Our houseguest for 5 weeks has healed from his wounds and has been returned to his owner. The owner has committed to keeping Gecko away from the river (and crocodile) and has Gecko with a friend in a house. Definitely a bitter sweet moment, we cared for him and spoiled him as much as we could keeping in mind not to get too attached for all of our sakes. Our goal was to give him back as healthy as possible, including treating for fleas, ticks and internal parasites. His recovery went extremely well, the first week after his surgery he was pretty delicate, my husband was able to build Gecko a splint to further protect his leg. By the 2nd and 3rd weeks after surgery he was getting stronger and more confident and we took him for visits to see his owner.

His last week with us was great. We made sure that he was strong enough without his splint, understandably he was pretty protective of his leg but once he realized we were trying to help him he was more receptive. We let him play a bit with stuffies and squeaker toys, being careful not to get him and Dudley too wound up. I would have loved for them to have played more together, but we just didn’t want to risk the recovery on his leg.

Everyone has their reason to foster, for this little guy we just wanted to help him. I’m thankful he was able to trust us to be kind and keep him safe. His cries the morning after the crocodile attack will forever be etched in my memory… but with that comes the memories from his recovery time with us. From Gecko trying to help my husband fix the fridge to him showing a definite interest in our cats, he couldn’t always decide between wanting to chase them or seek them out for comfort.

Despite not playing too much with Dudley, the 2 of them bonded. There was 1 afternoon that after their walk, I was taking Gecko upstairs and Dudley was staying downstairs with my husband. I had never heard Gecko howl like that before – from departure time until he saw him again, he was truly upset that he and his buddy were being separated for the first time in 5 weeks. Thankfully, Dudley and my husband returned upstairs 10 minutes later and all was well in the universe again.

We had a week of visiting Gecko every couple of days before he went to stay in a house, I’m still hoping to see him 1 last time before heading to Canada for the summer. Our final morning with him, we let him on the bed for cuddles, Gecko was a very willing recipient of that special treat. He deserved to know that he was worth protecting and that someone cares.