armchairangel

Yeah, she's ancient! *L* Actually it was jared's parents that took care of her for most of her life, we've only had her for just over the past year. When we took over her care, I was mortified that she had only been given seeds and was in a round cage. But you know, there are people who flourish on junk food, so its not too weird that there are birds that are the same way. What I really think it comes down to was her breeding. Ever since we got her, I look for a dead bird on the bottom of the cage each morning, simply because she's so old. *L* Yet she can knock on death's door and come back better than ever.... Its a thing I don't think I'll ever understand, but am ever so lucky to enjoy. That little bird can hardly know how much I love her and how special she is to me!

I'm so sorry that Sara had enough of her struggles. I hope you can find comfort in knowing what a great home you provided her. She obviously was a happy bird, even right up to the end. That has so much to say about the care she was given. *hugs* Now take care of you and your family extra special for a while. Fly Sara, fly!!!

Baby seems to be happier now that we give her a lot of time with Cupid and Psyche during the day. She plays and plays with their toys and with them, eats and flies around in their cage like its the best thing in the world. In the morning I'll put her with them and she's happy there for hours and doesn't seem to get fluffy from the lack of the heater. Then in the evening, when they're quieter, we put her back into her little warm hospital cage for the night. It seems to be working a bit better than before. I found the second food dish for the little cage to put her pellets in so she wouldn't kick them out, but that only worked for about a day until she decided she would pull the dish off the side of the cage! *(Laughing out loud)* That's a very old trick of hers, and as annoying as it is to be wasting the pellets, its great to see her so active again. I just put very few pellets in there and when she does yank it off all the way, most of them stay in the dish. Having the other two to help burn off her happy budgie energy has seemed to help with that issue quite a bit though. And today, it seems that the cranky old lady has *really* started to enjoy Cupid's company, if you know what I mean. I came up to the cage and I saw what seemed to be Cupid hopping off from Baby's back!!! Now maybe it just looked that way, maybe he did more of a leapfrog hop from the other side of her as opposed to hopping off from her. Now tell me, just what would a cheeky young flirt like Cupid see in a 16 year old elderly lady?! *(Laughing out loud)* Maybe he's sick of unsuccessfully wooing Psyche and wants to get some in any way he can? *(Laughing out loud)* Ummm... this wouldn't be bad for her in any way, would it?

Here we thought it was little Blinkie who was the massive flirt, but now it looks like we know Cookie only encourages it! *(Laughing out loud)* Your pictures are always so entertaining and they capture your birds' beauty so well!

Excellent that your vet tried a different approach to treatment and it worked! It sounds like he's doing well and I hope he continues to improve! I'm sure he's very grateful for your care, even if he's not too happy about being cooped up since Friday. *L*

Yup... the microscope we had at the clinic had a 40x, 100x, 400x and 1000x. We mainly used the 100 and 400. The 1000x is an oil immersion and is for good close ID of bacteria. 400x can give you an idea of what bacteria is there, but 1000x allows you to see it much better for a positive ID.

Oh wow... what a journey she has gone through! I'm glad it sounds like they're taking care of her well and taht she's continuing to be her stubborn 'I'm gonna get through this' self! The poor girl!

Yes, he's really pretty!!

Yes, as horrible and heartbreaking as it is for the animals, sometimes a little research into the person behind it tells another sad story. Its hard to know what would be more desirable, someone doing it on purpose, or someone who is so sick they can't help it. I love the name she chose for the bird! May he continue to endure so he can have a happy home. Getting a healthy bird that looks the same is a funny, cool idea, which might work for a 5 year old, but someone who is 10, particularly such a compassionate girl, it probably wouldn't work. If he didn't have ANY distinguishing marks, I could see it possibly working, but the risks would be too much in my opinion. For a girl who's done such great things for these animals, it would be a shame to taint the whole experience with a lie from the adults. I get the impression that she would understand Eduro's death and not take it too hard.

I would guess her cleanliness would affect her health, mental if nothing else. We all know how icky it is to feel all grubby when you're not feeling good. However, keeping her warm would be key as you already know. Maybe using a damp towel to wipe her feathers down might help without soaking her to the bone. Or mist her and then wipe away the moisture and hopefully some of the grime. Do you have a warm lamp you can put her by until she's dry again? Here's a kind of crazy idea.... Its so sweet that she gets excited about your husband's voice. Could you make a little recording of him for her? That way he could 'be there' for her without getting upset about her condition.

Fun!! I was thinking, Oh, I love the third one, then I liked the next one even more, and then there were just too many that I liked too much to pick a favorite! What a beautiful bird!

You're not scary at all! I kinda like the impromptu one where it got you smoothing out your hair. Makes me think you're trying to be all suave like the guy in your avatar. *L*

Thank you! Phoebe, I think if you do one that's 20 years old, that might be okay. But be sure to label it as such. It would be funny to have everyone do that! I wonder how many little kid pictures there would be. *(Laughing out loud)*

Rooster

I love pics!!! You have some beautiful birds! I really like the two gray ones.

Yeppers

I got 6/10 right. I mixed up the ragdoll and the birman. poo!

That is just too cute!!!

I'm so sorry that she had to go so soon. *hugs* I hope that you can find some sort of comfort in knowing that you did the right thing and that she;s 100% perfect now, flying happy and free. She had such a good mom, what a lucky bird!

it sounds like you cleaned the cage well enough then. It shouldn't have been the issue.

yup... budgies like to make noise. Ours have a noisy period in the morning too. The only thing that has seemed to help with the noise for us is to give them other ways to release their energy. They still make noise, but not as much.

Good to hear that it sounds like he's gonna be fine! Cupid has had weird wing issues for a while now. Quite awhile ago, he would hold his wing up funny like it was hurting him. We did a whole vet treatment for it and its gotten better, but still bothers him now and then. Several months ago, we clipped his and Psyche's wings and the feathers on his bad wing haven't grown back! The cut ones didn't fall out either though. Except he's going through a big molt right now and I did notice that a couple of the trimmed feathers came out and there are some new ones now.

thanks Norm and Nerwen!

awwww.. the poor girl! I'm sure the vet will have recommendations about what to do with her. You'll know what is right too. Good luck!

Oh no!!! I hope she does okay and that the vet can help her if she doesn't pass the egg by then. Good luck!!