Jopalis

The vet said we can put it in fruit. But I have to be sure she will eat it all. That's why I thought about just putting a toothpick in a grape to make the whole a little bigger. She just gets a little of the meds. My neighbor is great with our pets. The dog and cats will have feeders so birdie will be the only one requiring a little more care. I will talk to him about it.... I think she will be happier at home. I don't know if I can pre-fill the grapes and have them ready for him to just give her. Not sure if something could change with the med in the grape.... Thanks! Do you just feed them the applesauce off a spoon? Last night I tried it with mashed banana and she tasted it but then refused it....

Iknow... I am actually looking for alternatives because I feel she would be traumatized by the boarding and handling of others.... That's not good for her heart either.... It's not the money. She has just gotten used to my husband grabbing her and giving her her meds and she adores him. The vet told us if she got too upset getting the meds we should not do it because of the trauma. Also, I am not too keen on a tech doing it.... The vet put her on these meds because I specifically asked about them. There is not much clinical data on them. It is basically a blood thinner. If I could trust my neighbor to measure the meds right and put it in one small grape maybe she would get some of it. Some better than none. I don't like the idea of boarding her. She was a mess and a nervous wreck last time she went to the vet....

Hi there.For those of you familiar with Tobie's story...you may recall she is 37 yr old female Grey. She has artherosclerosis from eating too many seeds and people food in her lifetime. We had to lower her perch to the bottom of her cage as she would fall asleep and fall to the bottom. She was put on a blood thinner administered twice a day. Good news is she has adjusted to eating a diet of pellets with some fruit and veggies occasionally. Vet says this is best. Also although she gripes to being grabbed with a towel by hubby (she loves him), she has gotten pretty used to it and it is more like grumbling now instead of shrieking. Here's my problem.... We are going on vacation for 10 days. My neighbor normally checks on our pets when we go away. I can't expect anyone to grab her and give her her meds. I can board her at the vets and let tecs do it but I think this will be traumatic for her too. I thought of putting the meds in a grape. She loves grapes and generally only discards the peel. I know there is no guarantee she will eat it or all of it but she would get some of her meds. I also am not sure if we prefill the grapes if the grape itself would break down the meds..... Vet already said not to put it in her water. I just wondered if there were any ideas out there or if anyone does anything else with meds. I figure if she only got one grape in the morning and one at night..chances are she would eat it (and her pellets of course but grape is treat). So looking for ideas..... I could ask neighbor to put the drop of meds in the grape but scared he wouldn't measure it right or something.... She seems stronger and perkier. She has adjusted to sleeping on the bottom of the cage. Also someone here once suggested a shelf perch at an online store and I was wondering what that was. I had her in a travel cage for quite a while but she was sad. So we put her back in her big cage and she climbs around. She doesn't fall from climbing...She uses her beak and even though one claw is diminished in use (probably small stroke).... she can use it and her other claw...so doesn't fall. Only falls when sleeping. We also have to put a cheapie food and water cup in the bottom. I hate this cause if she climbs she poops in it. Looking for any and all suggestions. Feed cup holder had to be turned around and not used since her perch is on bottom and if she uses the cups she would go to sleep with her head in them and fall.... Oh well we are accomodating are elderly bird as best we can.....

Thanks so much!

I had her in a room I kept at 80ish.... The doc said, however, that what is wrong with her is not an illness that heat will help. I do watch her to see if she is hot or cold and keep the a/c at around 78. Keep her out of the direct blow of the a/c too. She's not exactly taking meds in stride. She squawks quite loudly but seems to recover. Before when she could reach the newspaper she would immediately start tearing it up and throwing it on the floor... made us laugh... Sometimes if she "bites" my husband, it is just like a pressure bite... like she's a tad pissed... They are such characters! We're doing what we can... God willing we'll have a bunch more quality time. Thanks again. Pat

Hi there. Thanks for asking about Tobie! I appreciate your caring very much. Well, she is eating her pellets well. She gets meds 2x a day by syringe. As you might expect she doesn't take getting the meds too well. She loves my husband so he is the one who administers it. He has to grab her with a small towel and wrap her in it to confine her. He talks soothingly to her the whole time...she squawks loudly and then settles down a bit. She seems to recover quickly once it is all over. He cuddles and pets her a bit before putting her in the cage and we try to give her a small treat. Stresses me, the dog, etc. when she is squawking. In all, so far I think it is going ok. She seemed kind of depressed in the small travel cage. Perch has to be on the bottom because she falls asleep and falls. With it on the bottom, she settles down and her bottom goes down on the the bottom of cage and I think she rests better. She still climbs around the cage. With her beak, her good foot and her limited foot she doesn't seem to fall. So we decided to try putting her back in her large cage. Again with just one perch...wrapped and on the bottom. She seemed perkier immediately in her cage like...."I'm home". Her meds are calcium, omega fatty acids and a heart med that thins her blood a bit. She has artery blockage and a slightly enlarged heart. She gets a bit of sun time in the mornings but overheats quickly and this scares us with her heart problems. So, we are very careful with it. This seems to be the best we can do right now. God willing it is enough. We are giving her lots of loving. She wants her head scratched incessantly. We push her over by the couch and open the door and she comes to the edge for her scratches and talking.... She is not very well hand trained. We love her.... Pat

You know... My avian vet was going off on the American diet and how unhealthy it is and how we feed our pets similarly. I did feel guilty. I guess if we ate right most of the time and had the occasional oops it would be one thing however.... I kept thinking I should be eating the way the bird is now.... healthy food, omega fatty acids, calcium... a little sun.... berries, veggies.... Small amounts of lean protein. Yeah... It has been harder for me to stop giving Tobie our people food. Plus when we sit down to dinner she repeats "Good?" over and over.... She started that before me. Well, last night I did give her some kale and sweet potato but not the meat. Old habits are so hard to break...

With the warmer weather you might consider using the fryer outside and away from the bird. Helps the house not have that fry odor.... I would think we could either move the item or the bird far away from each other. FAR AWAY....

Yes Dan... I am sure you are right. She is just not up to handling the heat and when I saw how hard she was panting I was so upset with myself. I am sure that was not great for her already heart problems. I had been watching her but it happened so quickly. It's the umbrella table for her from now on. I'm glad she can get enough UV indirectly. I was wondering. Also it's going to get hot today so I want to go have my coffee and sit out with my birdy for a bit.... Have a wonderful day! Pat

I know... I also know my Mom used the occasional non-stick fry pan as have I in the 5 yrs I have had Tobie. She is 37. Maybe they vary in sensitivity and maybe it depends on how you use the pan. My MIL once took one of my expensive non-sticks and pre-heated it and ruined the bottom. Now I would bet it let off a lot of fumes. Bird wasn't there thankfully. Mostly I use an exhaust fan over my range if I use them as well. I will definitely be more careful now though....

Amen to that!

You're welcome. It's in lots of things...not just pans. Scary!

Thanks I found several articles and one cites other trade names besides just teflon. http://www.exoticbird.com/teflon.html http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/teflon4.htm http://theaviary.com/teflon.shtml http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?articleid=2874

I am not sure if all non-stick pans are teflon.... How could I tell?

Your welcome. I checked on the space heater I use and thankfully no teflon. I do use non-stick pans though... Anyone else? I also wonder about those bendy multi colored string perches. Tobie won't have it in her cage but I think they are popular. Wonder if they are the ones that can be ingested...?<br><br>Post edited by: Jopalis, at: 2008/05/15 00:30

I will definitely get one of those bulbs and only put her out when it is not too hot or strong. Also give her an out of the sun option in her cage. Thank you.

Thanks.. I put her on the patio table that has an umbrella over it. The umbrella filters out most of the direct sun but I'm sure she must still get some. She did overheat really fast. It was scary! She was panting and it took her a while to stop. Poor thing.... dumb owner.... It was only a few minutes.... Strong sun...

I tried that today.... It was around 11 a.m. within a few minutes her wings were out and she was panting. I brought her inside and she was panting hard. With her heart problems I was scared. She seems ok now. I am thinking that even if not in direct sun, maybe she will get what she needs. We can even get burned on a cloudy day... The sun was just so hot!

What are foot toys?

I understand that Tobie needs a certain amount of UV rays to utilize calcium in her bodies. A secretion on their wings, etc. Apparently window glass blocks the rays they need. My question is how direct should the sun be? Sun is strong here in So. California. In just a few minutes Tobie can get overheated. Will placement under a table umbrella work for uv absorption?

I happened upon this site that lists a lot of potentially dangerous products, situations, etc. for birds. Might be worth a quick read... http://www.parrotparrot.com/birdhealth/alerts.htm I do use the occasional teflon pan.... I'm sure my Mom did as well. Anyone?

Asked about baby food, asked about birdie bread, etc. He feels pellets are best and since she is liking them, I am not going to rock the boat or give her things she might prefer but our not best for her. Before she ate a seed mix and a bit of most of what we ate.. She has an enlarged heart and artery blockage. Picked up her heart meds today. Not a lot of empirical evidence on this treatment. I have to check about side effects to watch for. We will give it a shot. No guarantees. Day to day. She is in a small cage with a perch on the bottom to prevent falls. However, the other day she chose to climb all around the cage including the ceiling!!! Oye! I have newspaper and towel boosted up under the perch so that if she crouches down to sleep she is supported. No more corn cob! newspaper which she likes to tear up and make a mess. That's ok. And a small towel rolled under her perch. She does love these pellets...thank God! It's been hard for me not to give her bits of our food but I don't want her to stop eating the pellets and hold out for what she likes even better. Thanks for all your support.

I guess people have different viewpoints on diet. Healthy foods in moderation may be ok. In our case, the vet feels these type of birds in general should primarily be on a pellet diet with only small treats here and there of healthy other foods. It's not that Tobie is now ill with heart disease that she has to eat this. Unfortunately, in our case the damage has already been done and we are just praying for more time by giving meds. I have read that they are now finding heart disease in varying degrees in Greys in their teens and early twenties. I would think healthy food in moderation as a treat and primarily the balanced diet that something like the pellets provides on the whole. I'm sure we could go round and round on this but this is just what my vet who is a well respected Avian vet suggested. You know doctors don't even always agree..... Tobie actually loves these pellets! I expected her not to when she ate mostly people food and seeds but also some fruit and veggies before. They can be like people and want what they like more than what is good for them. I have been giving her some broccoli and some blueberries here and there but main diet is the Zupreem. I wish I had given them to her sooner or taken the initiative to investigate what she should have been eating. She looked good, acted good and sounded good so I just thought what we had been doing was fine. I didn't realize she was developing heart disease. Now we pray for more time. God Bless you and your birdies.... Later, Pat

Keep your bird really warm. Not enough to just keep out of drafts or extremes from cold to warm. When they thought Tobie might have an illness that needed warmth, they had me keep her in a small room with a heater and keep the room close to 85 degrees. They need all their strength to fight illness and must be kept warm. Read through this posting. Someone explained that above.... DH had to give Tobie her first oral meds today. Went a litte rough at first but then she quieted down and went ok. I have to pick up her heart meds tomorrow. We'll do what we can. Hey Bettyboop.... Tobie is really liking those pellets! I am shocked. I got the zupreem in garden goodness flavor. I got some fruit flavored ones to throw a few in as a treat. I gave her some blueberries too and a bit of broccoli... her perch is on the towel but she feels better having one. Last night I tried no perch and she just kept climbing on the sides of the cage...endlessly.... So then I put it in but on the towel. She uses it that way and she can crouch down and her bottom is on the towel so I think she feels secure. We will do the best we can and it is in God's hands mostly.... Later... Pat

Actually he said the pellets alone would be enough but that if I was going to give food...it should be primarily green veggies and berries. He says his mostly just get pellets and that the other is more like a treat. You know I just love this site! You are all so nice and welcoming and giving.... Pat