Tempting fate...

We were down to one med per day. Tori had one bad day a week ago, then was doing well again. Until this morning. I discovered he had thrown up during the night or very early morning. I watched him carefully while I got ready for work. He seemed to be eating fine, flying about. Stopped by to help me dry my hair (don't know why, but he likes to sit on my hand while I dry my hair). I went off to work at least knowing we have an appt with the vet on Wednesday. Maybe this was a fluke. It didn't seem he had thrown up much. The only evidence I had was that his feathers around his face were matted down.

My husband, Joe, got home early today. I called home from work as I was running late. He informed me that Tori had thrown up again. That his face and feathers were really a mess. I asked him to check for evidence in the bottom of the cage, but he wasn't sure what he was looking for. As soon as I got home I went in to see the birds. Tori did look a mess, but he was eating. I took a look at the tray in the cage. There were several piles of thrown up seeds. He'd thrown up a lot. Not a good sign.

I changed my clothes. Picked up Tori, put him on my shoulder. Then we went to the living room. Joe brought Google. The two of them puttered about on the coffee table where we put a small playgym and a small dish of food and water. Tori threw a toy ball off the table several times. He talked to me quite a bit, I expect telling me how crappy his day had been. I sang to him, he sang along. He wouldn't leave my shoulder so I could prep dinner, so I had Joe help me. While dinner was in the oven Tori and I sat with Joe in the living room and Tori took a nap on my shoulder. When dinner was ready he was reluctant to leave me. Finally he went up to one of the playgyms.

Now dinner is over and I'm spending time in birdland. Tori is presently on my shoulder and I am considering having him sleep alone in one of the spare birdhouses for the night. That doesn't always work out so well, though. He usually wants to be with the other birds.

I did call the vet from work before I headed home and he said I could start up the anti-nausea med again. Then we'll check things further on Wednesday. Hopefully that will help Tori feel better in the meantime.

My poor baby. He is such a sweet, sweet boy. It seems every time I blog that he is doing better he relapses. Am I tempting fate? Dooming him to illness? That's crazy talk, I know. But it sure is upsetting and disheartening.

Keep him in your prayers, dear readers. If you don't mind. I love him like you wouldn't believe.

Thanks,
Kimberly

Let the birds sing...

The good news today from the vet is that Tori has improved a great deal. His weight is back up to his normal, his energy levels are back up, he hasn't vomited, his appetite is back to normal, he's socializing very well, and his crop is clear of all the slime. Huzzah!

The doc thinks there may have been an underlying yeast problem all along, although it didn't show up on the tests until the previous visit. So, we'll continue with the anti-fungal and phase out the anti-biotics. Which means Tori will soon be down to one med per day. Relief for me, and even more relief for him. As long as it sticks.

Texter went along today for his first wellness exam and passed with flying colors. The vet says he is a beautiful specimen of a budgie in every way. Healthy, athletic, good demeanor, and truly beautiful. This Texter seems to know, and work at. He's been known to bathe two times a day! And he relishes his bath, let me tell you. Every inch of him is wet and attended to. He's a poser for the camera, too. He's a good looking boy and he knows it. I told the doc Texter is our metrosexual. Ha! He does have a thing for Miss Pixel, but she's playing both Texter and Pumpkin along. Such a diva!

Anyway, I wanted to let the good news be known. We have a few more weeks of meds and a couple re-checks until we can say this thing is gone for sure, but things sure look better than they did a week ago.

For me, birdsong is a gift. And so is Tori.

Tori, Tori, Tori...

That's my Tori, as a baby, enjoying his first bit of cucumber. It is a favorite of his, along with broccoli and carrots. He's an expert food flinger. Well, they all are. But Tori can fling with the best of them, I'll tell you that.

This morning I was troubled to see that Tori was vomitting again. He's been on the new anti-biotic four days now, and I was hoping he was feeling better. I could tell by watching him that he was trying hard to stifle the need to vomit. Finally, it won over. This was even more upsetting as I had to leave for work, and couldn't stay with him. I tucked him in with his buddies, kept the heating pad on low, and went to work.

I cried on the way there. I cried once there, telling my boss and co-workers about Tori's further ailment. I called the vet and asked what next. When I talked with him this afternoon we recapped the last time out with this infection, and how we ended up doing two meds simultaneously, an anti-biotic, and a med for helping to curb the vomitting and nausea. I queried him like a frantic mother, asking what might I doing that could cause this. What if this, what if that...he reiterated that last time we used this combination it worked.

I picked it up after work and just gave Tori his meds an hour ago. He is sitting atop one of the playgyms now, chattering with the rest of the gang. Google is next to him, singing and whistling, too. Maybe he will feel better. I have to admire his determination even in distress. He wants to be out and about with the other birds.

But tonight, I will tuck him in a cage on his own, with the heating pad going and a nice cozy blanket to keep out any cold air. He needs rest.

God, I hope this works. The thought of him not being with us is just too hard to bear. I'm saying another prayer (and another). If anyone is reading this, would you mind saying a prayer, too?

Thank you.

My heart is breaking...

Tori and I made the trip to the vet today to have him checked further since he is still throwing up large quantities of slimey seeds. The doc checked him over and found an excess of bacteria. It's the good bacteria, but way too much of it. Not a balance of good and bad. They cleaned out his crop again. Lots of slimey goo.

We discussed what could be causing this. I asked about a tumor as a possibility, thinking he would just say no, not causing this. Instead, he said it might be a possibility, and that he does feel a small, movable something below Tori's crop. That possibly it could be obstructing the drainage of his crop. My stomach fell, my head got warm, my heart started breaking.

We discussed the fact that this same scenario took place last spring. We started with one anti-biotic, and within weeks had to try another. After that it was a good five months before Tori had another slimey episode. We traced it to a possible side-effect to a stressful molt. His immune system weaker, stressed, the bacteria took over. I am praying like crazy that's the case this time. And, knowing that, once we have this cleared up with the new meds, that he'll be healthy and happy for a long time. Maybe we can head it off next molt with special molting foods, vitamins, or something like that.

But the tumor thing stuck with me. I asked the doc to show me what he meant when I picked Tori up at the end of the day. I couldn't really feel it, but the doc felt it was there. Sometimes a benign, fatty tumor can show up and not cause any ill effects for a long time. But the position of this, if it is one, could be problematic. I went overboard and imagined losing my baby, my Tori. I feel lonesome already. My heart is breaking and I can't stop crying. The possibility of it all.

Maybe things will clear up, and nothing further will develop with that "thing". I pray so. My gut tells me otherwise, but it's been very wrong before. I hope to God it's wrong this time.

I know it's key to live in the moment. To appreciate today, live now, love now. I do try. I will try. But that doesn't mean I won't go through a box of Kleenex while doing it.

So, tonight we gave Tori his first dose of the new meds. I brought him home, and he spent the evening playing with the gang. He seemed to have energy, appetite, and was particularly attentive to the youngest, Mouse and Blogger. In fact, he seems to be mentoring them a bit.

Mouse flew down to the floor (he hasn't much flight yet), so Tori flew down to the floor to watch over him. Pumpkin joined them, too. Tori seemed to be trying to teach Mouse how to take off, fly upward. Mouse tried, he just doesn't have enough flight power yet. So, Tori hung around down on the floor with Mouse until I went over to help them both up. Mouse has been very shy about getting on my finger or my hand. Tori, as sweet and clever as ever, demonstrated for Mouse what to do. Lo and behold, Mouse followed Tori's lead! See what I mean. He's damn special, Tori is. One of a kind.

I know to some people Tori is "just a parakeet", a "silly little bird", but let me just say that couldn't be further from the truth. He's an amazing, living, breathing, sensitive, sweet, and loving creature and to lose him would wound me profoundly. So, I'll just pray and pray that won't happen. And, I'll tell him I love him every day.

My Angel...

Tori. He's my angel. The first parakeet we brought home that led us to five more, plus cockatiel, Google. Tori is my sweetheart. I love them all, deeply. But Tori is absolutely special. Sweet. So much personality. Sometimes so serious. I fell for him pretty hard. The first week we had him I kept him with me every moment I was home and awake. He napped on my shoulder, in the crook underneath my chin. Joe had to insist that I put him to bed when it got to be midnight. I didn't want to let him go.

He learned to talk quickly. Seems like it only took weeks before he said "Hi!". Then, "pretty bird", then "Tori", then "Tori, Tori, Tori", as it was part of a refrain from the "Tori Song" I sang to him so often Joe probably heard it in his sleep. He would sometimes sing along with me, with an extended refrain of "pre-tyyyyy bird!" After awhile I would just listen in wonder as he sat on my knee, or my shoulder, or my nose, and chattered away. He added "sweetheart" to his repertoire, then "how was your day". I felt guilty leaving him home alone all day while I was at work, so we adopted Pumpkin and watched as he and Tori became best friends forever. Their friendship was instant. Day one. Tori didn't speak "people" as much after that, but he and Pumpkin are such great companions, I can do without it.

Every so often Tori seems to become ill. Parakeets tend to hide it when they are feeling poorly, an inherent trait, but I have gotten to a point where I can tell pretty quickly if he's not feeling right. Like parents do with their children, I suppose. He puffs up, keeps to himself. Sometimes he naps on my shoulder. Then I really know he's not feeling well. Then, he does this thing where he throws up slimey, seedy, foamy goo. He gets very upset when this happens, and tries to fly away from me. But once he's done, he's back to sit on my shoulder (and wipe his slimey face on my shirt, or my chin).

I've taken him to an avian vet for this a few times over the past year. We thought we had it figured out. Stress from the big "spring molt" weakens his immune system, and he is overrun by bad bacteria. A course of antibiotics should do the trick. But it keeps coming back. And, though I'm diligent about administering the meds, he sure doesn't like it one bit. It's not easy on either one of us, but at least I can see that he's feeling better.

Just over two weeks ago I could tell he wasn't feeling right. He'd gone through a major molt, all the 'keets did, but he is the only one who seems to suffer the stress of it. I took him to the vet. He checked him over. Slimey crop. Bad bacteria. Antibiotics were prescribed. Two weeks worth. We started right away. Within 24 hours there was a major difference. Within a week Tori had more energy than it seems he's had in a long time. Ah, all we had to do was get through one more week of meds and we were done. He'd hopefully be healthy and wise for a long time. At least until the next big molt got his immune system down.

But tonight, I came home from work to find him sitting, puffed up, by himself, out of touch with the others. He didn't even want to come to me. My stomach fell. Not again. We've barely been done with the meds for 48 hours. My poor, poor baby. I finally got him to come to me, sit on my hand so I could talk to him. It wasn't long before he threw up. That was about two hours ago.
I've already called the vet to see about bringing him back in tomorrow morning. He seems to have rebounded for the moment. He's playing with the rest of the gang. He's flown over to my head several times, hopped down to my hand, told me a story or two. I don't know what to think.

I think of all the possibilities. Maybe he's just got a tender tummy. Hmm, probably not. Another infection? Yeast infection post anti-biotics? Tumor? (please, no...) I go over and over, in my head, what he might be eating, or drinking, or picking at that might cause this. But, over and over, I see that anything he eats, or is exposed to, is the same as the others. And they have all been fine. I clean every day. Fresh water, every day. Rotate water dishes, food dishes, clean ones for dirty. Unlike Texter, or Miss Pixel on occasion, Tori doesn't eat his own poop. So that can't be it.

I know I'll just have to wait and see what the doctor says. I won't be sleeping much tonight. But as long as I'm awake, I'll say a little prayer. I 'll make a wish. Hell, I'll make two. My little angel deserves it.