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4/30/2006 UpdateLuther's electrophoresis bloodwork came back normal, so the doctor said not to worry about his globulin being consistently high for the past 4 years. Also, the fact that he was missing the choanal papillae in the "v" portion of his pharynx caused concern. But apparently the electrophoresis test was the definitive investigative tool with respect to diagnosis of anything pathological.
He's still scared, uncertain of his new home, & uncomfortable being outside of his cage. I'm taking him out everyday twice for about 15-30 minutes. He's fine being held close to my body like a baby, but appears to be unused to standing on a hand or shoulder outside of the cage. I put him on the floor to explore some, but he just starts calling for the other birds & tries to get back into the bird room.
Two days ago Luther fell off the door of his cage; this was the first time (and only time so far) that he'd come out of his cage voluntarily. Thankfully, I had put 3 cotton looped rugs right under the door to his cage when he first got here.
In other news, Tacha has attacked BoBo twice now, so I can't have them both out at the same time. Ordinarily, BoBo plays on the floor all day. He's curious about the new birds, however, & climbs up the couch to visit them on occasion. Twice when holding Tacha on the couch he's climbed up to check her out which resulted in a knockdown dragout fight. The first time Tacha lost several feathers; the second time I was able to break them up quicker & no one was hurt. But now BoBo has to remain in the bird room whenever anyone 'sensitive' is out.
Perry might be coming over tomorrow to help me do wing, beak, & nail trims on whomever needs them. This will save me a lot of money because right now I take each bird to the vet for that. Since it's getting expensive, and I plan to have them for the rest of our lives, I figured I ought to start doing it myself. The wing trims are for their own safety, and the nail & beak trims are for mine. hehehee!
Tuxie is lightning fast; it may be a problem getting her & Sox in a towel when we get ready for them. We'll see. She's already bitten me twice; only once did she get a piece of me, causing a good sized scab on my right forearm.
KiKo is now getting hydroxyzine (an antihistamine) twice a day via syringe. I have to mummy wrap her in a towel, then hold her head & force the syringe in her mouth. She's being absolutely wonderful about it; it makes me so sad just to think about what she's been through in her short life. I hold her longer now & give her special attention so that she doesn't think she's being punished.
She usually gets to bed late now, for this reason. I have not seen much plucking activity since about 2 or 3 days after I started the medication. Plus, she's on Lafeber's pellets now & I check out everything I give her to eat for sunflower seeds (or their derivative, i.e., flour).
I checked out KiKo's body very well tonight under the bright light in the living room & she's covered with down everywhere on her belly & under her wings. The only place where she has feathers is on her wings & her head. Her back has some down feathers, but is mostly bare skin. I only saw one follicle with a scab on it. She has hardly no feathers on her legs.
4/17/2006 Update on feathered kids (fids)KiKo is still hurting herself. I noticed where she had made a few follicles bleed due to plucking out new feathers, still in their sheaths. I talked to the doctor about it. I told him that KiKo eats twice as much as the largest eater I have, next to her. I had changed her to brown rice, broccoli, carrots, baby green peas, and Udo's oil, along with almonds. I only had her on that for one day because I felt she wasn't getting enough calories. If she eats as much pelleted food as she does, she just can't get enough calories with a diet like that. He asked me if she acts like she itches. I said, "Yes, she's always got her foot up clawing around at her eyes." So he gave me an antihistamine to give her by syringe twice a day, thinking she may have allergy problems. He also said try to get her on a pelleted diet that DON'T have sunflower seeds in it. A lot of them have ground up sunflower seeds in them. That seems to be one of the biggest food allergens out there for birds. So, I'm gonna check out different brands ASAP. There's an online link I have that compares nutrients in pelleted diets. I'm hoping that somewhere online I'll find an ingredients list for them, also. Harrison's Bird Foods does have sunflower seeds ground up in them, and so does Zupreem. The nutriberries I've been giving them for treats DOES NOT. So, I'm gonna start by checking out Lafeber's foods first, since they make the nutriberries.
I got home & gave her the meds with no problems. I'm getting better at doing stuff like that now, thank goodness. Anyway, I noticed a new strip of feathers which had disappeared off her back, but no bleeding. The vet told me that if the antihistamine & diet change don't help, I should bring her in & he'll make a custom collar for her. The theory on collars is that, if the plucking is caused by behaviour, wearing a collar for a certain period of time may 'break the cycle' enough to stop the behaviour. I hope we don't have to resort to that. We'll see. Poor thing; I feel so bad for her.
I talked to Perry again (Tacha's former mom) today because I had to pick up something I left at her apartment. I think she would like me to try to take the TAG (Timneh African Grey parrot); and if so, I will try. Yet, I'm a bit uncertain that I can accommodate another bird (much as I'd like to) and be fair to it. We'll see.
In general, nowadays when I go in & out of the birdroom, just about every bird is hanging off their cage begging to be picked up. I'm handling everybody now except Sox, Tuxie, and Little Sammy.
Little Sammy wants to be handled but he still bites. It's as if
he doesn't know what else to do. He & Jerry are still on & off;
I'm thinking his 'personality disorder' is why that relationship is
off to a rocky start. He is the pursuer, always. Sometimes I hear
Jerry scolding him (which is not a big deal since I hear Sox & Tuxie fighting sometimes). But tonight I heard Jerry scolding Sammy, then a flutter, & Jerry was on the floor. So tonight they're in their respective cages, locked in, but covered so that they can see one another. The cages are right next
to each other. I would so love to see them cohabit with one another because Little Sammy seems so alone all the time.
Everybody begs to be held. What to do? I can't possibly hold each one for an extended period of time because there aren't enough hours in the day. But I do want them to remain easy to handle. Jerry, mostly, was hardly approachable at all when I got him. Now they all beg & beg & I feel terrible when I can't hold each one. How do I deal with it?
As for Luther, my new adoptee, he is a dream come true. He has a few physical problems but he is a really sweet bird. He's easy to handle & fairly trusting now. When I got him a few days ago, he kept making little squawks like he wanted to be noticed, yet threatened to bite. I went ahead & picked him up anyway. He put his beak on my thumb once but barely squeezed, then let go. In the doctor's office he was totally cooperative. He has an old wing injury & can't fly. He drops to the ground like a rock. In the vet's office today, he fell twice because someone opened the door to the little room we were in. The room was all white & the door was a big dark brown one. I think the quick opening of it (on two separate occasions) made him think a big black monster was leaping out at him. Maybe the room he was in in his previous home was open all the time... The doctor had to take some blood for an electrophoresis test. Not only does he have an old injury with limited range of motion in one wing, he also has some sort of immune problem. He's not making enough antibodies in response to the antigens in his environment. His lab tests were consistently abnormal for the last several years. His pharynx had a problem noted upon visual examination indicative of this as well. Details later.
Great Niece #4 born todayMoriah & Jim had their first child, a little girl, this evening. She was born just an hour or so ago, so I have no details yet. Congrats new parents! 4/5/2006 I'm getting a new patti!I'm getting a new patti!
I'm so excited! Denise at Safehaven Avian Placement Services just called me & told me she's getting a patti in. It's a 10 yr old male named Luther. He is being given up because the owner has acquired a few new dogs & don't have time for Luther. Luther was her husband's bird when they first got him. He has been DNA sexed. Anyway, he bonded to the man; the wife was not a bird lover, anyway. Once Luther went thru puberty he stopped liking the man & bonded with the woman. Then they got divorced. She didn't want the bird but the hubby was no longer a favourite of Luther's, so she took him. Now he gets ignored too much because of her love for her dogs, so she's giving him up. Her loss; my gain. Yipee! 4/2/2006 Dinky is now eating pellets & nutriberriesUp until now, Dinky has eaten nothing but seeds. I have been putting pellets in his food for some time but he's ignored them. So, I began shortchanging him on the seeds & gradually increasing the amount of pellets I put in his bowl.
Well, I noticed a few days ago he was eating pellets and even some of the nutriberries I crumbled up & placed in his food bowl! What a milestone!
Now, a few days later, he's eating the seeds only as a treat & the nutritional stuff is now his mainstay.
This is a really big deal; he was a hardcore seedeater. |
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