's health has improved dramatically. I went out of town for a few days last week and could not believe my eyes when I returned. Before I left town she was terrified to be touched. Because of this we never really got to know one another. Last night and tonight we spent quality time grooming each other and snuggling together as mother and child. Just like the babies who came before her Baby Coon and I bonded irreversibly. She can almost walk and is an excellent at scooting around. She can sit up by herself. She looks so beautiful and healthy. Baby Coon uses her hands to scoop her food into her month. She is using her tiny hands to to play with baby toys. In most areas Baby Coon's brain is already more functional than Peaches ever was. In spite of her wonderful progress I don't believe Baby Coon will ever be release-able. I expected her to be an educational raccoon like Peaches was. It's so exciting to be watch her mature, grow, and expand her abilities. Baby Coon can never replace Peaches. My dream is for Baby Coon and myself to become a team teaching people the way Peaches and I did together.