My illness has worsened; keeping my bird?

[allie]

Hi Maggie,

I regret to write in that my chronic illness that had been stable for about a year has relapsed and I am very ill. I am so concerned about my Timneh. She's the bird I got in July who was kept in a cage in a backyard with a plucked Timneh with no human interaction. She and I had come so far, with her even stepping up from the cage and flying from my arm to her climbing tree. She had become totally dependent on me, only eating with me when I ate, only playing with toys when I played with her.

Now I am bedridden and the tough part is I don't know if this will last a few months or much more. I am heartbroken about her. I have family coming to clean up and feed her and clean her water. Problem is it's 3 different people coming in all the time to help me with her. I talk to her as they do everything, saying the things I always said as I interacted with her. She's had a lot of stress since these people aren't very mindful and sometimes terrify this fearful creature just by working to fast around her.

I have moved her cage so that it is still against a window(having been an outdoor bird, she really needs this stimulation I think), but also near my bed and the french doors to the balcony. A ficus tree overhangs her cage and she perches underneath where the branches are; I think this is calming too. I hope. This way she can be rolled to my bed where I can interact with her through the open door, or she can be rolled out into the sunlight on the balcony on nice days. I moved her cage to this area several days in a row during the day and returned it to it's usual place at night, just to get her used to it. Otherwise, she would be far from me all day long. I think she's eating more this way.

I put a ladder from her door perch to my bed and I am very proud of her for in one afternoon, not only climbing onto the new scary ladder for hte first time but walking onto the bed with me (and then scurrrying back into her cage with her prize). Much coaxing and many treats did this.

I'm hoping to get her comfortable with playing on my bed with her toys and foraging for food (I used to scatter her food on her play top to get her to forage). Maybe that way I can keep her happy enough to keep her with me. She had never been out of her cage before in 8 years, but now she gets nervous and pacey if she doesn't get out everday since she had been out of her cage most of the day before I got sick. I gave her several new toys that I made that have lots of things she likes to explore with her beak--beads, sisal, cotton, and popsicle sticks.

I'm also afraid she's picking feathers. She had dropped some large feathers once a week, but now I'm seeing smaller feathers everywhere.? She is picking at her vent area too, and that's a first, and it scares me after reading the other plucking post here. Poor bird, who could blame her with all my stress and the changes?

I have two possibilities in mind if I have to find her a home. I hope it doesn't come to that, but already I'm feeling really guilty about how much time she spends in her cage seeing me sick all day (we live in a studio apt. together) and it's been 2 weeks. I'm sure my being upset about the relapse hasn't helped; I know how sensitive they are. I also tend to do for her when I should be in bed so I may have to put my health ahead of keeping her at some point.

When does one re-home? When is it better for the bird to stay where they are? I want what's best for her. Any advice would be much appreciated on how to make the bed-bird idea work better for her would help us both.

Allie and Luna

[Maggie-]

Dear Allie,

I'm SO sad to hear about your relapse!

Are you sure she is picking? Birds also molt a few times per year. Molting can mean lots of feathers coming out at the same time. What do you mean by "picking at her vent?" Greys rub their beaks/heads on their back vent. This is to get their oil from their vents to spread on their feathers while preening. Make sure she is not just molting. Then if she looks to be picking, you will need to have a vet check her out. I bet you could find a vet that will do house calls.

You may just want to get a big towel to place on the bed for her to play with toys. Do you have a playpen/play stand that can roll on the floor? You could have that beside your bed to put her on after playing with the toys.

If you are looking for a new home for her, you may want to contact the lady who just lost Sterling, the baby Grey. Her email address is on one of these posts. It seems fortuitous to have BOTH of you post at the same time...one MAY need a new home for Grey and another is looking. It is worth a try.

I think the matter of whether or not to find a home basically depends on your prognosis. Although this is chronic, will you be up on your feet at a reasonable time and for long periods? It also depends on how well the 3 people coming to the home and how well she acclimates to playing on the bed are doing. From a heart perspective, there's NEVER a good time to have to let your little soul mate go. Pray a lot for the answers.

GREY'T Blessings,
Maggie-

[Maggie]

PS: Look at the "My baby died post."
Mag-

[sidneys]

My name is Sidney, I am the one who lost Sterling. I put you on the prayer list at church. God works in mysterious ways, maybe my loss was to tell you to keep trying to keep her with you. What ever change she is going thur she still has you and she will adjust. If you read my email to maggie (my baby dies) you can kind of see what i went thru but it doesnt tell all, My first email was about a 5 wk old baby and i have a couple after that. Please read "my baby dies" the one before this one of yours. I couldnt write it all cause it hurts to much, but I think it might help you.
I got Sterlimg at 4 weeks, i didnt dare leave his side once i was informed how dangerous it was for a baby to be weaned this early. I took him every where, and i mean every where (i kept him in a carrier in the car or a diaper bag if i went to grocery store or resturant) I had to monitor his tempature, wrap his feet and physical therepy, and feed several times a day. ( i even set my alarm on my phone to wake me up every haur to check his temp.) He was five month and the avian vet said he was the most welll rounded Grey he ever seen. But I moved a month ago, and it went down from there. Sterling started flying away from me and biting me so i didnt take him to work as usual cause i wasnt sure what was wronge, i wrote to maggie and she told me it was the move. I started taking him back to work, which he loves and he was fine there, in the car he sings ALL THE WAY too and from, but at the new house the biting and screaming and running away continue. (Sterling has always been out of a cage all day, i only put him up when i am asleep, and thats cause he would get in my bed and i was afraid i would crush him) At work hes on our chairs and our desk, He has a nice nice T stand but he likes to me close. And i had to put him up at home the minute we walked in the door cause he would hurt himself trying to get away, flying in to windows ect it was horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i could feed him and love all over him any where outside that house. i had a family emergency and i left him with by best freind who he loved and loved being at her house. He ate formula 3 times a day and free fed pellets, fruit, veg, and birdy bread everyday which he was just started eating. I called every day and she said he was not eating food i said it was ok cause he never does, when i got back he was so skinny, i ask why she again said he wasnt eating food, and i said but he was eating the formula right ? But she said thats what she called food. It was 3 am, i fed him and we went to bed he was very vocal and happy to see me. Next am he wasnt making a noise and was cold, took him to vet , and it was too late. Vet said with all stress of move probally some birth defect also caused his immune system to go down and he got an infection in crop and couldnt digest food correctly. Birds are prey animals and dont show they are sick till to late cause in the wild their flock will leave them or they will get eaten. Any way, I feel if i hadnt left i could have caught it, if i hadnt moved he wouldnt have got stressed, so i am telling you, you know her better than anyone else and you can catch things no one else will notice, and stress with out you is far worse than with you, and unless you just cant take care of her, i think she is ok with you. I really want another baby, i will give her a good home, but i would wait till you just cant doi t any more. Just in case, theres always a chance that the move and leaving you can kill her. So if it was me i would hold out. She loves you, give her time and she will be fine on the bed, she might not want in the cage any more once she figures its ok and she can cuddle and play with out having to leave you. I feel your pain and i will pray it gets better, and if you decide you need a home for her im here,
be positive and she will be too. Alawys remember would you love her less if she stayed in bed, and she doesnt love you less either. She just needs to get used to the bed. You need each other!
freinds always, will be here if you need me or to talk, swilliams@electricalmg.com, email me and ill give you my phone number.

[Maggie]

Sidney,

What a touching post! I hope the two of you begin to communicate through email and become good friends. You "humans" can actually help each other too.

I agree that you should try to keep her until you absolutely cannot.....and maintain contact with Sidney. There is a major reason all of this is happening between the two of you on this board. This is how God works.

All of you are in my prayers. Please keep me posted.

GREY'T Blessings & Love,
Maggie-

[allie]

Sidney, thanks so much for sharing your struggle and offering your prayers. We are trying, but I keep making myself worse by trying to do for her. She stayed out yesterday. I'm worse today because I had to go get her as she flew to the door as a visitor left.

We are talking alot , from my bed, her from her cage. I ring a bell when she does or says certain things and she does them even more; it;s cute. I tell her how beautiful she is when she stretches ("ballerina bird") over and over so she just keeps doing it over and over for the attention! I;ve got one person now doing omsto of hte the work with her. He's quiet and better.

I'll write you more when I'm feeling better. Computer screens are hard on myt eyes now. I'm sorry for your loss. I understand a little, as my girl that I have worked so patiently with has quit letting me take her around on my hand and quit stepping up because of a;ll the stress. IT woudl be easier if she would let me handle her. i can't imagine how devastated you must have been. .but surely no one else out there would have given Sterling a better life than he had with you. Surely.

Maggie, I don't know. There are tiny feathers (not down)everywhere. She is not beaking the uropygeal gland, but below the vent between the legs. What do you think. I keep seeing her preening and feathers coming out and her chewing on them. ?? Plucking? molting?

Also, mainly feeding Harrisons now since I can't handle putting in all the different fresh foods that she won't eat rght now anyway. She has quit eating everything but harrisons and apples.

Thank you both
alisonandluna

[Maggie]

Allie,

She may be plucking as a reaction to the stress. It would be best to try to get a vet to do a house call to talk with him/her and to have Luna checked out.

Can you have her cage even closer to your bed and speak with her from there?

Prayers will help you decide what to do about whether or not to find her a new home...now or later.

My heart goes out to you and Luna.

GREY'T Blessings & Love,
Maggie-

[sidneyw]

My quaker was doing the exact same thing, so i soaked him in warm water for a long time, soon i started seeing the hard caseing on the feathers on his neck only. I guess he was having a hard molt, but it fixed it.
Sounds like Luna is doing better.
My vet said if all they eat is Harrisons, its ok. Harrisons is a complete diet and has the extra calcium that African Greys need.
My Quaker is sooooooooooooooo pretty. He used to look pretty scrowngy but we started him on the Harrisons and he looks great. Hes picky so it took a year before he would finally take it, but he takes it only now, except for the birdy bread.
Yall are in my prayers, Have a terrific day! Sidney

[allie]

Hi all,

Figured out that Luna is NOT plucking, thank goodness, when she flew off my bed the other day and made an unusually low flight around the room and found 3 large feathers on the floor afterwards. She is molting. I've been giving her soaking baths in the sunlight every other day with a misting bottle. It was hard to tell because she will sit and preen for one hour on her breast if you don't distract her. She can't get the height she used to get with those feathers coming out right now,but that was good excercise for her, and bad for me. I got her back on the bed and she stayed on my chest with me blowing her head feathers for about 30 minutes---she must have loved it because she could have walked to her cage and ladder from there but didn't.

I've got her cage right near my bed, her climbing treee has been moved beside my bed too. She is a bit shy right now I guess becaue the tree is in a new place but she did come out and allopreen with her dangling foraging ball on her tree:) She is LEARNING to play with toys by herself in her cage for the first time too. (I think she had the same 2 toys for 8 years at her last home)

Having her close to my bed has improved her eating. She is eating apples, grapes, and ate some cracked wheat today, other than the Harrison's. I'm having to set limits for myself as far as what I do with and for her. We do talk alot all day and play bell games, her with hers and I with mine. She got an afternoon of full sun in my open balcony door (no calcium problems here!) and snoozed in the sunlight. If I can allow myself to heal and put myself first for a just a little while, maybe I'll be better sooner. If I over exert and do for her now, it just means it's more likely I won't come out of this relapse. Thanks for your good thoughts and prayers Maggie and Sidney. I don't want to stress her with another new home either. I'll keep you posted Sidney. It's nice to know that there are good homes waiting in case.

Allie

[Maggie]

Hi Ladies,

Harrisons is good but I do NOT agree with vets when they say that's all you need. They also need their balance of vegetables and some fruits and grains. Please look at Alicia McWatters' article on pellets versus food. It is in the article section of the site.

Also try some foods such as raw carrots and broccoli for Luna. Also, the red and green bell peppers are good...as well as LOTS of greens. I know they are hard to prepare sometime. Perhaps someone can help you that comes over.

Luna sounds like she is adjusting well.

How long do you think it will take you to recover? You are in tonight's prayers.

Love,
Maggie-

[allie]

Hi Maggie,

Even when I was doing well, Luna was offended by greens cooked or otherwise in her bowl. Then I tried hanging them around the cage; she avoided those areas of the cage. Sooo, it's even harder to get her to try them now. Gave her freshfinely chopped radish greens the other day so I am trying but she rejected them again. I don't know how people get them to eat lots of greens; it's a task even for a healthy person! I offer her new foods whenever I have them, as people are "feeding" me right now. Today she got fresh persimmon, but ignored it. She does eat canteloupe and sweet potato. Got someone to cook some sweet potato for her today.

One very positive thing today to report: Luna was on the top of her climbing tree and decided to fly (more feathers fell out) and landed on the opposite side of the apt. on the floor----very good landing! Then, staying in my bed on the opposite end of the studio apt., I called her and she walked across the entire apt, straight to my hand! I didn't have to get out of bed! Put her right back on her tree with some treats for being such a good girl!

Maggie, that's what's so terrible about these immune system disorders, once their triggered, it's hard to know when you will get back to your previous level of functioning. I really don't know, but I'm guessing at least a few months. I hope that I do regain all my strenght from before. Thank you for your prayers.

Allie

[Maggie]

WOW! That's incredible about Luna! You may even want to give her a favorite TREAT when she comes to you....only use the treat when you want to reward her for doing things like walking across the room. Do not serve it at any other time. This will help her learn even faster to do those things.

Greens are hard to teach to like. The key is to eat some of them yourself and get REALLY excited about it! But don't give her any that were touched by your mouth as our bacteria is very bad for them.

Keep up the GREY'T GREEN work! Never give up...as I know you don't.

Love,
Maggie-