Kya

Wow, I have been MIA for a bit. I don't know where the time went. It may be the lure of sunshine and the pool and float that are accountable for my absence. I have no self control and tend to grab all of the hot Kentucky summer that I can. Kya and Gracie are doing great. Kya is a hot mess, as always. Yesterday I was cleaning his cage and as soon as he saw me headed his way with newspapers, he started yelling "OUCH" over and over. I was thankful he gave me a heads up and managed to get his cage done without a bite, but we talked about it a LOT. One morning this week, we were leaving for work, and he will start in about 10 minutes before we leave with his ritualistic "Give me a kiss. I'll be back. I love you." We were running behind and my husband kissed him goodbye, but I was on my way out the door and he yelled "GIVE ME A KISS!!!" He comes to the top of his cage and sticks his beak out, and he cackled a bit when he saw me headed back towards him. I kissed him on his beak and he said "Whoa, boy, that was a good one!" (I made a smacking noise when I kissed him, he makes a huge exaggerated smacking noise for kisses, so I guess he was telling me I did a good job.) We have had beautiful weather this week, so I have had the windows open. We came home from work one evening and the lady next door asked if we had monkeys in the house. It must have been a particularly vocal day, our houses aren't too close. Gracie continues to progress, and I continue to accept that she and Kya may be the same species, but could not be any more different from each other if they were dog and cat. She loves us dearly, both of us, but she is so much more independent than Kya. We give her space, and she's happy. She accidentally learned she could fly last weekend, I think she had plucked so long that she had forgotten it was a possibility. She was on the back of the couch and for the first time, Kya flew over to where she was. (He's usually too busy loving on his daddy to even notice her.) It startled Gracie and she flew into the kitchen. She looked as shocked as I was. I am constantly amazed at how much she eats. She will eat anything offered to her, and if Kya isn't looking, she will eat his, too. He's twice her size, so I am not sure where she puts it all, but she's like a bottomless pit. Oh, and she is still telling Kya he is a dick on a regular basis. I tend to agree with her most of the time.

And heaven forbid you try to sneak a golden delicious minus peel past them!!! Red delicious apples only in this house and green seedless grapes! If I get the two confused I might as well sleep outside.

Well, I am late to the post, but can certainly relate to your fear. I have never had upper respiratory problems other than the occasional cold until last winter - my first winter with a grey. My doctor knows me well, so after a couple of months of it, she told me she thought it may have something to do with my birds. I told her I didn't want to hear it. I went straight home and put a humidifier beside Kya's cage and started daily baths. I don't have an air purifier yet, but if it starts in again this winter, will probably buy one. Oh, and I added another grey (after being told that the one I had might be my problem...) just to shake things up a bit. She tried to talk me into having allergy testing for bird dander, but I told her that I did NOT want to know. (I work for her so she knows what she's up against.) My allergies this summer have been worse than they have ever been, but I've heard other people say that, too. Kya came to us because the woman had COPD and asthma, and no clue of how to attempt to deal with it, so he wound up stuck in a room by himself in a small cage. She really loved him and the only reason she finally caved in and rehomed him was because he started plucking. She finally did what was best for him and her, and I am in constant contact with her. But she never knew that there were things she could do to keep the dander down, never bothered to research. Kya and Gracie both have learned to love their daily baths, and I take allergy meds daily. I won't consider giving them up. I will just keep doing whatever I have to do to keep the dander to a dull roar. And, it's funny (not ha ha funny) but I have continued to have fleeting episodes with my breathing that I have associated with mini panic attacks. I am the queen of denial. Hope you are feeling better with your inhalers. You might see about taking singulair daily, as well. That seems to help.

Take care of yourself! Glad to hear that things are going better. Miss Gilbert just has to see that you are okay and be near you and she will be fine.

I'll definitely take what I can get with this girl, birdhouse! It's fun to watch a 20 year old parrot learn to say new things, period. We only know about one of her previous owners, and he wasn't overly patient with her, she was surrendered because he "didn't have time". This week, she came up with a new one, perfectly executed at just the right time, in my voice. (So close that my husband thought I said it!) Everyone had just gone back into their cage for the evening and I'm refilling bowls for the night. Kya is always a jerk when I go to remove his bowl, not so much when I replace it. The bowl is attached to a door that swings out, and I know I am in for the battle of the day when I go to get his. He will grab it and pull back on it, spilling everything everywhere, or he will grab the door and slam it while I am trying to slip the bowl out of it's holder. It's become somewhat of a game for him between us, so I'm pretty tolerant. When he slams the door on me, he will laugh like a maniac. I don't think it's ever once occurred to him that he's getting fresh food. We were going through our ritual one night this week and Kya was playing his part. He flipped the bowl out of my hand as soon as I got it free of the holder, and before I could say a word, Gracie Lou said "Kya, don't be such a dick!" Since she got a laugh from both of us, she now sees it as high entertainment value, so every time he says or does anything, she repeats it. So very different, those two...

Not much new going on, but Gracie did make me cry before work one morning this past week, and it didn't involve a bite! I was in the bathroom getting ready for work, and I heard her say (in my voice) "Good girl, Gracie. You are a good girl!" That's a far cry from "bad bird" and "nooooo" and "stop that", which were the only words she spoke when we got her. You would have thought my kid made the honor roll. I talked about it all day to anyone who would listen. Not sure they understood why I was so excited when they know they talk all the time, but I told them all, nonetheless! Hormones are raging in this house, worse than I have ever seen them. Kya is a real handful, and even more stubborn than usual. Gracie doesn't seem to be affected, and of course, Kya wants to mate with my husband. It's like a zoo.

I remove everything but the fresh food when feeding. They usually wind up eating all of it!

Never, have I ever stayed home from work to spend time or do something important with my pets, for whatever reason.

Oh, the more he talks about biting, the more we know someone is going to get bitten. We pretty much know who, it's just a matter of when. Sometimes he will spend an hour convincing himself that he's not going to bite, but I have learned he is not beyond telling a lie. It's as if he is trying to talk himself out of his urges, or lull us into a false sense of security. I am usually the recipient of said bite with Kya, my husband does NO wrong. He has never brought blood, though. It's just a reminder that although I am his slave, I am not his favorite person in the house. We really got very lucky with Kya, and with Gracie, especially with Kya coming from a very loving (albeit misinformed) home. He just moved right in and took charge of the house. I love the contrast between him and Gracie. Not sure either of us could handle two Kya's at once! He is like living with a stand up comedian who is always on stage, unless he is sleeping. If he can't think of anything else to do, he mimics full phone conversations.

Gracie does not talk as much as Kya, but no one can squeeze in a word edge wise with his beak going. (Right now he's saying "Good job!" to my husband over and over while he's cleaning cages.) Gracie has picked up a lot from Kya, and they seem to have these little conversations that don't include us. It's funny how their personalities come out with the things they say. When we got Gracie, the rescue did not believe she talked at all, but with numerous birds, how could you tell? She immediately started saying "Noooooo" and "bad bird", which broke my heart into, because we knew she had heard that a lot. Her voice sounds like an old woman - a younger male had her for 4 years before she was surrendered, while Kya's voice sounds very young and mischievious. You can almost hear the laughter in everything he says. He knows he's funny.

Has the vet suggested any sort of physical therapy activities? (I ask that like we could honestly get a grey to cooperate with said activities. You can tell I am still on my first cup of coffee.)

I think greys are very detail oriented, and they actually love monotony. For some reason, I know that every time that I am going to change out Gracie's food bowl, we are going to squabble over the removal of the old one, doesn't matter if it's empty or full, she makes a huge ordeal of me removing it, even though I have a bowl of something even better in my hand. If she is over on the other side of the cage and I am in a rush don't wait for her to come and fight with me over removing the original bowl, she pouts and won't eat from the new bowl. She will go to one particular perch and turn her back on me, as if I am the worst person imaginable. She will seriously NOT touch the new food, which is very manipulative for a bird that eats everything that can't run. With Kya, our feeding ritual is that he comes up eye to eye with me and tells me what a good boy he is while I am switching out bowls. Occasionally, if he's just seen me do battle with Gracie, he will say "No bite. Kya's a good boy." We can't deviate from the feeding rituals, if we do, everyone is cranky and pouty. I am preparing to go to Punta Cana in October (my birthday gift from my daughter - a girl trip) and I have no idea what is going to happen when my husband is in charge of all of their feedings. I have a feeling we better start switching out early so I can teach him the hoops he has to jump through to keep everyone happy.

And, Acappella, Kya always talks about himself in first person. It's all about Kya! He pulled a good one this week. He really makes me rethink how repetitive I can be. I have a little terrier mix rescue that has issues (for lack of a better word) with his feet. He's my problem child, always has been and always will be. I plucked him off death row at the shelter 2 days before he was scheduled to be euthanized due to fear aggression from 3 years of abuse. I am the only person in this whole world that he loves and trusts, and I am the only person allowed to touch his feet. My husband was bitten by him daily the first 6 months we had him. The vets cannot find a thing in the world wrong with his feet, he doesn't like them touched and he doesn't like wet grass. Needless to say, in our humidity, when we get up at 5 am the grass is soaked with dew, so we have daily discussions about going out in the grass to potty. (If it's downright raining, you can just forget it.) Apparently, we talk about it TOO much. Wednesday am - 6:45 and almost time to leave for work. I am finishing up my make up and yell into the den for my husband to take Pedro outside again and give it another try. That is ALL I said. Husband says okay, and goes to the door and calls Pedro, who has already tucked himself into his crate and isn't coming. Kya, being so helpful as always, yells (in my voice) from the den "Pedro, you better go outside and poop or it's going to be a LONG DAY!!!" Pedro still declined but it was hysterically funny. Both Kya and Gracie are making their breakfast demands, so I guess I better get to work. It's going to be an unusual breakfast if I mix in everything they are ordering. They take turns yelling out foods until I get it done, adding some other demands as I am trying to get it all cut up. Kya is also repeating, over and over "No bite. No bite the momma", which means I will get bitten within the hour. He tries so hard. I don't know why in the world I thought I could plan my own Saturday morning with a bit of computer time and some coffee.

It looks like just what you need. Please let us know how it works out for him. I am sure you will.

Anything is possible. It is encouraging that the seizure meds seem to be working at this point. Hopefully you will continue to see improvements over time. Neurological damage does not usually show signs of repair very quickly. I have dealt with a lot of it in my life - my son was diagnosed with MS at age 13, I had a cockatiel who suffered a stroke and then a couple of years ago, we had a pup out of a litter that started having seizures at 2 weeks of age. And, I work in the health field. Improvement is always slow and steady, to the point that it is hard to notice at times. Give Timber a big kiss for me.

I know! Some of the things he says and does, I just kind of keep quiet about with my friends who are non bird people. I know half of them think I am hallucinating. And even then, greys are so different. They both clam up when extra people are in the room, so much of the time it is just my husband and myself. I usually take visitors into the other room, away from the birds for a demonstration, and to prove I am not insane. Kya can't stand for me to take people away from him, so the second we are out of sight he starts in jabbering 100 miles an hour. It's funny to see the look of surprise on their faces when they realize that he really does have a lot of questions that he fully expects answers to! And I have given up on pizza smuggling, after that little escapade. Just no more stuffed crust for me! We are Game of Thrones fans here, and have been binge watching a bit of the first seasons in preparation of the new season starting next weekend. Gracie and Kya both seem to be mesmerized by Tyrion Lannister - for those who do not watch, he is a little person. He has a very distinctive voice and accent in this character, and speaks very clearly. We have noticed both greys practicing his accent. We're afraid of what might come out of their beaks once they perfect it, but it's really cute. My wake up call yesterday morning was hysterical, Kya, of course. They actually let me sleep until almost 9 am. But, all of a sudden he yells "Why don't you just shut up and go away?" as loudly as he possibly can. Gracie Lou is in the room with him, quietly minding her own business, but my sun conure is doing her morning screeching in the dining room. My husband was outside, so we have to assume the sun conure was (once again) getting on his last nerve. (He normally makes fun of her by saying, in a sing song voice "All the little birdies just chirp, chirp, chirp". Now, the odd thing is, he's never heard this statement from either of us, so it had to be something he heard on tv. We never say "shut up" - we say "Whisper, birdie", at which point they will all whisper "Whisper birdie" a few times and go right back to rattling the pictures on the wall. Gracie does say "shut up", but I've never heard her say "go away". Bless her, the only words she used when we first got her was "Nooooo", "bad bird" and "shut up". Funny...She only uses "Nooooo" in perfect context, like when Kya asks for a kiss, or I ask her to step up to go back in her cage - 4 months ago she would say it all day long. I have not heard her say "bad bird" in months, and she may be telling Kya to "shut up" while we are at work, but I haven't heard her use that one in awhile, either. Maybe I need to set up a camera so I can keep an eye on them from work!

You two have been in my thoughts and prayers.

They amaze me every day. Both love when we have pizza, I always give them a small piece of just the crust. The other night, I got the stuffed crust and thought that might be a bit too much pepperoni and bacon for them, so I threw a towel over the box before I brought it in the house. Kya immediately started saying "Is that pizza? Ky Ky needs pizza. Ummmmm, pizza." My husband and I just stared at each other. I don't know if it was the smell or the shape of the box through the towel. I really thought for a minute I could outwit him. What in the world was I thinking???

Thank you so much, it is perfect just as it is! All is well with both Gracie Lou and Kya. We've had a stressful summer so far - central heat and air unit went out AND we had to redo the drain field for our septic tank, so the aviary has been put on hold until fall. The greys seem unaffected by it all, but our savings account got hit hard. I think I have waited long enough to upgrade Gracie's cage, she came with the cage she was surrendered with, and although it is large enough, it's old and not in the best shape. Ideally, I am trying to find a large corner cage with a divider, so I can put one of them in each side. I am starting to think we may have to make it ourselves, or at least make the divider. I'd love for it to be a "V" shape. Gracie Lou is so vocal now, she has picked up on so many things from Kya, and starting to sound just like him, so when I hear her from the other room I really have to think about it to determine who I am calling back to. She amazes me daily with the amount of food she consumes. She's half the size of Kya and eats twice as much. I've been putting off having her nails trimmed trying to keep the stress level down, but have decided it's time for a trip to the vet next weekend. He does a great job and I am scared to death to do it. I will probably take Kya along just for a security blanket for Gracie. (Plus he's in love with one of the vet techs - another blonde that he has named "Alex" - if you're pretty and blonde, your name is Alex. No one knows who Alex is or was to him.) Hope everyone else is doing well!

That is the best idea I have heard all day! Love the concept. Any chance of pics from inside and out?

Precious girl! She's just sharpening her beak, Dad!

I haven't tried it. There is a lady named Lisa Bono who makes customized boxes for your birds, I find hers to be rather pricey, too, and not something I could utilize with two greys who are skeptical of anything new. Gracie Lou would love the box it shipped in, but I have free access to those!

Oh, goodness, that sounds like enough to scare anyone! Bless her little heart.

I will light a candle and say a prayer for both you and Timber tonight. Please keep us posted.

Actually, I have made the most progress with Gracie by putting her in situations she has never been in before, i.e. taking her into different rooms of the house and interacting with her there. It throws her off and I can tell she gets anxious because she shifts from one foot to the other with her weight, but it does not seem to scare her. She will edge in as close to me as she can get while she checks out the current situation, then once she relaxes a bit, she stops the shifting from one foot to another. I believe at those times she sees me as her protector, and it helps with the bonding. I would never do anything that I felt was truly scaring her, but if she wants to ride around on my shoulder, she has to be prepared to find herself in a different room now and then! I'm wondering if there is a way I can change the title of this thread to include Kya - it never occurred to me that although we've had him a little over a year, he's still adapting and is an integral part of Gracie finding her way. I've spoken in the past of how Kya daily announces "I am Frank McGrath." This was the father in law of his previous owner, the poor man had tried for years to get him to say it and he never said it once until he came to live with us. Well, last week, the real Mr. McGrath passed away. We heard about it, and that night, when Kya announced "I am Frank McGrath" my well meaning husband decided to tell him that Frank was dead, he was a goner. So, now, we have a constant daily reminder from a little grey bird - "I am Frank McGrath. Frank is dead. Frank's a goner." I so hope the previous owner doesn't ask to come visit.