Still fast asleep in his night basket, this photo which was
taken yesterday morning, shows how tiny Dinky really was.

Poor little Dinky died on my lap, peacefully in his sleep, at 10.30pm last night.

The day before yesterday, he suddenly took a turn for the worse in the afternoon, but then, after some more milk, he seemed to perk up a bit and was fine for the evening. At 2am, he had his biggest feed so far, and was looking fine. In the morning, I fed him again at 6am, 7am and 8am, and he was taking food but not wanting to wake up, even falling asleep in the time it took me to re-fill the syringe with milk. The whole day he just continued sleeping, only grudgingly waking up to take a syringe or two of milk every 30-45 minutes or so. By midday, he was starting to visibly lose condition in front of our very eyes. I rushed off to Mtito Andei (the town about an hour's drive away, where only very basic supplies are available) to try to see if I could find a different type of milk for him, as it seemed the milk we were giving him (despite having successfully raised our neighbour's dikdik) was just not giving Dinky what he needed. I rang a wildlife vet in Nairobi who suggested trying human baby formula so I raced around the few shops in Mtito Andei and eventually found a single tin. I rushed back home as fast as I could, where Ian had been keeping Dinky alive with a couple of syringe-fulls of the original milk. But, even with the new milk, as the afternoon and evening wore on, we just watched the poor little mite waste away in front of us. I just held him on my lap, until - devastatingly - he died there at 10.30pm, just a shadow of the little animal he had been in the morning.

I feel so distraught – he was such a dear little soul. He was so very, very tiny and so helpless, and although I did my very best, it was not enough. I think he was just too young and too small, and perhaps he was already ill when he came to us but we did not know it. I feel so awful, as if I let him down when he was relying on me. Even though he was only with us for two days, I feel utterly bereft – how ludicrously attached one can get to these little creatures in such a short space of time, even when you know the odds are stacked against you when these wild babies are so very young.

These are our last photos of Dinky, taken yesterday morning. By evening, despite my best efforts, he had lost probably half his body weight...but this is how I will remember him, as the sweetest little ball of fluff you can possibly imagine...

Rest in peace, dear little Dinks...I'm so sorry I could not do more to help you. Your tiny little life leaves a great big hole in our hearts here at Kulafumbi...

Little Dinky has taught himself to walk today...after his first feed of the morning, I put him down on the lid of the basket in which he sleeps at night (once upon a time, it was a laundry basket), and after a few minutes, he started trying to get up on very wobbly little legs. Eventually, he gave up and settled down for a snooze.

When I sleep, I like to curl up in a tight little ball,
with my head on my haunches (my fur is so soft and warm)

I have such a funny little nose that twitches and wrinkles all the time

And the crest of hair on my head always seems to stand up like a bottle-brush

Trying to get up on spindly, unfeasibly long and wobbly legs is very tricky...

In fact, I'm not having much luck at all.

I think I'll settle back down...

And have a snooze instead...

But half an hour later, when he tried again, up he got and there's been no stopping him since! He's even running a little bit and attempting the odd jump which so far has always ended in total collapse. When he tries to move too fast on our cement floors, his tiny hooves slip and he ends up belly flopping on the floor, with his legs spread-eagled and pointing to all four corners. It's hard not to laugh because he looks so comical...and he manages to get straight up again, so he is not hurting himself.

Now that he's found his feet, Dinky has taken to following me around and sucking my leg. He's also starting to establish some places in the house that he obviously thinks are now his. If we're in the sitting room, he finds a little corner next to our big armchair, if we're in the kitchen he curls up next to the bin, and if I'm working in my office, he snoozes under my desk. Amazing to think, he has only been with us for 24 hours, yet already is establishing these habits and making this place his home.

Now that I can walk, I'm becoming very brave and adventurous...

So, during the day, we are just letting Dinky run free around the house with us. I took him out on the lawn this morning, but he seemed non-plussed about that...I guess until he starts eating greenery, he won't be too excited about garden forays. I think he's probably only a few days old (because his umbilical cord is still attached, and because he only started walking today), so will expect to ween him in 6-7 weeks' time. For now, it's two-hourly feeds during the day until about 10pm, and then one feed in the middle of the night (about 1am) and that's it until morning. He's taking between 8 - 12ml each time. I'm not sure he really needs the 1am feed, but as I was awake then, I thought I'd give him some milk - after all, he only came to us yesterday and he is still so very tiny, I don't want to risk him going hungry.

His teeth are already growing (and have grown a lot since yesterday) - with his long ears and buck teeth, he reminds me so much of a little rabbit sometimes...